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Bimbo NOMINEES for January 2008

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

AND THE BIMBO OF THE YEAR GOES TO...
...The Bush Administration for the fourth year in a row.

A Bush Administration official was given the dubious honor of winning Spaeth Communications’ “BIMBO of The Year” award, garnering the fourth year in a row for the Administration. BIMBO comments highlight the risk of repeating and denying a negative word. Thus, the listener ignores the denial and hears the opposite of what the speaker is trying to convey.

“There was a steady stream of BIMBO comments in 2007,” said Merrie Spaeth, founder of Spaeth Communications and the Bimbo awards. The Bimbo’s, now 20 years old, are “dangerous,” as Merrie puts it. “The listener believes the speaker is lying, and the denial competes with the opportunity for the speaker to articulate a positive message or position,” says Spaeth.

The 2007 Winning BIMBO’s were:
From then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about his role in firing eight U.S. Attorneys:
“I have nothing to hide,” “It certainly was not in any way an attempt to mislead the American people,” “Nothing improper occurred,” and “I never sought to mislead or deceive the Congress or the American people about my role in this matter.”
MSNBC.com, “Gonzales: ‘I have nothing to hide,’” April 15, 2007
USA Today, “Attorney general says he misspoke,” April 16, 2007
MSNBC.com, “Va. Tech tragedy delays Gonzales testimony,” April 16, 2007
The Dallas Morning News, “Why firings’ possible links to corruption cases touched a nerve,” April 17, 2007, from the May 2007 Bimbo Memo

From former White House aide Monica Goodling, who moved to the Department of Justice and was involved in the U.S. Attorneys’ firing.
“I don’t believe I intended to commit a crime.”
MSNBC.com, “Ex-Justice aide: Official wasn’t ‘fully candid,’ May 23, 2007, from the June 2007 Bimbo Memo

From former Press Secretary Tony Snow, “This is not hanging Paul Wolfowitz out to dry.”
AP, “Wolfowitz fights pressure to quit World Bank,” May 9, 2007, from the June 2007 Bimbo Memo

WINNING 2007 LAWYER BIMBO:
James Ecker, attorney for a funeral home, which stashed the corpses of 19 stillborn infants instead of burying or cremating them.
“He didn’t abuse the corpse. He didn’t stab the corpse. The fetuses were given to him by the hospital to get rid of. As far as their parents were concerned, their children were already gone.”
Fox News.com, “Ex-funeral director pleads guilty to theft after 19 babies found in garbage,”
July 10, 2007, from the August 2007 Bimbo Memo

WINNING 2007 ATHLETE BIMBO's CO-WINNERS:
Texas A&M University’s football Coach Dennis Franchione was caught sending a weekly e-mail to boosters who paid $1,200 a year to a company that maintains his personal website.
“There was no intent to deceive anyone.”
The Dallas Morning News, “Franchione sold A&M secrets to donors,” Sept. 29, 2007, from the November 2007 Bimbo Memo

Terry “The Tank” Johnson on being signed by the Cowboys after being released by Chicago following arrests involving weapons.
“I was never involved in violence. I never harmed anyone. I never was out-of-control. I’m not a gun toting thug.”
The Dallas Morning News, “Getting Tank back on track,” Oct. 2, 2007, November 2007 Bimbo Memo

WINNING 2007 CELEBRITY BIMBO:
Isaiah Washington, former co-star of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“I did not call T.R. a faggot.”
(He was even caught on tape. As a reminder, today everyone has a cell phone or video camera.)
AP, “Apology aimed at healing ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’” Jan. 19, 2007, from the February 2007 Bimbo Memo

ACADEMIC FINDINGS and BIMBO validation:
Spaeth Communications noted an experiment by University of Michigan social psychologist Norbert Schwarz, who tested what volunteers remembered from a flyer from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The flyer tried to correct myths about the flu vaccine, such as “only older people need flu vaccine.” Contrary to what he and the CDC expected, instead of retaining the new, correct information, most of the volunteers recalled only the incorrect myths. In other words, repeating and denying the myths only pounded them into readers’ minds.

In addition, during the past year, Peter Kim, an organizational psychologist at the University of Southern California, published a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology finding that if accusations are met with silence, they are more likely to be regarded as true.