Marketing

Journalists were watchdogs who didn't bark until after the stock market bubble burst, Jim Michaels told about 70 journalists Tuesday at a conference sponsored by Strong Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wis. "We've just come off the worst investment bubble in history that cost investors something like $3 trillion," said Michaels, who served as editor of Forbes magazine for 38 years and is still a vice president there. "The whole thing was a Ponzi scheme, yet during much of it, business journalists were cheerleaders for it.

Public Citizen has taken the San Diego-based SureBeam Corporation to task for falsely claiming that its food irradiation technology can kill anthrax bacteria. "SureBeam has made these claims without any supporting scientific evidence that the company's 'electron-beam' irradiation equipment is capable of killing the anthrax bacteria or its spores," states a Public Citizen news release.

"Fighting the anti-American fury that fueled the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will require more than bombs, intelligence and diplomacy. This is a job for the public relations industry," writes Carl Weiser, Washington correspondent for the Gannett News Service. He asked PR, advertising and marketing experts what kind of campaign they would create to convince the Islamic world "that this nation is not the Great Satan, but good and generous." Responses included:

The Associated Press in Miami reports that "a dozen Burger King marketing department employees suffered first and second degree burns on their feet when they walked barefoot over a strip of glowing, white-hot coals as part of a corporate bonding experience." At least one was hospitalized. But pain didn't stop a burned Burger King marketer from putting the best spin on the cultish training she helped organize. "'It was a great experience for everyone,' said Dana Frydman, vice president of product marketing... Although Frydman was one of those injured, she said she has no regret.