The current issue of Business 2.0 (January/February) features
the magazine's fourth annual list of the "101 Dumbest Moments in
Business." Here are a few PR-related doozies:
#13 In an effort to improve its public image 120 McDonald's
restaurants in England open their kitchens to tourists in October.
Says a company press release: "Major attractions include the French
Fry station and the Big Mac preparation area."
#19 American Airlines CEO Donald Carty, with his airline
teetering on bankruptcy, goes to the unions and gets $1.8 billion
in wage concessions from their 110,00 workers. At the same time,
Carty quietly files an SEC report outlining a salary-tripling bonus
scheme awarding a $41 million pension plan for the company's top 45
executives. AA's board kills the bonus plan. Carty resigns in
disgrace.
#82 "We won't win any popularity contests. We don't really care
what people think." Recording Industry Association of America
spokeswoman Amy Weiss, on the group's decision to file lawsuits
against customers accused of Internet file sharing, including a
12-year-old New York girl and a 65-year-old Massachusetts
grandmother.