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Bimbo NOMINEES for January 2004

January	February	March	April	May	June
July	August	September	October	November	December

BIMBO OF THE MONTH
"We’re not spoiled," says Paris Hilton.
"Checking in with Paris Hilton," Donna Freydkin, USA Today, Dec. 2, 2003

THE RUNNERS UP
“We never had a secret plan. I never had a secret plan and could not have had a secret plan,” says Daimler-Chrysler chairman Jurgen Schrempp during litigation over his own revelation that he had misled Chrysler shareholders by telling them the two companies would be equal.
Mr. Schrempp obviously places no value on communication strategy or counsel.
“Schrempp denies ‘secret plan’,” Wire Reports, USA Today, Dec. 9, 2003

“IFG has not engaged in any wrongful conduct,” said Douglas Kidd about charges by both NY AG Spitzer and the SEC that Invesco Funds group let hedge funds make improper trades over a long period of time. Mr. Kidd, described as managing director of corporate affairs for IFG’s corporate parent, is apparently the top internal communication executive and shouldn’t have gotten caught in the most common mistake.
“Regulators charge Invesco, CEO,” Reuters Writer, MSNBC, Dec. 2, 2003

“It wasn’t a major contributor of the brown water,” said D.J. Anderson, owner of a controversial development in Hawaii that spewed muddy water into the ocean. “I don’t think we did much polluting.”
”Runoff Complaint Investigated,” Rosemarie Bernardo, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Dec. 3, 2003

“Our European transformation strategy has not failed,” said David Thursfield, head of Ford’s international operations, in response to charges that the auto company is floundering in Europe.
”Can Ford Fix this Flat,” Gail Edmondson and Kathleen Kerwin, Business Week, Dec. 1, 2003

We admire Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but she fell into inverted speech and, saying, “We also need to remember that for almost everyone, flu is not such a serious disease,” adding “We don’t need to panic or assume the worse case scenario is going to happen to everyone.” She then committed the error of perspective, saying, “Most of us will get through this just fine.”
”Flu spreads to all fifty states,” AP Writer, MSNBC.com, Dec. 12, 2003

Another example of inverted speech was Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, facing doubts on Wall Street about whether the merger with Compaq created value. “This is not a company stuck,” she said, before hitting her message, “This is a company that leads in virtually every category in which we compete.”
”Fiorina touts HP’s leadership, gains,” Ina Fried, CNET.com, Dec. 9, 2003

LESS THAN CONTRITE?
Morgan Stanley faces thousands of potential law suits for directing clients into risky – and unwanted – investments because the brokers got bigger commissions for pushing certain funds. Chairman and CEO Philip Purcell – already in communication hot water earlier this year for telling a group of analysts that the company had circumvented the scandals engulfing Wall Street – said that he regretted that “some” of the firm’s sales and disclosure practices “have been found inadequate.”
”Morgan Stanley meet the Irate Investor,” Emily Thornton and Amy Borrus, Business Week, Dec. 1, 2003

THE POWER OF WORDS
Senator Charles Grassley criticized the industry which finances large assets by leasing arrangements, characterizing the complex transactions as “schemes, fraud, trickery and abuse.”
”Change in Effective Date Creates Chaos in Public Projects,” ELT E-New Daily, Nov. 19, 2003

University of Missouri President Elson Floyd, who has been a well regarded university president, described the scandal swirling around Ricky Clemons as a “nightmare.”
Clemons talked for hours from inside the jail to Floyd’s wife and the wife of another university official. Telephone conversations are openly taped. The media got hours of tapes and discovered, besides Clemons’ allegations that coaches gave him money, Floyd’s wife telling him not to date white women, and a host of other embarrassing statements. One of the obvious lessons of this fiasco is that audio and video tapes will find their way into the public domain.
”Missouri President won’t quit over Clemons,” AP Writer, SI.com, Dec. 11, 2003

A pacifist Catholic priest, Reverend John Dear, in Springer, New Mexico, charged that a group of National Guard soldiers on a fitness run were chanting “kill, kill, kill.” He intercepted them and screamed at them to quit the military. The National Guard unit denies the story, and Lt. Col Rael, who was leading the exercise said, “I’m a little upset. He’s writing that we’re chanting ‘kill, kill, kill’? That’s a negative.” (The Rev. Dear’s charges were carried on the AP wire, carrying the words ‘kill, kill, kill’ nation-wide.)
”Priest tells troops to disobey orders,” AP Writer, WFAA.com, Dec. 4, 2003