I saw this ridiculous thing in the latest Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue. It costs $20,000, and the description says it is great for teambuilding and conferences.
Suuuure.
Ethics Alarms has stated many times that nobody’s legal use of their own resources that isn’t aimed at causing harm can be called unethical if it doesn’t cause the purchaser to default on other obligations. I believe that.
I must say, however, that I would have a difficult time wrestling my contempt to the floor for anyone, or any company, that couldn’t find a more productive use for $20,000 than buying that ugly piece of junk. It’s only good for a conference if the conference has exactly 7 people involved, and even that’s giving the theory the benefit of more doubt than it deserves. Spending $20,000 on something as trivial and useless as a “seven person tricycle” is just broadcasting a message that says, “Look at me with awe, peasants! I have money to burn, and I’d rather burn it than use it to accomplish anything worth accomplishing!”
I don’t like people who think like that, and I never will. Yes, it’s a bias.
I think I’ll keep it.
Ethics Alarms 
Sometimes bias is warranted. I have a bias against standing on loose earth and gravel near the edge of a 50 foot vertical drop.
This product is unlikely to sell. I would bet this is a concept that will only be produced if an order occurs. I would almost bet that HS puts these one of a kind idiotic items to create the appearance they carry unique items for the discriminating buyer. It’s just BS.
I disagree that it is unlikely to sell, but agree that it would be rare for an end user to buy it directly. Rather, it would be a party rental vendor that would buy it, and rent it to groups or companies for a few hours at a time. I’ve seen a similar contraption used by a bachelorette party first hand. It is a pure novelty enjoyed for a few hundred bucks split seven ways, rather than 20,000 for it to sit idle in someone’s garage.
<i>”This product is unlikely to sell.”</i>
Nope. There are plenty of “men” in their extended adolescence that have enough friends to go in on one of these things and split the cost.
Would a similar vehicle’s pedaling pub crawl in Arlington, Va. (the franchise also operates in other cities) count as a “conference”?
https://www.facebook.com/PedalSaloonArlington/
That might be fun. Not $20,000 worth of fun, but still fun.
I think you’re right, of course.
I wonder if the main issue is sticker shock . I mean, at $20,000 you could buy an actual car. I wonder if people would adjust their position if that price tag was somewhere between $2500 and $5000, which probably isn’t unreasonable considering what it looks like goes into this.
It would still be a novelty, but at $2500 for a group of seven, I’ve seen better money spent on worse, particularly where team building is concerned. Better, like the suggestion above: if a company wanted to rent a couple of these and have races, again… depending on the price, I could even see them as being something approximating effective.
Yes, you could buy a $20,000 car but you don’t have the benefit of “team building” and office cohesion and “working together to achieve a goal.”
jvb