Wow. I guess this word was chosen as a combo of “fake” and “blogging.”
Here is the apology from Edelman’s blog:
“I want to acknowledge our error in failing to be transparent about the identity of the two bloggers from the outset. This is 100% our responsibility and our error; not the client's.”
I mean, that’s sweet that he wanted to make sure no one blamed Wal-Mart. Come on. Why is it so hard for people to APOLOGIZE? Straight out, no fluffy, unimportant stuff. How about some of this: “I am sorry. What I did was wrong. I am committed to making a change. Please consider forgiving me.” I know it’s not easy – especially when it’s for the public and business matters – but we’ve seen truly humble apologies – and when they are genuine – they work! Ok, I’ll give them credit – they did apologize. I guess every time something like this happens in the media, the apology seems sort of lame. I imagine if the offense were more personal, like between me & my boyfriend – and I wonder how I would feel if his apology was so greatly lacking… “I’m sorry that what I did hurt your feelings.” I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be getting away with that.
Am I being too nit picky? I think not – this is a PR firm. They should have a more complete apology. It sort of makes me feel like they (& others) believe it is not completely wrong to “flog.” The article makes a good point – this company is on the forefront of Web technology – they should have known better. But everyone makes -mistakes, right? Yes. They are a PR firm – they should know how to apologize, humbly.
There should be more than a call for transparency – but a call for honesty. They were not “lacking transparency.” They were dishonest, and straight up lying about what they were doing. This deserves a full apology.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
enron! money! selfishness! ahhhh!
It is incredibly frustrating to watch people make major decisions focused around money. It is even more frustrating to hear credit given to those people, because “we’ve never been faced with decision-making based on such financial power, who knows if we could stand up for what’s right if we were offered millions of dollars?”
Come on. Can we not see that Hollywood has proven that money does not buy happiness? Will we not stand up for people, because we are so self-absorbed and money hungry? Is this the American dream? I think so. Bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger feet stomping on anyone in the way of our pursuit of this lame, superficial lifestyle.
Though this was not necessarily a financial decision, I’ve faced such ethical difficulties at my internship. I work at a very small agency, and therefore have quite a bit of opportunity to work with most of our clients. However, one of our clients is Knockouts – which is the haircut version of Hooters. Something that our culture embraces with little concern – but the sort of company that I don’t feel comfortable promoting. I told my boss I didn’t want to work on Knockouts at all. I don’t agree with this ridiculous idea of married men getting their hair cut and their fantasies entertained by college-aged girls dressed in skin-tight, less-than-classy outfits. I want to promote my belief that the heart and mind matter more than the body. I don’t want my money to support Hooters, or Knockouts because I believe that the more our culture accepts this, the more quickly we’ll move towards more detrimental, immorally degrading atmospheres.
I’ve been so thankful that this has helped me establish a healthy, honest relationship with my boss. He respects me, and my opinions. I was not penalized or looked down upon for my honesty and unwillingness to plunge forward with a client that I don’t feel comfortable advocating.
I’m scared when I see this footage of how the people at Enron behaved. And I’m even more terrified when people in my classes question if they’d turn down millions of dollars in the face of complete corruption and deception. I’m scared that this is human nature. I’m scared that our society represents a valuing of money above people and their well-being.
My only tool is the pray, that God would give me grace and strength to embrace what is good for the building up of others, and not my own benefit. And that God would be working in the hearts of people, to point them to good and right things, and show them the emptiness and hopelessness of hurting others for their own financial success or personal benefit.
That He would change our lazy society, our unwillingness to stand up for what is right, is my hope. That we would be a humble people, representative of His character, and all that is good and moral, is my hope.
Come on. Can we not see that Hollywood has proven that money does not buy happiness? Will we not stand up for people, because we are so self-absorbed and money hungry? Is this the American dream? I think so. Bigger houses, bigger cars, bigger feet stomping on anyone in the way of our pursuit of this lame, superficial lifestyle.
Though this was not necessarily a financial decision, I’ve faced such ethical difficulties at my internship. I work at a very small agency, and therefore have quite a bit of opportunity to work with most of our clients. However, one of our clients is Knockouts – which is the haircut version of Hooters. Something that our culture embraces with little concern – but the sort of company that I don’t feel comfortable promoting. I told my boss I didn’t want to work on Knockouts at all. I don’t agree with this ridiculous idea of married men getting their hair cut and their fantasies entertained by college-aged girls dressed in skin-tight, less-than-classy outfits. I want to promote my belief that the heart and mind matter more than the body. I don’t want my money to support Hooters, or Knockouts because I believe that the more our culture accepts this, the more quickly we’ll move towards more detrimental, immorally degrading atmospheres.
I’ve been so thankful that this has helped me establish a healthy, honest relationship with my boss. He respects me, and my opinions. I was not penalized or looked down upon for my honesty and unwillingness to plunge forward with a client that I don’t feel comfortable advocating.
I’m scared when I see this footage of how the people at Enron behaved. And I’m even more terrified when people in my classes question if they’d turn down millions of dollars in the face of complete corruption and deception. I’m scared that this is human nature. I’m scared that our society represents a valuing of money above people and their well-being.
My only tool is the pray, that God would give me grace and strength to embrace what is good for the building up of others, and not my own benefit. And that God would be working in the hearts of people, to point them to good and right things, and show them the emptiness and hopelessness of hurting others for their own financial success or personal benefit.
That He would change our lazy society, our unwillingness to stand up for what is right, is my hope. That we would be a humble people, representative of His character, and all that is good and moral, is my hope.
Monday, October 09, 2006
midnight conference calls
We had a short discussion about Farrah's mention of having conference calls at midnight.
I agree that this is ridiculous, and should not be allowed. I do remember, though, being at Richards Group last year for agency day and asking how many hours a week they work. The young girl that had been working there for about 3 or 4 years paused and said that it varies. She explained that the Richards Group looks for people who are hard working and do what needs to be done to get the job done. She never gave an idea of an average work week. I felt like by asking how many hours they average, I was impplying (or they were assuming) that I'm not a hard worker and wouldn't be willing to "get the job done."
How do we appropriately find this balance. How could Farrah tell her boss that it's not ok for him to call her at midnight. She's been working there less than 2 years. Has she proved that she is a hard worker? When can we have this discussion? Can we set this up when we are first hired, so there is no confusion? Or do we have to let our bosses call us at midnight a few times, prove we are hard working and then draw some lines?
I agree that this is ridiculous, and should not be allowed. I do remember, though, being at Richards Group last year for agency day and asking how many hours a week they work. The young girl that had been working there for about 3 or 4 years paused and said that it varies. She explained that the Richards Group looks for people who are hard working and do what needs to be done to get the job done. She never gave an idea of an average work week. I felt like by asking how many hours they average, I was impplying (or they were assuming) that I'm not a hard worker and wouldn't be willing to "get the job done."
How do we appropriately find this balance. How could Farrah tell her boss that it's not ok for him to call her at midnight. She's been working there less than 2 years. Has she proved that she is a hard worker? When can we have this discussion? Can we set this up when we are first hired, so there is no confusion? Or do we have to let our bosses call us at midnight a few times, prove we are hard working and then draw some lines?
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