New approach in marketing: Have the CEO insult customers
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods (which at times seems to be a heads-up organization) has just published a poorly reasoned op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that reveals, among other things, that he has a very poor grasp of the healthcare problem, has some simplistic "solutions" that barely deserve print, and really despises the views of most of his customers. What can you do?
Well, one thing I can do is carefully evaluate whether my food dollars are well spent at Whole Foods and shop when possible at alternative stores—Nob Hill, Trader Joe’s, and so on. And I will be doing that. If the stock drops enough, perhaps the board will boot Mackey, who can go into politics full-time, and hire a CEO whose focus will be Whole Foods, not Right-wing politics.
Keep in mind that this is the guy who, in 2005, used a pseudonym on a stock-related bulletin board to bad mouth a competitor, praise WF, and talk about what a good looking guy the WF CEO Mackey (yes, himself) was.
TYD
14 August 2009 at 11:04 am
That’s right! I had forgotten that. I see that the guy has a problem in using good judgment, which is an affliction hard to overcome and will affect performance in all sorts of areas. I think a board would be concerned about a CEO who shows a pattern of bad judgment.
LeisureGuy
14 August 2009 at 11:26 am
An obvious nutbar…probably eating too many of his own products
I’m not sure what he means by an “intrinsic” right to health care, but the Cnada health Act is pretty damned clear in its opening statement of objectives:
“The Act sets out the primary objective of Canadian health care policy, which is ‘to protect, promote and restore the physical and mental well-being of residents of Canada and to facilitate reasonable access to health services without financial or other barriers.’ ”
How much more intrinsic does it need to be? The provincial governments are responsible for defining exactly which procedures and services they will fund based, usually, on sound scientific studies of efficacy. Even rare and exotic treatments out of country are sometimes funded if a case can be made for their potential efficacy in any given case.
We absolutely have full choice of PCP and even specialists. My cardiologist felt I would benefit from additional expertise and referred me to a “guru” at one of the most prestigious university hospitals and he is now my cardiologist. I can see him with only a couple of weeks notice.
Steve
14 August 2009 at 4:47 pm