The Spin Cycle

Back-to-back TV commercials last night proved that we are well into the corporate "spin cycle".

First, we saw Toyota cars driving down country lanes while a soothing voiceover noted that nothing is more important to Toyota than safety. There were none of the Toyotathon highjinks. No brass band marched through a dealership. No people leaped through car windows to claim their Deal of a Lifetime on a Corolla. The message this time wasn't "Zero percent financing on dealer stock, but you've got to hurry. This special offer ends on June 30th." The unsaid message was, "We may have cut a few corners and those accelerators may stick a bit, but Toyota is a lot more concerned about your safety than, say, BP. A few images of oil-soaked pelicans and we are not the Corporate Bad Guys any more. Thanks, BP."

This was followed by a BP commercial where an earnest young man stood on a pristine beach and claimed that he was in charge of making things right for the people of the Gulf Coast. He was a Louisianan himself and understood the depths of their problems. Well done, BP! Use a Louisianan as your spokesman. A British accent explaining the situation is more toxic than the crude you're dumping in the Gulf.

The Spin Cycle is not only good for "Buy my company's product as opposed to the other guy's", but it works for, "Sure, we've violated the public trust in our headlong dash to maximize profits, but we're good guys deep down inside."