Back around 1986, I ran an ad for Oracle saying something to the effect that "The Top-10 Companies All Use Oracle." And I put each of their logos in the headline. Sure, the footnote acknowledged their trademarks, but Larry was set to handle any blowback. Boy did we get blowback.
Not only did IBM and the four oil companies' legal departments contact us, but Atlantic Richfield challenged us to show them where the hell they were using Oracle.
As planned, Larry had our legal department assure them that "We thought that crazy ad man got your permission. We will cease and desist ever again running this ad." But we had another problem with Atlantic Richfield.
Gulp. Being the tech whiz that I was, I'd queried our customer database and came to Larry Ellison with the news that the top ten companies were customers. What I didn't account for was that Atlantic Richfield had tried a $199 copy of Oracle for the PC and then returned it for a refund.
Gary Kennedy was head of Oracle sales in Chicago, and he was livid, saying we were well and totally ruined at ARCO. I said "Relax guys and see what happens."
What happend was spectacular. Within six months, ARCO bought a multi-million dollar site license for Oracle. You see, all their execs were suddenly aware of Oracle and started asking, "Why aren't we using them?" Turns out, our ad got the attention of all their C-level execs.
Like I always council my clients, "Damage control can yield big results." Oh, and FYI. Neither me nor any of my clients have ever been sued.
Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man
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