Ad Age Editor Scott Donaton writes in his column this week about the idiocy we call “corporate spin.” Jumping off from the infuriating claims by KFC they pulled their “healthy chicken” campaign because the flight had “run it’s course” rather than acknowledging they created a stupid spot with stupid claims, Donato rails on the lack of honesty and owning up to one’s actions in today’s business world.
We have arrived at a point of ridiculous so far removed from any sense of honesty that we don’t even know we are lying anymore. I’m quite certain it all started way back when there was the whole “self-esteem” movement going on in school which said children can do no wrong. Everything a child did was, in some way, a positive thing. If a kid grows up that way, of course they are going to carry that into their work life. It’s a sad commentary on our culture and it makes you yearn for the days when you could call someone an idiot because that’s what they were, not “mentally-challenged.”
