Valley PR Blog

Seth Godin: When blame becomes (too) easy?

By Dan Wool on November 25th, 2007 In Hype!

Stop the presses! (Start the WordPresses?) Seth Godin is off the mark on a PR topic.

In a post titled “When lies/spin become (too) easy,” Seth Godin blogged Sunday about a New York Times article on the fate of the Thru-way Diner, a beloved New Rochelle, N.Y. icon. The diner (and its legacy) was sold by its owners to a developer who will be putting a Walgreens in it’s place. Sentimentalists are fighting to save the landmark.

Godin takes issue with the article’s “key quote”:

“Joel Sachs, a lawyer for the developers, said that Walgreens has realized from the beginning that the diner was an icon in the community and would be a sensitive tenant.”

Sensitive? Does that meant that the Walgreens is going to serve bacon? Or does it mean nothing whatsoever?

It would certainly be more truthful to say, “hey, it’s our right to put up a Walgreens. If you don’t like it, you should rent the space instead.” But that would be inflammatory, so it’s easier to just spin, I guess.

Well, ordinarily I’d agree with you Seth but (1) it’s not the lawyer’s spin — it was the New York Times’ paraphrased characterization of his comments and, (2) isn’t your omission of what he actually said is a form of spin? (I’m guessing it wasn’t intentional, that you’ve been to the Thru-way many times and are simply steamed – I know I’d be.)

Here is Sach’s actual quote:

“We certainly respect the feelings of people who live in the city and have been patrons of the Thru-way Diner,” he said. “I grew up in Mount Vernon, and I used to go to the Thru-way with my family for special occasions.”

He added, “People may be pointing fingers at Mark East or Walgreens, but this was really the decision of the owners to come to us.”

If you’re representing the developer, from a PR standpoint, how was this not textbook? They love the place like everyone else but it wasn’t really their decision. Could he have said it any better? More truthfully, more straightforward, more empathetically?

Am I personally happy to see a main street icon replaced by yet another chain store? No. But the fact of the matter is that the Thru-way owners were ignorant of the depth of goodwill they’d built — blame them. Or blame the town council for shrugging its shoulders or not getting creative with a solution. But don’t blame the messenger. He did his job well.

Am I wrong or is “spin” becoming (too) easy for this PR guy?

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