You might think that corporate train wreck Circuit City (NYSE: CC) would have a lot of things to worry about -- like, oh, I don't know, the fact that it lost $165 million last quarter. Or the stock price, which has gone from $30 to $2 in less than three years. And with fellow wreck Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) having withdrawn its proposal to acquire the company, Circuit City is even out of the running for the prestigious Stupidest Merger in History That Doesn't Involve the Company Which Owns This Website Award.You might think that Circuit City management has plenty to keep it busy, but you'd be wrong. Circuit City banned its stores from selling an issue of MAD Magazine that made fun of the company, referring to it as "Sucker City." Hah.
But yesterday the company reversed course and allowed the magazines to be sold, with a PR spokesman blaming "some overly sensitive souls at our corporate headquarters" --
We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale . . . The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony . . . but there are occasional temporary lapses.
Now there's a PR guy who deserves a raise -- turning a pretty pathetic situation into a funny situation, even offering the editor of MAD a $20 gift card toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii, if he could find one.
And as for the "overly sensitive souls at corporate headquarters," maybe they should put down the magazine and do some work. Maybe lose only $50 million next quarter. It would be progress!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-05-2008 @ 3:42PM
NYC Banker said...
Aside from the financial's, circuit city is a horrible store. No matter which store I go to, all the dvd's, video games, and music, are completely out of order making it impossible to find anything. Its a task to find a staff member to help you. I will always go out of my way to shop at a best buy. *I own neither of these stocks. *
8-06-2008 @ 7:27AM
MikeNYC said...
I got some of my best buys at CIRCUIT CITY. All stores need to train their staff to answer technical questions like: Is that peak or RMS watts? etc. I use CC's free shipping for $24-up often. Those who track prices see that many stores maintain a REPUTATION for low prices which is mostly not deserved.
8-06-2008 @ 7:37AM
MikeNYC said...
Please remember that corporate-attacks come from many directions: some are designed to eliminate competition and raise prices, some are for wrecking a company and buying it out at fire-sale prices, etc. Be aware of long-term strategies happening right in front of you! Consumers lose when choices disappear. Do NOT allow that.
8-06-2008 @ 3:40PM
Ann Fry said...
As an expert in creating FUN workplaces, I commend their media relations department for trying to deflect and I hope this experience serves as a "wake up call" for making things better over there. A company IS responsible for the actions of their employees, but with a great attitude and a sense of humor they can usually find a way to crawl back out of the hole and up the ladder. Humor at work is an absolute necessity.