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taking it seriously
California Hospital Takes Botched Operations Seriously
WHO: St. Joseph Hospital in Orange County.
WHAT: The California Department of Public Health is investigating St. Joseph for conducting three 'wrong site' operations since January 2006. Botched surgeries include operating on a patient's good knee and making an incision on the wrong side of a patient's head.
WHERE: Orange hospital under investigation for operating room error [L.A. Times]
THE QUOTE: "Members of the clinical team involved in these cases have been deeply affected, and as a hospital we take this very seriously and regret that it happened," [Dr. Raymond Casciari, St. Joseph's chief medical officer] said.
public relations
Go-Cart Track Takes Scalped Customer's Safety Very Seriously
WHO: A Utah Go-Cart track
WHAT: A woman's long hair got tangled in the moving parts of a go-cart and her hair, scalp, and ear were ripped from her head.
WHERE: WDEF
THE QUOTE: "The owner of the go-cart track says... this was an extremely unfortunate accident that he feels horrible about...He also said the company takes safety of its customers very seriously."
"Taking it seriously" is a phrase companies use over and over again in public statements whenever they have bad PR. Our series of posts on occurrences of the phrase is our attempt to question how seriously companies are really taking these matters if every time they trot out this phrase by rote.
(Thanks to David!) (Image: CNN)
An astroturfing group started by chemical supergiant Monsanto is trying to stop the spread of milk that's free of bovine synthetic growth hormone. They say they're trying to defend farmer's rights but they can't fool us, we know they really just want to make the future safe for large breasts. [NYT]
taking it seriously
Showtime Takes Annoying Ads During Movies Seriously
WHO: Showtime
WHAT: Showtime is promoting the upcoming shows by playing banner ads during movies that you paid to watch.
WHERE: Customer Service email
THE QUOTE: "While some viewers may be displeased with this tactic, we have found that a number of our subscribers appreciate learning about the premiere of a series in such a manner. Nevertheless, please note that we take your comments very seriously and have forwarded your concerns to the appropriate people. Thank you for writing to us."
legal threats
"Tiny Details" Owner Sends Miniature Threats To Former Customer
Tiny Details is a work-at-home company that pays hobbyists to make little dollhousey things. You buy the materials from Tiny Details for $55, make the assigned object(s), and Tiny Details buys them back. Unfortunately, many customers have complained about problems getting payments or refunds from the company over the years—here's their less-than-stellar BBB entry. Yesterday Kristopher Buchan, the owner of Tiny Details, emailed one former customer/client to tell him his complaints amounted to libel. Buchan demanded the customer remove them from teh interweb, and threatened him repeatedly with a lawsuit. And now we're posting about it on The Consumerist! See how that works, Tiny Details? More »
net neutrality
Comcast admitted to paying its employees to sit in at a F.C.C. hearing on net neutrality at the Harvard Law School today, depriving angry protesters from their right to sit in those folding chairs. Despite the venue being filled to over capacity, keeping some people from entering, not everyone inside seemed appreciative of their privilege. One Comcast employee admitted on tape, "I'm just getting paid to hold someone's seat, I don't even know what's going on." According to SaveTheInternet.com, the Comcast employees, "arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep." The stacked audience's behavior was limited to wearing a yellow highlighter, sleeping during the proceedings, and loudly applauding when Comcast VP David Cohen got on the mic.
More »
Comcast Stacks FCC Hearing Seats With Sleepy Shills
Comcast admitted to paying its employees to sit in at a F.C.C. hearing on net neutrality at the Harvard Law School today, depriving angry protesters from their right to sit in those folding chairs. Despite the venue being filled to over capacity, keeping some people from entering, not everyone inside seemed appreciative of their privilege. One Comcast employee admitted on tape, "I'm just getting paid to hold someone's seat, I don't even know what's going on." According to SaveTheInternet.com, the Comcast employees, "arrived en masse some 90 minutes before the hearing began and occupied almost every available seat, upon which many promptly fell asleep." The stacked audience's behavior was limited to wearing a yellow highlighter, sleeping during the proceedings, and loudly applauding when Comcast VP David Cohen got on the mic.
More »
public relations
The Monster Cables Public Relations department sent in a two-page response to our post, "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is one issue that they are definitely taking seriously. Read their official company rebuttal statement, inside...
More »
Monster Responds To "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff"
The Monster Cables Public Relations department sent in a two-page response to our post, "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is one issue that they are definitely taking seriously. Read their official company rebuttal statement, inside...
More »
stupid shipping gang
Dell has promised to stop shipping individual CDs in 10x19x10 boxes after Christian over at Technologist for Hire posted a rant about Dell's growing love for wasteful packaging.
More »
Dell: Let's Ship Tiny CDs In Massive Boxes!
Dell has promised to stop shipping individual CDs in 10x19x10 boxes after Christian over at Technologist for Hire posted a rant about Dell's growing love for wasteful packaging.
More »
taking it seriously
WestJet Is Taking Child Endangerment Seriously
WHO: WestJet
WHAT: Parents pay extra fee to airline so their five-year-old child traveling alone would be checked in and taken care of and escorted off the plane by airline personnel. Instead, she was ignored and the guy who sat next her on the flight helped her off, seeing as nobody from the airline was doing anything.
WHERE: WestJet allows stranger to walk five-year-old girl off flight [CBC]
THE QUOTE: "The situation is of utmost concern for WestJet and we are taking this matter very seriously. We have apologized to the parents of the child and are doing all that we can to ensure that this does not happen in the future."
(Thanks to James and Kevin!)
problem solving
Solve Problems On Cruise Ships By Staging A Mutiny!
When storms force your cruise to skip ports of call, don't sit idly in your cabin watching the whitecaps break menacingly against the ship. Go find your fellow passengers and stage a mutiny! At least that is what passengers onboard the Sapphire Princess did when two typhoons kept the ship from planned port calls in Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan.At one point, with passengers assembled in the ship's theater, she said, "the attorney jumped up and grabbed the microphone away from the assistant cruise director and said: 'We're taking over the stage! We have a petition!'"More »
Man Finds Used Condom In Southwestern Whopper, Sues Burger King
Van Miguel Hartless is suing the owner of a Rutland Burger King after biting into a Southwestern Whopper that contained a used condom. When Hartless complained to the manager, he "laughed off the incident."
Van Miguel Hartless is suing the owner of a Rutland Burger King after biting into a Southwestern Whopper that contained a used condom. When Hartless complained to the manager, he "laughed off the incident."
public relations
Again and again, apologetic public statements by company spokespeople feature the phrase, "taking it seriously," or a variant thereof. Are all these companies really taking things as seriously as they say? Or is "taking it seriously" seen as an all-purpose incantation from the PR grimoire that magically erases away wrongdoing? A sort of "disaster ketchup?" Since we always like to see the good in humanity, we'll refrain from passing judgment, and instead offer up eight recent iterations of the phrase so you can decide for yourselves.
More »
WHO Is Taking WHAT Seriously?
Again and again, apologetic public statements by company spokespeople feature the phrase, "taking it seriously," or a variant thereof. Are all these companies really taking things as seriously as they say? Or is "taking it seriously" seen as an all-purpose incantation from the PR grimoire that magically erases away wrongdoing? A sort of "disaster ketchup?" Since we always like to see the good in humanity, we'll refrain from passing judgment, and instead offer up eight recent iterations of the phrase so you can decide for yourselves.
More »
1:29 PM on Thu Dec 6 2007
By Ben Popken
5,107 views,
30 comments
Latest by CumaeanSibyl: @magus_melchior: Ah, yes, the soothing sounds of female terror. Can you imagine being in line at the grocery store or somewhere and having your phone go off in your pocket with that? I mean, I know I want my ringtone more »
public relations
ConEd's Manhole Sweatshops: "Taking It Seriously"
New York state law requires that requires that the energy company ConEd accept the lowest bids possible for its manhole covers, which probably explains why they're made by nearly naked men in India paid only a handful of dollars a day. When ConEd officials were shown images of the shirtless workers toiling with molten metal, they said (emphasis added):
We were disturbed by the photos...We take worker safety very seriously.This is as good a time as any to introduce you folks to the phrase, "taking it seriously." You will note, as we have, that in statements by company spokesmen made to newspapers regarding their employer's wrongdoing, the phrase, "taking it seriously" appears again and again, so often, in fact, that we have trouble taking seriously that all these companies are really taking their ne'er-do-welling as seriously as they would have us think. To this end, The Consumerist has begun documenting the utterances of the phrase with eye towards a roundup post some day cataloging sightings of this well-polished piece of public relation glibbery. Keep an eye out.
New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India [NYT via Gothamist]
product safety
China Arrests 774 People Over Safety Issues
China has arrested nearly 800 people over the past two months in a "nationwide crackdown on the production and sale of tainted food, drugs and agricultural products," writes the New York Times. The country announced the number officially today on their website, but did not provide details on the violations involved. The announcement is part of a larger campaign to not only rehabilitate China's image around the world, but to address concerns that its domestic products are even less likely to be safe. More »
public relations
When Starbucks Dumps Scalding Hot Coffee On You, It's A PR Problem
When a Starbucks barista accidentally dumped scalding hot coffee all over Matt's father, he got to see Starbuck's crack PR response in action. More »
chinese poison train
China: It's Mattel's Fault That Chinese Companies Manufactured Toys Covered With Lead. What?
China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) blamed Mattel for the recent lead contamination of nearly 1 million toys, saying that the toy maker did not adequately supervise their suppliers. Mattel's oversight safeguards are widely regarded as the "gold standard" for manufacturing in China. From the LA Times: More »
public relations
