"Long live Kmart" and other happy stories
Another incidence of PR and marketing gone awry, following in the footsteps of the fake Microsoft "Switch" ads doctored by its ad agency, according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
Sometimes big companies do silly things. Kmart, which has filed for bankruptcy-court protection, has set up a Web site, Kmart Forever (www.kmartforever.com), that shamelessly begs its employees and customers to give it compliments. As far as I can tell, it's the first Web site of its kind created by a major corporation.
The site's Share Your Stories message board offers 40 virtual pages packed with happy Kmart news. Some postings include pithy cheers, "Long live Kmart." Others recount specific happy Kmart memories.
...That's just what Dave Karraker wants to hear -- or wants us to hear. The 34-year-old director of corporate communications at Kmart has created the Disneyland of corporate Web sites. He has taken history's most freewheeling marketplace of ideas -- the Internet message board -- and turned it into a totally antiseptic environment. He zaps all negative comments and workplace rumors before they see the light of day. "For employees, it's a morale booster to see people caring about Kmart," he insists.