Did you happen to catch the TV commercial for web.com? I did today. At first I thought edgy I’ll never forget their name BUT then I became outraged by insensitivity to homeless. Is Web.com so out of touch they have no concern or clue as to sad fact how many homeless there are in our country? It’s simply not funny to poke fun at those less fortunate. This is a true sign of the decaying values in corporate America and lack of social consciousness.
So outraged I had to call web.com and voice my concerns of the lack of brand understanding and insensitivity. I spoke to Peter Delgrosso, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, and I was not surprised to hear to him say he had several calls regarding the commercial both good and bad ones. Using the tactic of humor is a good call to changing the name from Interland to Web.com but subject matter like homeless people is should not be made fun of and this is a huge mistake public relations error. Think about it for a second would you want your company remembered for laughing at the homeless? Corporations forgot there are ethics and social responsibilities to building business.
This all brings to back memories of being in an undergraduate at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. It was the early 80’s, Reagan years, there were many homeless people living on the streets because it was decided that state hospitals did not have to support them. I remember one young naïve classmate saying, “Homeless people want to live on the streets it’s their choice.” It saddens me to see this ignorant sentiment prevails in today’s adulthood .
To quote a close journalist friend, “There’s a growing divide between the rich and poor that I find deeply troubling.”
I am curious how many new customers will subscribe to do business with a company that blatantly laughs at homeless people.
Additional resources:
Why Are People Homeless?
A Dream Denied: Criminalization of the Homeless in U.S. Cities