GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons had his elephant hunt in Zimbabwe filmed. Now the video has gone viral, with predictable results. Animal rights organizations are calling for boycotts, and Internet buzz is reaching a fever pitch.
Bob Parsons wasn't poaching; what he did was completely legal. Limited animal hunts are a part of conservation and control. His elephant hunt wasn't much different than what are called Damage Hunts in the American West. Still, it's not everyday people see an elephant shot on video. The public condemnation will most likely hurt GoDaddy.
Does outrageous behavior or statements by executives always damage the brand? What are some other examples to learn from?
BP CEO Tony Hayward goes yachting
When British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward went to watch his 700,000 yacht "Bob" compete in a race around the Isle of Wight while oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, he was roundly denounced. It was only a short time later he announced his resignation.
BP as a company continues to experience problems. BP is the majority owner of the Alaska Pipeline. In January of this year it experienced another in a line of shutdowns due to leaks.
And just today, March 31, BP lost in front of an arbitration tribunal on a deal with a Russian company. The setback might not be directly related to the disaster, but it's not hard to imagine others being wary of doing business with BP.
Enron Executives caught manipulating power supplies
When tapes surfaced of Enron executives bragging about manipulating electricity supplies in California and making fun of "Grandma Millie," the fallout helped ensure executives from the collapsed energy giant would face repercussions.
One former CEO, Jeff Skilling, is in jail. Another, Ken Kay, died from heart failure. There have been suicides and thousands lost their life savings. A film,The Smartest Guys in the Room, documents the fall of Enron.
Wall Street and the engineers of financial meltdown
When the deepest global downturn since the Great Depression began, we didn't know just how much damage economic malfeasance would do. Lack of confidence in economies the world over persists, as does a deep distrust of banking interests.
While some prosecutions may come, to date virtually no one has been held to account. Perhaps it's the scale of the shenanigans. Justice still may be forthcoming to those found culpable.
A film by Michael Moore, Capitalism, a Love Story, asks us to look at needed reforms.
In light of other scandals, it's hard to predict just what the fallout will be for Bob Parsons and GoDaddy. More than likely, customers will be driven away.
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