A blogger named Vincent Ferrari made an experiment out of trying to cancel an AOL account.
The AOL employee was allegedly fired for this incident. This is a huge corporation m
aking a public relations blunder and underscores the importance of PR officials working at the root levels of a company. They don’t exist just to send our press releases and generate ideas for commercials. They can do more than spin news stories about corporate mergers. Public relations is the communication of the desired corporate image, and all employees can further or derail that image at any time.
This story is floating on local television networks. MSNBC ran a scathingly funny article. The Consumerist is calling this story “the funniest thing we have ever posted.” This story has especially gotten a cult following suddenly among blogs.
It may not help to know that 800,000 AOL accounts have been canceled in the last quarter. When major news outlets run a transcript of a customer saying an operator is “annoying the shit out of me,” you know you have an image problem.
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