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Facebook's head of PR leaves amid ongoing crises
Facebook is seemingly bouncing from crisis to crisis. It might not be happy, then, that the company's leading communications exec is heading for the exit. Recode has learned that Technology Communications VP Caryn Marooney (pictured at right) is leaving Facebook after eight years at the company. There's no mention of why Marooney is leaving, although she painted it as an amicable departure. "I have more faith in Facebook than ever," she said.
Facebook admits hiring PR firm to smear Google
It seems like the ongoing rivalry between Facebook and Google has taken a turn for the subversive. Last night, a spokesman for the social network confirmed to the Daily Beast that Facebook paid a top PR firm to spread anti-Google stories across the media and to encourage various outlets to examine allegations that the Mountain View company was violating user privacy. The PR firm, Burson-Marsteller, even offered to help blogger Chris Soghoian write a critical op-ed piece about Social Circle -- a service that allows Gmail users to access information on so-called "secondary connections," or friends of their friends. Social Circle, in fact, seems to have been at the epicenter of Facebook's smear campaign. In a pitch to journalists, Burson described the tool in borderline apocalyptic terms: "The American people must be made aware of the now immediate intrusions into their deeply personal lives Google is cataloging and broadcasting every minute of every day-without their permission." Soghoian thought that Burson's representatives were "making a mountain out of a molehill," so he decided to prod them about which company they might be working for. When Burson refused to spill the beans, Soghoian went public and published all of the e-mails sent between him and the firm. USA Today picked up on the story, before concluding that any claims of a smear campaign were unfounded. The Daily Beast's Dan Lyons, however, apparently forced Facebook's hand after confronting the company with "evidence" of its involvement. A Facebook spokesman said the social network hired Burson to do its Nixonian dirty work for two primary reasons: it genuinely believes that Google is violating consumer privacy and it also suspects that its rival "may be improperly using data they have scraped about Facebook users." In other words, their actions were motivated by both "altruistic" and self-serving agendas, though we'd be willing to bet that the latter slightly outweighed the former. Google, meanwhile, has yet to comment on the story, saying that it still needs more time to wrap its head around everything -- which might just be the most appropriate "no comment" we've ever heard.
Motorola ready to make sweet love to Android ROM devs and rooters?
HTC is legendary for its tacit support of the Android ROM cooking community. Motorola... not so much, thanks in large part to the company's policy of locking down the bootloader as a means to prevent unapproved software from running on its Droid handsets. An annoyance recently exacerbated by a moderator of Moto's YouTube channel who suggested that customers looking to install custom ROMs should "buy elsewhere." Ouch. The resulting public relations kerfuffle then prompted Motorola to publish a clarification to its bootloader policy on Facebook: We apologize for the feedback we provided regarding our bootloader policy. The response does not reflect the views of Motorola. We are working closely with our partners to offer a bootloader solution that will enable developers to use our devices as a development platform while still protecting our users' interests. More detailed information will follow as we get closer to availability. Obviously, we'll have wait for said details to get official before calling this a shift in strategy. It's certainly an improvement over Moto's previous approach of lawyering-up with cease and desist orders. Perhaps Motorola is taking a cue from Microsoft who seems to have recently discovered that it's better to embrace than to annoy a motivated hacking community -- customers who tend to be a company's most dedicated fans and evangelists.
Stevemail smackdown on student strikes sparks
On Friday, Gawker ran the story of Chelsea K. Isaacs and her claimed email back-and-forth with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Now it's all the buzz. Isaacs, a self-described "renowned college journalist, artist and social fixture" (also apparently North America's "most desirable hand model" at the age of 12, which is, if accurate, rather creepy), didn't get the replies she sought when she reached out to Apple's media relations team over and over for answers relating to a class assignment. Since her three iPad-related questions were apparently the key to her getting an A on her classwork, and she felt that she'd been ill-treated by the silence, she took her case to El Steve. The exchange was spicy enough to get covered all over the place, from New York Magazine to the UK's Guardian newspaper. Apparently, when a CEO bothers to answer his email at all, she thought he'd be friendly and helpful -- not say things like "Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade" and "Please leave us alone." Curt and more than a little rude? Sure, but a) that's our Steve, and b) she kind of had it coming. I'm not sure how much Ms. Isaacs knows about Apple, but if she was expecting a prompt and thorough response to any question that began "I'm working on a college assignment" from the PR folk, she's not living on the same planet as any journalist or blogger who covers the company. From the bottom to the top, Apple employees hold their cards close to the chest, and often as not a request for comment goes unanswered -- even from major media outlets, to say nothing of college seniors. Calling repeatedly and desperately with the three mystery iPad questions, rather than rolling with a placid "Apple's representatives were not available for comment" or seeking out other sources of info, doesn't speak for her journalistic acumen. Emailing the CEO to complain that nobody would help her with her schoolwork? Well, that's just sophomoric. One thing's for certain, though, she's got her good grade in Brand Promotion 101 -- although who knows how well it will serve her out in the job market. Of course, from a media relations perspective, far better if Steve had skipped replying at all, or come back with a simple "Sorry, can't help" rather than getting in that satisfying but unnecessary dig about her grades. Then again, she's fortunate he didn't get really ticked off and go all ninja on her.
Palm files 8-K with SEC on merger, VP of PR Lynn Fox leaving
Okay, we've got lots of Palm news tonight, so take our hand and let us walk you through it. For starters, the company filed a 8-K report with the SEC today, which is a requirement when major changes (e.g. a merger with HP) are happening. According to the paperwork, the transaction / acquisition was expected to close by July 1st... but it might actually be anytime within the first week of July. A PreCentral forums member claims to have listened in on a shareholding meeting today and heard that from VP of Investor Relations Teri Klein. Additionally, he also heard that under HP, current Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein will head up a smartphone / mobility unit that's culled from both his company and another HP unit. Finally, news has come in this evening in that VP of Public Relations Lynn Fox is joining the likes of Matias Duarte, Rich Dellinger, and Caitlin Spaan in leaving Palm. Though we understand she's staying with Palm through next week, she is definitely not sticking around -- according to her Facebook page, Fox "respectfully declined the opportunity to join HP after its acquisition of Palm" and will be pursuing other opportunities. So, when can we get back to talking about those mysterious new webOS devices? That aren't printers?
BP damage control extends to purchasing search terms like 'oil spill' on Google, Yahoo
If you're looking for the latest updates on the Gulf Oil Disaster, you're probably not wondering "how BP is helping," but that hasn't stopped the company from snatching up keywords on various sites. "We have bought search terms on search engines like Google to make it easier for people to find out more about our efforts in the Gulf," BP spokesman Toby Odone told ABC News. We regret to inform ol' Toby that if it cannot manage the oil spill, managing its PR is not going to placate anybody.
Sony places twice in list of business blunders
Given the PS3's precipitous fall from presumed console war winner to a seemingly perpetual runner-up status in domestic and foreign sales, we could probably fill a list of 101 dumb business moments using Sony alone. While Fortune's list of 101 dumb business moments of 2007 isn't so narrowly focused, Sony still manages to show up twice for two separate PR blunders.Fortune gives the 61st position on the list to Sony's over-the-top God of War II launch party and the furor it drew from animal rights groups. Never mind that the reality of the event was much tamer than the media sensationalism -- in public relations, perception quickly becomes reality (In fact, even now Fortune repeats the Sony-denied claim that journalists were invited to "reach inside the still-warm carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat to eat offal from its stomach.")Trailing right behind at No. 63 on the list is the Church of England's vocal objections to the use of Manchester Cathedral in Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man. Again, it doesn't really matter that Sony apologized twice or that the cathedral's use wasn't any worse than that seen in popular movies. Once the story is out there, the PR damage is hard to undo. Dumb, but true.[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Microsoft launches Japanese PR Blog
Here's a thankless way to make Microsoft's payroll: running the equivalent of GamerScoreBlog for Xbox Japan. Undeterred, Shigeo Tatsumi and the marketing team in the Land of Low Expectations recently launched a new employee blog and a community site called Xbox Friends. Here's hoping they find a few.
National Semi hands out pink slips, snatches "gift" iPods
He who giveth can also taketh away -- our parents used to use that line when threatening our young lives, but in the case of manufacturing giant National Semiconductor, it also holds true for iPods. You'll recall that in a transparent bid for publicity genuine show of appreciation for its employees last month, the company "gave" all 8,500 of them a 30GB iPod to celebrate record profits from the previous year -- although spokespeople were careful to only say that National Semi was "equipping" staff with the players, and apparently refused to speculate on whether or not terminated employees would be able to keep their "gifts." Well as it turns out, 35 workers recently laid off from the company's Arlington plant were in fact asked to hand in their 'Pods as they walked out the door, and those folks who had given theirs away were charged a "fair market value" to be paid from their soon-to-be-non-existent wages. Now we're no experts in public relations, but it seems that if you're going to make a big deal about how much your company values its employees, you'd want to do your best to avoid the sort of seemingly hypocritical behavior that publications such as ours just love to cover.[Via digg]
