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The British are supposed to be famous for laughing at themselves.
英國人因善于自嘲而出名。
But even their sense of humour has a limit, as the British retailer Gerald Ratner found out to his cost.
然而這種自嘲也是有限制的，英國零售商杰拉爾德·拉特納花了很大的代價才弄明白這一點。
When Ratner took over his father's chain of 130 jewelry shops in 1984, he introduced a very clear company policy.
1984年，杰拉爾德·拉特納從他父親手里繼承130家珠寶店的產業鏈時，他推出了一條非常簡潔的營銷策略。
He decided that his shops should sell down market products at the lowest possible prices.
他決定所有的商鋪都以市場最低價格銷售商品。
It was a great success.
他獲得了巨大的成功。
The British public loved his cheap gold earrings and his tasteless silver ornaments.
英國民眾十分喜歡那些便宜的黃金耳環和毫無品位的銀飾。
By 1991, Ratner's company had 2 400 shops and it was worth over 680 million pounds.
到了1991年，拉特納的公司擁有2400家商鋪，總價值超過了6.8億英鎊。
But in April of that year, Gerald Ratner made a big mistake.
但同年四月，杰拉爾德·拉特納犯了一個巨大的錯誤。
At a big meeting of top British business people, he suited up and explained the secret of his success.
在英國頂級商務人士的一次盛大的會議上，他穿的西裝革履，并解釋了自己成功的秘密。
"People say how can we sell our goods for such a low price?"
"人們問為什么我們能夠用如此低的價格銷售商品？"
"I say because they are absolute rubbish."
"我說因為這些東西都是垃圾。"
His audience roared with laughter.
他的觀眾爆發了一陣狂笑。
But the British newspapers and the British public were not so amused.
但英國媒體和民眾并不覺得好笑。
People felt insulted and stayed away from Ratner's shops.
人們覺得被冒犯，從而不再光臨拉特納的店鋪。
Sales fell and six months after his speech, Ratner's share price had fallen by 42%.
銷售額節節下降，在演講之后6個月，拉特納的股票價格暴跌42%。
The following year, things got worse and Gerald Ratner was forced to resign.
接下來這一年，事情變得更加糟糕，杰拉爾德·拉特納不得不引咎辭職。
By the end of 1992, he lost his company, his career and his house.
1992年底，他失去了自己的公司、事業和房子。
Even worse, 25,000 of his employees had lost their jobs.
更糟的是，他的兩萬五千名員工也失去了工作。
It had been a very expensive joke.
這是一個代價沉重的玩笑。
