Entries Tagged 'Awful Publicity' ↓

New York State Governor David Paterson made a gaffe of epic proportions today when he blurted out “race to the cock” in a press conference on the $700 million the state secured as part of a competitive federal education grant known as “Race to the Top.”  View his doozy of a slip-up below:

Don’t have a credit card or a debit card?  Well then, you can forget about purchasing Apple’s shiny new iPad tablet computer.

The high-and-mighty technology company has decreed that it will only accept plastic as payment, cash is not acceptable, nor are Apple Gift Cards, which previously could be used to buy an iPhone.

Diane Campbell, a disabled woman on a fixed income, learned this the hard way when she walked into the Palo Alto, Calif. Apple store with $600 in cash, yet was turned away from the sales counter.

An Apple store clerk told Campbell that Apple’s policy is aimed at preventing people from buying iPads and reselling them in foreign markets.

Retired Air Force General Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the speed of sound, has filed suit against Virgin America Airlines., claiming that the carrier has used his name in conjunction with an advertisement for Virgin’s new on-board wireless Internet access without his consent.

The press release issued by Virgin stated, “Not unlike Buzz Aldrin or Chuck Yeager, you have the opportunity to be part of a monumental moment in air travel.”

Yeager’s attorneys state in the suit that, “at no time did General Yeager give his permission to defendants.”

As a general rule, Yeager rarely allows the use of his name or image for commercial products or services, the lawsuit stated.

The suit seeks a court order preventing the company from continuing to use his name and for the profits earned by Virgin from using his name, as well as punitive damages.

Yeager was a fighter pilot in World War II, and later became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.

As an Air Force test pilot, his career was highlighted in the 1979 book “The Right Stuff,” which was later made into a movie.

The other name in Virgin’s advertisement belongs to former astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, who walked on the moon as a member of the Apollo 11 crew.

Note: We have received some reports of people being unable to access this site today from TimeWarner/RoadRunner.  If you have had this problem, please let us know, with a comment below, or a note to info@awfulmarketing.com.  We are concerned that this is an effort to silence this story. Thank you!

Remember back in November, when we brought you this story about Kurt Greenbaum, a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who had a school employee fired over a comment on his newspaper’s blog?

Well, Mr. Greenbaum is back, and he seems to think that the Internet has a short memory, as he simply tries to return to his blog and Twitter account after a six-week hiatus with no mention of the incident or an apology for what he did.

Unfortunately, for Mr. Greenbaum, the Internet met his return yesterday with an overwhelmingly negative response on Twitter and other social media sites - so much so that it overwhelmed his server and took his Web site off-line for several hours.  Although Greenbaum does not seem to be allowing comments on his blog entries, the jabs against him on Twitter and social news aggregator Reddit were coming fast and furious in the late afternoon and evening.

Greenbaum seems clueless about the hate that his actions have stirred up on the Internet.  In fact, in a move that reeks of hubris, his most recent blog post outlines the job loss trends in the St. Louis area - does he not realize that HE IS RESPONSIBLE for one of those job losses?

Feel like telling Greenbaum and his bosses what you think about this?

Let the publisher know:
Kevin Mowbray - Publisher, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Phone: 314-340-8970
E-mail: kmowbray@post-dispatch.com

It looks like Apple and AT&T’s iPhone isn’t prepared for life in the Big Apple - at least not according to an AT&T representative named Daphne.

In this Consumerist article, it looks as if AT&T is no longer selling the iPhone online to customers who enter a Zip code assigned to the New York City Metro area.  It is unclear at this time if they have pulled them from store shelves in NYC as well.

A Consumerist reader gave this account of her experience with an AT&T customer service representative named Daphne:

I was on the AT&T Wireless website trying to get an iPhone. However, when I put in my zip code 11231, the site says the iPhone is unavailable. This seemed a little odd so I started punching in other famous zip codes: 90210, 60609 (spiegel catalog), 02134 (zoom, an old children’s show).For theses cities, LA, Chicago, Boston, iPhone is available. Then I looked up some other zip codes: Dallas, Miami, St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco. All those cities are ok. Then I started putting in more NYC zip codes: midtown, Staten Island, the Bronx…no iPhone available.

This is weird…AT&T has cut off New York City.

They even contacted AT&T support to verify the problem:

Daphne (AT&T):  Welcome to AT&T online Sales support. How may I assist you with placing your order today?

Laura: Hi, I was looking at the iPhone 3Gs and the system tells me that I cannot order one in my ZIP code. My zip code is 11231. (Brooklyn, NY) Is this true? Are iPhones no longer available in New York City?

Daphne (AT&T): I am happy to be helping you today . Yes, this is correct the phone is not offered to you because New York is not ready for the iPhone.

Daphne (AT&T): You don’t have enough towers to handle the phone.

Laura: Thank you for your help. So the phone is not available to people anywhere in the city?

Daphne (AT&T): Yes this is correct Laura.

If this is true, it sure doesn’t bode well for AT&T, especially on the heels of operation Chokehold earlier this month!