bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 ::

Foot-in-mouth disease: the Bimbos of summer...
Every month, the folks at PR firm Spaeth Communications send out their list of the dumbest public comments made in the media during the previous month and honor one particularly stupid comment as the Bimbo of the Month. (Spaeth calls these designations "Bimbo Awards," named in honor of Jessica Hahn, the former church secretary who got caught up in a sex scandal involving televangelist Jim Bakker back in the '80s. When confronted with charges of bimboism, Hahn fired back, "I am not a bimbo," and everyone knew, then and there, that she was.)

The June list of Bimbos is quite a compilation of stupid comments. The winner is:
“The wheels are not coming off” at Airbus, said John Leahy, the company’s chief operating officer. He was responding to news that the company faces another six-month delay in the A380 and that Singapore Airlines was ordering 20 of Boeings 787 “Dreamliners.”
(An unfortunate choice of words.)
The Wall Street Journal, “Bet on Huge Plane Trips Up Airbus,” June 15, 2006
Other bimbos:
“There’s no conspiracy to do away with the EV1 at the Smithsonian. There is no Oliver Stone-esque conspiracy at GM to do away with the EV1,” said GM spokesman Dave Barthmuss about the mysterious disappearance of the electric vehicle from a display on the eve of a movie, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”
(If you know anyone at GM, send them the BIMBO memo with an explanation of why you always use an opportunity for a quote to make a positive comment.)
Washingtonpost.com, “An Electric Car, Booted,” June 15, 2006

When asked if they get a monetary percentage of a tour, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau recommended it was a kickback. Butch Spyridon, head of the Bureau said, “We get transaction fees. Don’t use that word ‘kickback.’”
(But he just did. This example is a case study in bad communication. A Bureau employee had counseled a visiting couple on a budget and told them that they could get a map locating the homes of Nashville stars and drive themselves around rather than pay $80 to join a tour. Spryidon called all employees to a meeting, disciplined the helpful employee and told them all that their job was to recommend tours. We hear a song about customer service coming on…)
The Tennessean, “Man Busted for Trying to Save Tourists a Little Green,” June 14, 2006

“First and foremost, there has not been a mass layoff of employees at the Troy Regional Medical Center nor has there been a boycott of the hospital by local doctors,” said CEO Bill Grey, responding to rumors. He added, “Any time there is a change in physician status, there will be some change in referral patterns but there has not been a big drop-off of patients.”
(This article is an excellent – bad – example of why it is a mistake to respond to rumors and especially to do so with lengthy denials. Catch the whole article at The Messenger, “TRMC reduces staff,” May 24, 2006

“We have not done anything improper or illegal in this particular case or in any other case,” insisted lawyer Howard Yaruss, general counsel for a company called Radian which advised Fannie Mae, the mortgage finance giant which just paid $400 million to settle allegations that it cooked the books.
(It didn’t help that a Fannie official sent an e-mail about Radian’s work saying that he was “terrified of the negative public relations aspects of a disclosure of a transaction like this.”)
Business Week, “It Looks like Fannie had Some Help,” June 12, 2006

And from the "wrong thing to say" department:

“I’ve never seen people enjoying their husband’s death so much,” wrote Ann Coulter in her new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism.
(Hardly a momentary gaffe, best selling author Coulter chose the word deliberately to create controversy and wound. Alan Combs had it right when he chastised her saying, “Any of these women would trade (the attention) for their husbands back.”)
The New York Times, “Deadly Intent: Ann Coulter, Word Warrior,” June 12, 2006

Federic Rouzard, managing director of Louis Roederer Cristal, told The Economist that he was none too happy that rapper Jay-Z loved his bubbly, saying “We can’t forbid people from buying it. I’m sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business.” Jay-Z reacted predictably, switching brands, changing lyrics which promoted Cristal and enlisting his buddies to do the same. (Is this French for insult your customers and drive them away?)
New York Post, “Jay-Z Uncorks Cristal Revenge,” June 21, 2006

Tags: bimbo, bimbos, PR, public relations

:: Andrew 12:23 + ::
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