Pottery Barn rule
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The Pottery Barn rule is American political jargon alluding to a "you break it, you own it" policy, where a retail store holds a customer responsible for damage done to merchandise on display. It is used to signify accountability for the consequences of political decisions, particularly in the case of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ongoing occupation of that country.
The Pottery Barn, a chain of home furnishing stores in the United States, does not in fact have a "you break it, you own it" or "you break it, you buy it" policy[1], writing off broken merchandise as a loss.[2]
[edit] Origin and Use
New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman claims to have coined the term, having used the phrase "the pottery store rule" in a February 12, 2003 column. He says he referred to the "Pottery Barn" specifically in speeches.[3]
According to Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cited the rule in the summer of 2002 when warning President George W. Bush of the consequences of military action in Iraq:
'You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people,' he told the president. 'You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all.' Privately, Powell and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called this the Pottery Barn rule: You break it, you own it.[4]
Powell confirmed the quotation on Jonathan Dimbleby's "Dimbleby" program on April 30, 2006.
Democratic candidate John Kerry cited the rule during the first debate of the 2004 Presidential election on September 30, 2004:
Secretary of State Colin Powell told this president the Pottery Barn rule: If you break it, you fix it. Now, if you break it, you made a mistake. It's the wrong thing to do. But you own it.
Comedian Stephen Colbert satirized the rule as applied to the ongoing occupation of Iraq on his television show, the Colbert Report, in May 2007:
At Pottery Barn, if you knock over a lamp, you have to glue it back together, even if when you're done it looks terrible and it doesn't work. Oh, and you have to stay in the store forever. Oh, and it's an exploding lamp.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Daniel Grant (2005). You Break It, You Buy It? Not According to the Law. The Crafts Report Magazine. Retrieved on 18 April 2007.
- ^ Helen Huntley (2004). Rule that isn't its rule upsets Pottery Barn. St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 18 April 2007.
- ^ William Safire (2004). You break it, you own it, you fix it language. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved on April 18, 2007.
- ^ Woodward, Bob (2004). Plan of Attack, 150.
- ^ "The Colbert Report". The Colbert Report. May 16, 2007.
