Aug 21, 2009
No Joe For This CEO
Just because the Wall Street Journal asks you to do something doesn’t mean you should. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey learned that the hard way when he agreed to write an op ed on health care for the WSJ only to receive a whole lot of consumer backlash. As head of a publicly traded company, Mackey’s first responsiblity is to his shareholders. Regardless of the merits of national policy suggestions, any action on the part of a CEO that could negatively impact the stock price is not in keeping with that first responsibility. And while hard to tell, who’s to say how much the bad press and boycotts contributed to the subsequent dip in Whole Foods’ stock? No joe for this CEO.
The virtual Cup of Joe Award from EveryDayPR spotlights our pick of the week for a public relations performance – good, bad or ugly. If you’d like to nominate a performance, contact shart@hartpr.com or www.Twitter/susanhartpr.
