The intention

Max Westerman was the Netherlands' longest serving TV journalist in America. Before he became a correspondent for RTL Nieuws, he worked as a reporter for Newsweek. As a correspondent, Max Westerman constantly met businessmen who plunged into wild adventures with great devotion. Once he got involved in more than just journalism… Max Westerman: “An American friend had the idea to start a mail order business for hams.”

The approach

“The hams were processed in different ways, Hermetically packed and delivered by the postman. Our specialty was the honey-glazed ham, the honey glazed ham. I say 'our' because my American friend had me enlisted as a shareholder in this adventure.”

The result

“The Culpepper Ham Company quickly went bankrupt. Laughed at our lack of management experience, not up to the idea. The ham is a tradition around Christmas and in this vast country not everyone lives near a butcher.”

Lessons

“It is not for nothing that I end my book 'in all states', that came out recently, with the rule: ‘….that's one of the lessons America taught me: you have to dare to make mistakes.”

“Our catalog looked professional, with hams to lick your fingers. But maybe we didn't go far enough. The Food Channel, one of the most popular cable channels on American television, uses techniques from the porn industry, so that the lavish dripping, sizzling and steaming food evokes more urges in the viewer than just appetite.”

Further:
Also read the interview with Max Westerman under the title “Abraham Lincoln was a bankrupt shopkeeper”.
Passages from this brilliant failure can be read in the edition 'In all states', The America of Max Westerman', New Amsterdam Publishers. ISBN 978 90 468 0290 8. See also www.maxwestermann.nl and www.nieuwamsterdam.nl

Author: Bas Ruyssenaars

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