Microsoft's Dirty PR Move abcnews.com
Supertitle: Where's the outrage?
Always good to check back on Fred Moody from time to time. On the old-news "grass roots" PR-gates thing, he's more outraged than most. Fred's a fellow Shirley Temple idealist who sees Bill as a knight in shining armor, I guess.
It is hard to figure out what is most outrageous about this plan: its cynical take on the American political process, the fact that Microsoft, which so prides itself on its smarts, would try something so stupid, or the lamentable fact that no one tried to buy me off.
They're still annoyed with Fred in Redmond from that old column where he blew his stack because somebody didn't return his phone call.
On second thought, the most outrageous (or at least the most depressing) feature of Microsoft's PR 3.0 might be the lack of outrage among American citizens/consumers. The fact that hordes of Americans bearing torches haven't stormed the Microsoft campus and destroyed it speaks volumes about the degree to which cynicism has seeped into the American consciousness. To judge from the wide national yawn over this story, most Americans-with the notable exception of these-consider the Microsoft gambit to be business as usual.
I'd rephrase that last line as "standard Microsoft business practice", it doesn't seem very out of the ordinary. Of course, we all know that Bill's just defending himself from Nixon-era dirty tricks. All's fair in war and business.
The sad fact is that such practices have not been business as usual for Microsoft. The decision to undertake such a campaign signals an epic disconnection of the company from its origins as a pugnacious and essentially idealistic kid corporation. It has grown into a grotesque, politically connected monster intent on protecting an established position of power rather than overthrowing the Establishment.
Good old Fred, not only is he a Shirley Temple idealist, Microsoft is too. From everything I've heard about Microsoft, from friend and foe alike, sure looks like business as usual to me. I guess somebody will have to mail Fred a note about the Steve Bartko saga, or Ballmer's "Chinese Wall", later amended to "flying in formation", or Cutler's stolen DEC code.
According to company documents leaked to the Times, the misbegotten Microsoft initiative was under the direction of Rory Davenport, described in the documents as Edelman's director of "grassroots and political programs" in Washington, D.C. Consider, in this connection, the definition of "grassroots," as delivered by Webster's Third: ".constituting or acting as a fundamental politico-economic group and a source of independent popular opinion." The fact that Americans smart enough to hold a job requiring a college education can consult with (or, for that matter, be) a manufacturer of grassroots "programs," speaks deafening volumes about the degree to which corruption is now an acceptable and established part of the American political process. Not since the heyday of the late lamented Soviet Union has the world seen such breathtaking cynicism in a country's corridors of power.
Oh Jeez Louise Fred, haven't you ever heard of "Wise Use"? Maybe Fred should call up Nathan, ask about where the thousand of telegrams the Nixon Whitehouse was always getting came from. Fake "grass roots" campaigns are a dime a dozen. It's always good to keep watch on them, though. As the old phrase goes, follow the money.
This is not to say that Microsoft is a halfhearted victim of is hired spinmasters. Greg Miller, who with Leslie Helm wrote the Times story, says, "Our impression from the sources we talked with is that Microsoft presented this to their various local PR firms as a done deal. Microsoft PR people were leading the meetings where it was discussed." Miller's comment reminded me of a time years ago when, wandering among Microsoft's software engineers, I often would hear them refer with disgust and trepidation to the company's "marketing weasels." The prevailing attitude among programmers then was that Microsoft's marketing and PR departments were growing too large and powerful for the company's own good. Too bad Bill Gates wasn't listening.
Yeah, Bill's supposed to be the humble and naive software engineer, why doesn't he talk to that wing of the company ever? Of course, Nathan "Nixon era dirty tricks" Myhrvold is supposed to be from that wing too. Methinks Bill did too good a PR job with Fred in the past, the real Bill was there all along. He's taking us where we want to go!
Cheers, Dan, bemused as ever. |
