Malibu, Dume Point Manor.
The date was Thursday, October 15th.
As soon as Simon entered the dining room in the morning, Girl A handed him today's issue of The Washington Post, with a particular article highlighted.
An official from the U.S. Department of Justice stated to the media yesterday afternoon that they are considering launching an antitrust investigation into the IE browser software by Egret Corporation.
Given Egret Portal's recent pro-Bill Clinton stance in news reporting, this article was obviously targeted.
Janet, having already read the report, sat beside Simon eating breakfast and remarked, "The White House is really getting anxious now."
After reading the article, Simon put down the newspaper and said casually, "Expected."
The presidential election voting day was on November 3rd, less than three weeks away. If George Bush were to lose, as part of the presidential cabinet, the Department of Justice would certainly be reorganized.
Although antitrust investigation powers are not exclusive to the Department of Justice, at least within the White House's influence, this matter would likely be dropped.
Simon vividly recalled Facebook's misfortunes in the years following the 2016 election—a series of privacy breaches, collusion investigations, etc. Ultimately, Facebook had played a crucial role in the rise of a non-establishment candidate, angering all the establishment players. Consequently, both political parties repeatedly troubled the company to send a clear message: "Take it easy next time."
As a Facebook spokesperson once said, Amazon's user data collection and utilization were far more excessive than Facebook's, yet it was Facebook that faced the investigation. The reason was obvious.
Couple this with the Prism program leak and the Patriot Act passed after 9/11, the U.S. government's protection of citizens' privacy was more rhetoric than reality.
Thus, Egret Portal's explicit support for Clinton was somewhat risky.
However, the risk was much lower than what Facebook faced later.
Facebook's "crime" was significantly aiding a "non-professional player" to rise to power, offending all "professional players," thus earning the ire of both U.S. political parties.
By comparison, Bill Clinton still belonged to the traditional American establishment.
Moreover, if the election results were as Simon remembered, Ross Perot would remain the primary focus, and the two major U.S. parties would pay more attention to the potential impact of third-party candidates on presidential elections.
Although American media often boasts impartiality and freedom, they all have various affiliations.
Leftist media, rightist media, Republican newspapers, Democratic TV stations, etc.
Egret Portal's stance did not violate industry rules.
The difference lay in the platform's enormous user base, far exceeding the largest U.S. newspaper's circulation by over tenfold.
Given the influence of major American media families like Hearst and Newhouse in politics, any savvy political force would understand that it is better to make allies with an emerging, influential media company than to antagonize it.
Regarding the monopoly issue:
Unlike the diversified development of the early Internet in the original timeline, the current Web platform saw Egret dominating the main network products: the browser software, the portal site, the email service, the vast thematic forums, and the homepage blog services.
Furthermore, Egret Portal's search engine and site navigation largely dictated the traffic and growth potential of other Internet sites.
Indeed, this was a monopoly.
However, it was a natural monopoly.
The current Internet did have other technological standards, but the Web technology, being so mature—from browser software to portal sites, from HTML to JS scripts—was deemed the most suitable for the Internet's future.
Simon invested heavily in promoting Web technology before other network technologies could react, deeply embedding it into people's minds.
Combined with the rapid explosion of the Web-based Internet industry and the absolute support from AOL and Cisco in access services and network hardware, it was impossible for any other company to introduce a competing Internet technology standard bypassing the Web patents.
This was akin to the old Bell Telephone Company.
America's telecommunications industry emerged in the late 19th century, but AT&T, which had monopolized it for half a century, wasn't broken up until 1984.
Simon knew that the Internet industry would eventually far surpass traditional telecommunications in scale.
However, aside from him, with his foresight advantage, few in the current world realized this.
As long as Clinton succeeded, U.S. Internet policies throughout the '90s would remain very lenient, giving the Westeros system ample time to solidify its presence in the Internet sector.
Once a natural monopoly formed, it would be incredibly challenging to change.
Even if future U.S. government leaders wanted to target Egret Corporation, they would have to carefully consider the potential severe impact on the entire Internet industry.
Therefore, Egret Portal's open support for Clinton, though risky, would be immensely rewarding if successful.
On another front, Simon had other considerations for his decision.
The Westeros system's growth in recent years had been like a snowball, with Simon always adopting a moderate approach, characteristic of an Oriental mindset, to manage his business empire.
In simple terms, he aimed to balance all interests, avoiding unnecessary disputes and conflicts.
For instance, when dealing with the Japanese stock market, he eventually sold his assets to the Japanese government to avoid antagonizing the world's second-largest economy. Last year, during the acquisition of MCA and Bell Atlantic, he tried to reduce resistance by sharing benefits, even making an unspoken "deal" with the U.S. government. The Westeros system repatriated large sums of overseas funds, providing billions in taxes to the federal government, which in return, allowed the acquisitions.
However, this moderate approach could not last forever.
True neutrality was impossible.
During WWII, Switzerland maintained neutrality because it provided both sides with a political and financial buffer, even an escape route. Without these functions, neither warring faction would have allowed Switzerland to remain uninvolved. The idea that Switzerland's neutrality was maintained by its armed populace is a joke.
Similarly, the Westeros system never intended to be truly neutral from the start.
No one likes a fence-sitter.
This open support for Clinton marked the Westeros system's decisive alignment.
As for the outcome:
The famous Koch family had been major Republican donors for decades, yet Koch Industries remained one of America's most powerful private industrial groups.
Bill Clinton, a highly capable career politician, despite numerous scandals during his presidency, built a robust political network for the Clinton family over his eight-year term.
Clinton's election would essentially shape the U.S. political landscape for the next two decades.
Twenty years would be enough for the Westeros system to complete all its plans.
While the message in The Washington Post was more of a warning, after breakfast, Janet planned to discuss a PR strategy with Joseph Schlarp in New York to address the issue.
They already had some ideas during breakfast.
It was straightforward.
Shift the focus to Ross Perot, the "tall man."
Anyway, everything would be settled within the next three weeks. During this period, they just needed to avoid uncontrollable public opinion storms.
After breakfast, Simon headed to the Los Angeles Music Center in downtown LA.
The first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was scheduled to be held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles Music Center.
Traditionally, most Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows were held in New York, which had a more significant fashion vibe than Los Angeles.
However, for convenience, Simon chose not to shuttle back and forth between the coasts this time.
Ultimately, this show was just a grand brand promotion lasting several months.
From the continuous exposure of the Victoria's Secret brand in recent months and the rising revenues of its specialty stores, the marketing effects were already evident even before the show aired.
Leslie Wexner often marveled that the $10 million budget had yielded such promotional success, calling it a huge profit.
The show date was finally set for November 7th, the Saturday after the presidential election voting day.
The TV broadcast date was November 12th, just before the Thanksgiving season.
Since early September, tickets for the show had been sold in limited quantities, with all proceeds going to charity.
Due to the high hype surrounding the show, even with the ticket price set at $1,000, which many found outrageous, the 500 tickets sold out quickly.
With a total of 1,000 tickets, 500 were sold, and the remaining 500 would be given away through various channels.
Consequently, the free ticket giveaway activities on Victoria's Secret's official website and blog also made information related to the brand a hot topic online.
While some complained about the high ticket prices, the limited tickets were in high demand, quickly leading to scalping.
Recently, many media outlets reported that Victoria's Secret tickets were being resold for over $3,000.
Moreover, rumors about VIP invitations for the after-show party, where attendees could meet supermodels and celebrities, made these tickets highly coveted.
With the growing influence of the show, both director Michael Bay and the participating supermodels began to take it more seriously. Despite the relatively low pay for participating in the show, none of the Victoria's Secret Angels complained about the frequent fittings and rehearsals.
Over the past few months, not only the show itself but also the Victoria's Secret Angels saw a significant increase in media exposure.
Everyone knew that if this show succeeded, many of their careers would reach a new level.
When Elite replaced one of their selected Angels with Nadja Auermann, it was rumored that the replaced model, Natasha Henstridge, almost broke down. Elite's founder and president, John Casablancas, had to personally comfort her with other promises to prevent a bigger issue.
However, the story still leaked to the newspapers and became public.
Many saw the underlying truth.
Nadja Auermann, after all, was the "Leg Goddess" favored by Westeros.
Some, however, offered different opinions.
If Westeros wanted to promote her, they could have given her an Angel spot
or even made her the spokesperson from the start. Instead, the "Waist Goddess" got the spokesperson role, and "Leg Goddess" wasn't initially chosen for the show, leading to rumors of her "falling out of favor" with Westeros.
The real details of the matter remained fodder for media speculation.
With this small hiccup, Nadja Auermann's exposure increased significantly, and whenever she appeared in public recently, a slew of paparazzi followed. She also signed an acting contract with WMA, despite many knowing that such a tall woman had slim chances of succeeding in Hollywood. Nonetheless, the media had a field day.
As the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show approached, most Angels began to stay in Los Angeles.
Thus, the city, originally not known for its fashion atmosphere, suddenly seemed to bloom with vibrant colors.
Some media even speculated whether the Westeros system might spearhead a Los Angeles Fashion Week or similar event.
The current modeling trend emphasized gentle elegance, and early '90s women's lingerie was relatively conservative. These styles clashed with Simon's aesthetics. Therefore, Simon's limited focus on Victoria's Secret was mainly on these aspects.
After months of meticulous preparation, he believed this show would bring a transformative shock to the fashion industry.
As the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show drew near, Daenerys Entertainment also ramped up its marketing campaigns for several key films scheduled for the end of the year.
Daenerys Entertainment's end-of-year slate kicked off with Halloween.
Nicole Kidman had been tirelessly promoting "The Ring," set to release on October 30th.
After several internal screenings, "The Ring" had received a strong reception.
Some viewers who attended the internal screenings even compared it to "The Exorcist."
Simon didn't expect "The Ring" to match "The Exorcist," but he hoped it would achieve its expected performance for the Halloween season.
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