Corporate Stupidity Over Mooninites Saga
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in The War On Terrorism
Get this…Turner Broadcasting made the head of Cartoon Network resign because Boston officials couldn’t control their misplaced rage.
Jim Samples, general manger of Cartoon Network, Friday resigned under pressure following a promotional fiasco that snarled traffic in Boston and cost parent Turner Broadcasting $2 million to settle.A Turner spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Mr. Samples was forced to resign.
“I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign,” Mr. Samples said in a memo to colleagues. “As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch.”
Yeah, the gravity of the situation which was absolutely nill. I can understand if this set off panics in the 20 other cities these things were placed, but they didn’t…and with good reason. They were LiteBrite signs!
I think more than anything this was over the money. Turner felt compelled by the city to pay $2 million, and somebody’s head had to roll. But still…you’d think they’d have enough class to keep this guy on to send a signal that while Boston may have gotten the money, they still weren’t right.
And so it goes…
This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 and is filed under The War On Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 11th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I think you make a very good point in asserting that Samples stepped down because Turner saw an easy way to make this whole issue fade away. Scapegoating is the quick way to make a “we� mistake into a “he� mistake. However, I have to disagree with your statement that Samples should have stayed to send the message that Boston was in the wrong, even if they did receive millions for compensation. Regardless of the fact that this was just one city of twenty, or that the ads went unnoticed for quite some time, the only fact that matters is that they did create problems in Boston. The question is not whether Boston overreacted or if the concern was even warranted, because it does not matter. The reality is that the lite-brite characters did cause widespread panic and a major city came to a screeching halt because of some stupid advertisements. So the real question becomes what to do to clean up the mess. The company needed to take full responsibility for damage control and image management. Samples resignation showed people that the company was seriously sorry for the trouble it caused. During crisis management, only one head has to go to the chopping block to take the public blame, unfortunately for Sample it was his.
February 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
TAL - first of all, hi. Second, don’t you think we all just need to calm down a little bit on the whole “they’re out to kill us” thing and be a little more chill in the whole “terrorist planting bombs” senerio?
I’ve always thought 9/11 was really a fluke — like the kid at half-time that actually MAKES the full-court shot and wins the car or a hole-in-one on the golf course. What are the odds they could pull off another 9/11…again! I don’t think so.
If I were in charge of Homeland Security the following memo would go out immediately: “Dudes, you’ve got to chill. You’re stress’in everyone out! Yeah there are some bad hombres out there and, yeah, they don’t dig us, but honestly, if we can’t like…you know…do the Mooninite thing, then what my fellow country persons has America come to.”
March 1st, 2007 at 2:40 pm
[...] the Mooninites, then the next deadly scourge. Posted on March 1, 2007 | Permalink | Categories Crime| [...]