Back

BIMBO Nominees for August 2008

---

• Bimbo
• August 1, 2008
• by Spaeth Communications
• Share

---

WINNING BIMBO

“I didn’t even know it was a deal,” said longtime Congressman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., “I don’t see anything unfair about…” referring to his four rent stabilized apartments in one of the most desirable apartment buildings in New York City. He used one as an office, which is a violation of city regulations that state that rent regulated apartments can only be used as residences.Congressman Rangel insisted that the building owner wasn’t cutting him any special “sweetheart deal,” a claim about as believable as the senators who were clueless that they got great deals from mortgage lenders, even talking directly to the CEO of the mortgage company. Rangel also demonstrated why it’s a mistake to use “bad words,” calling a New York Times reporter who pressed him about the propriety of having four apartments for a fraction of their current fair market rental value, “stupid” and “dumb.” The Times took great delight in quoting housing experts who noted that it was “virtually unheard of” for a tenant to have four of the sought-after low rent apartments.

The New York Times, “Harlem Congressman Defends His 4 Apartments,” July 12, 2008

LATE ENTRY – CO-WINNER

“I never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator,” Said Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Ala., in response to an indictment by the Department of Justice on charges that he received hundreds of thousands of dollars of gifts and services from individuals and companies and did not disclose them on required forms, and that the Senator failed to disclose these gifts and services from 1999 to 2006. What’s infuriating about this is the word “knowingly.” The Senator is doing the same thing that Senators Dodd and Conrad did last month when they were shocked – shocked! – that they got special deals on their home mortgages. Republicans will probably lose this Senate seat because of his arrogance and self-deception.

The New York Times, “Senator charged in scheme to hide oil firm gifts,” July 30, 2008

THE RUNNERS-UP

“This is not a corporate promotion or public relations initiative,” said Julie Wilson, vice president of Corporate Development at Chesapeake Energy Corp., one of the largest companies drilling in the natural gas deposits of Texas’ Barnett Shale area. Chesapeake made headlines by bankrolling an Internet-based TV channel and hiring three prominent local TV personalities. The company says the site is “to provide a forum for in-depth, independent discussions and analyses of these complex issues and opportunities.” She should have stuck to the second quote. The first quote gets a BIMBO because we thought that providing a forum for in-depth discussions and using new channels like the Internet was the very definition of good public relations. Ms. Wilson’s comment only perpetuates the idea that PR is, well, not serious.

The Dallas Morning News, “Veteran Dallas TV anchor leaving news to start Web Program,” July 10, 2008

“My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce,” said Madonna. She added, “I am not romantically involved with Alex Rodriguez.”  The wife of the Yankee third baseman has filed for divorce, and Madonna and Rodriguez have been repeatedly mentioned as an item in the gossip press. Cynthia Rodriguez’s lawyer, Maurice Kutner, added his own BIMBO, “There’s no vindictiveness here.” Only a matter of time before we see pictures.

FOXSPORTS.com, “A-Rod’s wife files for divorce in Miami,” July 7, 2008

People Magazine, “Madonna: I'm not planning on getting a divorce,” July 6, 2008

“There’s no attempt to try to squash, you know, whistleblowers or that kind of thing,” said longtime Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, about the police department’s attempt to get AOL to release information about the identity of a blogger critical of the department. Besides the obvious BIMBO comment that was repeated in the headlines, this is one of a number of examples this month of how the new media channels are changing how organizations have to think about communication. Critical or hostile blogs have become a fact of life. Companies are struggling with how to enable sites which are independent and objective – and not obviously corporate-speak – to counter this trend. But trying to shut them down via lawsuits is a losing strategy. The anonymous bloggers have the D.C.-based Public Citizen Litigation Group defending them. Stay tuned.

Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Mayor says blog case is not about ‘whistleblowers,’” July 24, 2008

”The world will not end when the LHC switches on,” says CERN physicist Lyn Evans. LHC stands for Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful atom-smasher, located in Meyrin, Switzerland, due to begin test runs in August. Citizen groups worry that the largest scientific experiment in history could create a black hole and suck the earth into it or create new killer particles called ‘strangelets.’ One of the problems with print, and the advantage of radio and television, is that the AP reporter could not reproduce the howls of laughter from the scientists as they responded.

AP, “Some fear powerful atom-smasher,” June 30, 2008

“I don’t want to be a distraction,” said Senator Obama’s wife Michelle. The comment was on the front page of USAToday. Too late. The media world has changed too much. She’s already shown that she has strong opinions, so the media is going to pick up everything.

USAToday, “I don’t want to be a distraction,” July 30, 2008

CELL PHONE EXAMPLE OF THE MONTH

The first video of the Qantas jumbo jet with a hole in its side was the scene inside the plane as it made its descent and the passengers could see land out the window. A passenger with a cell phone video camera recorded images of the passengers with oxygen masks pressed on their faces, a quiet cabin and finally applause as the plane landed. We are including this example and starting a new category because the prevalence of cell phones with picture and video capability has forever changed how companies think about crisis, and in fact, about communications in general.

The Dallas Morning News, “Hole rips into side of plane,” July 26, 2008

WRONG THING TO SAY

“I’d like to cut his n—s off,” whispered Rev. Jesse Jackson to a fellow panelist while his microphone was still ‘hot.’ Jackson also used the ‘n’ word during conversations which he later said he thought were private. Give us a break. Jackson is an expert at media attention and manipulation. We don’t know what he thought he would accomplish, and it certainly points out the hypocrisy of attacking people like Don Imus for their language. Jackson’s son, a congressman from Chicago, had the best reaction when he publicly told his Dad to button his lip.

Reuters, “Jesse Jackson: Obama talking down to blacks,” July 10, 2008

AP, “Jackson apologizes for his comments about Obama,” July 9, 2008

POWER OF ‘BAD WORDS’ – WRONG THING TO SAY

Writing to the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) and the FDIC, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., noted that IndyMac Bank “could face a collapse.”  The letter was leaked to the media on June 26, showing us the power of words. The impact of the letter was confirmed by an OTS press release noting, “The immediate cause of the (bank) closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York… In the following 11 business days, depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts.” The Wall Street Journal noted that the SEC had begun investigating rumor mongers who may have contributed to the demise of Bear Stearns and called Senator Schumer “more deserving” of investigation.

The New York Times, “The $4 Billion Senator,” July 15, 2008

THE RUNNERS-UP- WRONG THING TO SAY

“I think the key for a company like Research in Motion (RIM) is to accept the fact that your device will be a little uglier (than the iPhone) but will be a little easier to use,” said John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates, a Dallas-based market research firm, about BlackBerry’s “secret” Thunder project to take on the iPhone. Mr. Barrett should do some research into what not to say. “Ugly” is certainly not what RIM wants associated with any product competing with Apple.  RIM is based in Canada, but its American headquarters is in Irving, TX.

Dallas Business Journal, “RIM prepares for iPhone competition,” July 18, 2008

“They’re like cars, they’re mechanical items, you never know when they’re not going to work right,” an American Airlines spokesperson told the press after flight 1767 left Dallas for Palm Springs and made an emergency landing when the pilot detected problems with the equipment which keeps the aircraft stable. Whatever happened to “Safety is always our top priority”? The phrase “you never know when they’re not going to work right” is anything but reassuring.

The Dallas Morning News, “American Airlines jet returns to D/FW with mechanical problems,” July 9, 2008

“I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill,’” said Windsor Hills Baptist Church youth pastor Bob Ross about plans to give away a semi-automatic assault rifle at a youth conference.These folks are the ones that give Oklahoma a bad name. The church announced they would give away the gun at next year’s conference. Mr. Ross also needs his own copy of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style for grammar tips.

KOCO.com, “Church cancels teen gun giveaway,” July 12, 2008

“Wall Street got drunk,” said President Bush at a private fundraiser for Republican congressional candidate Pete Olson. The complete quote was: “There’s no question about it, Wall Street got drunk. That’s one of the reasons I asked you to turn off the TV cameras. It got drunk and now it’s got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments.” The President is correct, if also missing some of finer points of grammar, and again the point is that today, a camera is always on. Cameras were not allowed in the fundraiser, but the Houston ABC affiliate obtained video and promptly posted it on its YouTube page.

The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room, “Bush on economy: ‘Wall Street got drunk.’” July 22, 2008

“How do you respond to something like this when you’re not a cheater?” said Evan Morgenstein, Jessica Hardy’s agent, after Ms. Hardy was dropped from the Olympic team after testing positive for a banned substance. Hardy had no explanation for the positive test. Whatever the situation, her agent shouldn’t have used the word “cheater.”

USAToday, “U.S. swimmer’s lawyer confirms positive test,” July 25, 2008 

BEST HUMOR LINE OF THE CAMPAIGN SEASON

“My opponent, of course is traveling in Europe and tomorrow his tour takes him to France. In a scene Lance would recognize, a throng of adoring fans awaits Senator Obama in Paris – and that’s just the American press!” said Sen. John McCain, traveling with bicycling superstar Lance Armstrong.

The New York Times, “Hey, Obama: There’s bratwurst in Ohio, too (but no cheering masses),” July 25, 2008

E-MAIL EXAMPLE OF THE MONTH

Controversy swirls around rating agencies Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch, about whether they gave high ratings to complex financial instruments bundling subprime mortgages while knowing that they were risky. E-mails obtained and released by the SEC appeared to confirm the charge. Greg Farrell in USAToday wrote, “In one, an unnamed analyst complained that her agency’s methodology didn’t capture ‘half’ of the risk of a particular security, adding ‘it could be structured by cows, and we’d rate it.’ A manager at the same firm wrote that his agency was ‘creating an even bigger monster, the CDO market. Let’s hope we are all retired and wealthy before this house of cards falters.’”

USAToday, “SEC slams credit-rating agencies over standards,” July 9, 2008

MORE NEW MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS AND TENSION

Twitter twitter. Texas Rep. John Culberson is in trouble for twittering to staff and voters about events that were about to occur in D.C. The Chairman of the House Commission on Mailing Standards, Michael Capuano, D-Mass., is trying to prevent Culberson from twittering, the cell phone service which sends the 140 character “tweets” to any number of recipients’ cell phones. Culberson’s comeback line summarized the situation neatly, “I said, ‘Mike, you’re going to have about as much luck regulating the Internet as King Knut did when he ordered his men to put his throne on the beach and he tried to order the tide to stop.’”  Culberson sent his defiant but humorous retort to constituents via a video message. The House Leadership is still attempting to prevent Twittering although e-mails are regularly sent from the House floor. We think Culberson has called this correctly. Other examples this month show the futility of trying to put the new media genie back in the iBottle.

FOX News, “House a twitter over rules governing video, blog posts,” July 16, 2008   

HERE’S A SCARY NUMBER

In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin T. Lim finds that a 100 years ago Presidential speeches assumed a college reading level, but today, they assume an eighth grade reading level. In 1913, the average presidential sentence was 35 words. Today, it has 22 words. In President Nixon’s administration, the average sound bite was 42 seconds. That has shrunk to 7 seconds today.

New York Magazine, “Raise high the rafters,” June 30-July 7, 2008

HUMOR WINNER OF THE MONTH

Annoyed by a 465 page lawsuit with a title page eight pages long, Federal Judge Ronald Leighton reminded the lawyer that allegations should be “a short and plain statement” and issued this order:

“Plaintiff has a great deal to say,

But it seems he has skipped Rule 8(a).

His Complaint is too long,

Which renders it wrong,

Please rewrite and refile today.”

The Miami Herald, “Wash. judge tells verbose lawyer to make it snappy,” July 7, 2008