All: The bloodbath in RainForest Cafe stock trading- that issue
having collapsed about 43% pursuant to an earnings disappointment
and Morgan Stanley downgrade- raises again the ugly spectre of the
unabashed use and complicity of the media for potentially nefarious
purposes.
It was only a fortnight ago that I recall a guest appearance
on CNBC-TV by the RainForest Cafe CEO who- with all the well
lubricated aplomb of an animated, seamless, and skilled new car
salesman- proclaimed to a typically unchallenging, unskeptical
interviewer and with a determinedly straight and sincere face
that his company was, not to coin his phrase, as right as rain.
Following fast upon the heels of this presumably unpaid promotional
blather, the Motley Fools' usurped the commander's chair of the
StarShip MoneyTalk and, most particularly, the goodwill and vast
audience that has taken Mr. Brinker years, great pains, and an
unblemished record of integrity to engender. During that "occupation"
of the StarShip by these two fast-talking, breast-beating carnival
barkers, Mr. Brinker's listenership was "treated" to an unusually
determined and persistent RainForest Cafe stock sales pitch. The
sheer intensity and vehemence of this protracted stockmongering
would have roused suspicions in even the most blithe or lacka-
daisical listener. Why this unbridled and incessant sales diatribe?
For those unfortunates who bought RAIN on the Monday following
the Motley Fools' barkings and now rue the day they ever tuned
in to that guest-hosted MoneyTalk show, the answer to that question
may appear more than obvious. In the old days, fellers might have
been lynched for less.
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