The launch of Michigan’s Corewell Health last week and its tag line, “Together, we are now” marked a new low in American advertising and marketing. The earth rumblings you possibly felt was David Ogilvy rolling in his grave.
Business
Bloomberg Exposes Self-Driving Tech “Scam”
Bloomberg today published an expose on self-driving vehicles that confirmed my worst fears and doubts about executives who champion the technology and Wall Street money managers duped by the hype.
GM On My Mind – October 6, 2022
My thoughts on GM’s illegal payment demands of U.S. military personnel, the $102.6 million a California jury has awarded the company to pay for allegedly selling faulty engines, and why newly hired “chief people officer” Arden Hoffman strikes me as someone who can inspire beleaguered employees to return to the office.
Mary Barra Singing Kumbaya Won’t Save GM
When Elon Musk says jump, Tesla and SpaceX employees ask, “How high?”
When GM CEO Mary Barra says jump, she promptly apologizes to GM employees for making such an onerous request.
Here’s why it takes a giant leap of faith to believe Barra’s claim that by mid-century she will sell more electric vehicles than Tesla.
McKinsey & The Triumph of Corporate Sleaze
The New York Times’ latest McKinsey expose serves as a reminder that lack of business ethics and morals once sparked outrage in America, but sadly that’s no longer the case. Therein is McKinsey’s true genius.
The Genius of McKinsey Consultants?
A recent New York Times expose on the Providence “nonprofit” hospital system served as yet another reminder that McKinsey consultants might not be the business geniuses they are cracked up to be, particularly in healthcare and media.
Centene’s Sarah London: A Do-Gooder Gone Bad?
When Centene’s brainiac CEO Sarah London went into healthcare after graduating with an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago it appears unlikely that she imagined herself eventually leading one of the industry’s most ethically challenged companies.
Why Hospital CEOs Are Running Scared
The American Hospital Association last week began priming the PR pump for another taxpayer bailout. This time the AHA faces some formidable opponents to the business practices of the association’s leaders and members.
Said one industry critic: Hospital prices are “indefensible” and “unsustainable.”
Tina Freese Decker’s Shameful Invoking of MLK
Tina Freese Decker, CEO of Michigan’s biggest hospital network, has a well-worn record making disingenuous statements fraught with saccharine and PR spin. But she went too far invoking the memory of Martin Luther King Jr. in a memo to employees on Friday announcing plans to fire 400 people.
As former Detroit News editor Bob Giles learned the hard way, invoking King’s name to promote employee firings can have serious consequences.
On My Mind – August 29, 2022
Some thoughts on Twitter’s whistleblower, the similarities of Elon Musk and P.T. Barnum, the New York Times and the Washington Post carrying water for the Deep State, the surge in Adderall prescriptions, and my prescience about Bed Bath & Beyond.