When self-promotion self-destructs

So our friends at the “Mother Ship”:http://gigaom.com/, have this “very intelligent take”:http://gigaom.com/2007/07/12/mackey-and-me-why-rahodeb-speaks-for-all-of-us/ on the budding scandal plaguing Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. He is being taken to task by the FTC and the media now for some apparently incriminating feats of self-promotion on a Yahoo! message board, which he penned under the screen name “Rahodeb,” an anagram for his wife’s name. (Not so smart for such a successful CEO we note, chagrinned.) We say ‘incriminating’ not in reference to Mackey’s shameless missives about himself: “I like Mackey’s haircut”; “I think he looks cute” (ehem); and, “While I’m not a ‘Mackey groupie,’...I do admire what the man has accomplished.” (come on!)

The posts are incriminating because Mackey also used the forum to blast Wild Oats, the peer company he is trying to acquire: “Would Whole Foods buy OATS?” he wrote, as Rahodeb. “Almost surely not at current prices. What would they gain? OATS locations are too small.”

It appears as if the CEO was not only promoting himself, but also trying to drive down the pricetag of his takeover. Which is why the FTC cares and began looking into the “anonymous posts” in the first place. (They’re already suing to obstruct the Whole-Oats deal.)

Should Mackey get slapped by the Feds for doing too much of what CEOs are supposed to do—promote their company’s image and brand and market position with the public? Even if they do it anonymously? We’re not sure. (As we noted above, our colleage “Kevin Kelleher elevates this discussion”:http://gigaom.com/2007/07/12/mackey-and-me-why-rahodeb-speaks-for-all-of-us/ to a level beyond screen names and produce, showing why the debate really does matter to us all. Thanks, Kevin.)

But the budding scandal begs a valuable question for founders:

How far should a start-up founder go for the sake of self-promotion? And does it matter if s/he self-promotes using a real name, a screen name, an anagram, or an avatar? How low can you go before self-promotion self-destructs?

Tell us what you think.

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Talk About This Story

Jay Fallon
(1 point)
July 13, 06:07 am

If you take the case of Steve Balmer running amok and sweating on stage like the best of them, then that’s as far as anyone should [really] go.

But he did it as himself. There’s an inherent expectation of openness and disclosure in relation to internet-based conversations that Mr. Mackey obviously didn’t take into account.

To excuse himself by pointing out that many people post in forums using a pseudonym is somewhat disingenuous, as most anonymous posters are not the CEO of a large corporation anonymously engaged in self-promotion, employer retaliation or competitor gossip.

Instead of righting a wrong, Mr. Mackey has chosen to pursue the tired line of self-righteousness that history only proves as fallible. One thing is to play games with the FTC or disparage labor unions, another is to break trust with the unforgiving internet community.

At this time, it would be in the best interest of Whole Foods shareholders to take Mr. Mackey’s keyboard away.

Aydin Mirzaee
(10 points)
July 13, 08:07 am

It’s a forum. If people want to be anonymous, they can be. The CEO is no different from anyone else…

Adam Benayoun
(114 points)
July 13, 11:07 am

I think that it is completely legal to do what he did. I personally think that you should disclose the fact you are the CEO of a company that you’re writing about, that add a lot to your credibility.
Since he did that and was risking his credibility, I can only say that he has blown that big time, Who will trust him? and since leadership is all about trust, then i can’t see how he can continue to work as the CEO.
I do not condemn such activities, lot of companies hire PR firm that ultimately operate lot of people who “gloat” about the company product, write comments on blogs about the company products and ultimately take part on forums where debate are taking place about the company.
Last one: how come the CEO has so much time left on his hand to post such comment _“I like Mackey’s haircut”; “I think he looks cute” (ehem); and, “While I’m not a ‘Mackey groupie,’…I do admire what the man has accomplished.”_

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