Humor Is Back for Blowing Up Brandnames - From Rob Copeland on Bridgewater to John Oliver on McKinsey and More

There is no genius is the strategy of using humor - such as cruel weapon - to turn a person, place or thing into cringe. 

That goes back to our miserable high school years. And it's back as a critic of businesses which seem to think much too well of themselves. It can be wildly more effective in deflating a brandname than the earnest effects of exposes such as the "The Caesars Palace Coup," "Servants of the Damned" and "Bully Market." Those books came and went and those they took on - Apollo, Kirkland and Ellis, Paul, Weiss, Jones Day and more - are thriving. 

In "The Fund" Rob Copeland provides the amazing details of the culture created by billionaire Ray Dalio for hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. All its moving parts are based on The Principles, just like Christianity is based on the Ten Commandments. Inside Bridgewater they are positioned and packaged as just as sacred as the Ten Commandments. 

Among the best examples of what triggers laugh-out-loud is the Piss Case. That's on page 108. Urine had been detected on the floor of the men's room. Dalio set in play an intensive investigation which Copeland describes as "a true circus." 

For example:

"Dozens of staff were assigned to a rotating guard, standing outside the restroom to take notes of all who entered - and whether they left clean floors (aka urine-free) ... New urinals were brought in for testing ... Such was the unmistakable badness of it all that everything was filmed and a case made for all to learn from." 

So, who doesn't recall the investigation of the strawberries during the night by Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny." 

With the same satiric gusto but with the added juice of the voice of authority imposed by a British accent John Oliver makes mincemeat of management consulting firm McKinsey. The Piss Case analogy could be McKinsey's work on Rikers.

That project to reduce violence cost the government $27 million. Here you can watch  the job Oliver does on, given the shrinking demand in the management consulting sector, what could be one of the few firms left standing. Meanwhile, though, McKinsey is also being roughed up on professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl Consulting. The aura has been blown up, actually even before Oliver went about turning down the wattage.

A fresh target for satire can be the nosebleed compensation for associates (that is junior lawyers) in Big Law. In what ways does that poker-faced tribe have to sing for their supper? 

When blogging began there was “Anonymous Lawyer” to puncture the Big Law gravitas, along with Abovethelaw. Not much fresh stuff since then. Guess it’s up to me to take a crack at that.

Actually, the joke is already on me. When “blessed” with a retainer agreement with Paul, Weiss in April 2022 I approached that with extreme earnestness as well as Puritan intensity about work (that will get you all the time). Turns out, at that time, there had been no real work, no contract specifying my duties, no metrics to measure my performance and no NDA (yes, and that is a law firm) to guide me what to say/do and not say/do. I crumbled and pulled the plug after two months. The Paul, Weiss insider overseeing this had been Chief Marketing Officer Luke Ferrandino. 

Takeaway: Nothing is to be taken too seriously. You bet, Shame on me. Soon I will be able to laugh about that. But not yet. 

UPDATE:

And here we have Vanity Fair's angle on "The Fund." It looks at James B. Comey's role. That was prior to his becoming Director of the FBI. Lordy, Comey comes across as, well, fitting right it at Bridgewater. And that isn't a compliment. I have no doubt that this reputational damage can go deeper for Comey that the Epstein/Ganieva stuff had for for Leon Black. 

 

In most cases you have only one shot in communications. Jane Genova is a communications coach and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)