Filed under: Customer relations | Tags: Adobe, APIs, Apple, Flash Platform, Josh Lowensohn, Lee Brimelow, media relations, public relations, strategic communications
People always think they’re being very careful when they speak publicly. They make sure to qualify their statements with very clear caveats, like, “I’m speaking only for myself, and not as a member of the management team [or board of directors or whatever].” These statements are not just very clear; they’re also wholly ineffective.
Take, for example, this story by CNET blogger Josh Lowensohn, which reports on Adobe employee Lee Brimelow’s disparaging comments about Apple’s recent decision to bar third-party APIs from app development. The Lowensohn blog reports Brimelow’s indelicate conclusion: “Go screw yourself Apple,” and headlines the report “Adobe Flash Evangelist: ‘Go screw yourself Apple.”
Now, let’s think about this briefly: Brimelow was careful to note that he wasn’t representing Adobe’s views when he told an entire company to go molest itself. But that obviously made no difference; it ended up with Adobe’s name in the same headline as “Go screw yourself Apple.” Therefore, as far as the reading public is concerned, Adobe has said this to Apple. He’s an Adobe employee, for goodness’ sake.
So we can come to two possible conclusions: either Adobe wants this messaging out there because they believe it will appeal to their hardcore customer-base, or Brimelow strayed far from the approved messaging path and has received (or soon will receive) a dressing down by his boss(es). I can’t imagine a company like Adobe would want vulgar references to its competition as part of its communications toolkit, so I’m guessing the latter conclusion is more accurate.
I hope so, anyway; I’d hate to think that marketing devolves to competitors including the phrase “screw you” in their key messaging platforms.
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