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AT&T, what
were you thinking? First you divested an
arguably more relevant, fresher, younger and hipper brand for “the new
AT&T.” Now, by censoring Pearl Jam’s relatively benign
comments criticizing George Bush during your broadcast of Lollapalooza,
you’ve given an entire generation of consumers a reason to hate you for being
an “evil corporation.” Not to mention
you’ve created a rallying cry for net neutrality activists the world over.
Given the fact that you were the sponsor of the content, I
would argue that technically AT&T had the right to hit the mute button on
Eddie Vedder’s comments. This is not a
First Amendment issue as some have said.
Vedder enjoys freedom of speech, but AT&T doesn’t have to sponsor
that speech. And given the fact that
AT&T was serving as the content provider and not necessarily the service
provider, the incident isn’t even the best example of the potential dangers of
concentrated control of the broadband pipeline.
However, it’s infuriating nonetheless – and a perfect
example of corporate stupidity. Sure,
there are likely a lot of Republican AT&T board members, managers and
investors that would frown upon negative comments about our fearless
leader. But would they have seen it in
the first place? Perhaps I’m stereotyping,
but I would venture to guess most of them aren’t Pearl Jam fans. So rather than letting Vedder’s comments
anger a few people, they censored them and angered music fans everywhere.
Pearl Jam’s response
has been widely covered in the press.
And despite AT&T’s initial comments that it isn’t corporate policy
to engage in censorship of political speech, this isn’t the first time it’s
happened. During an AT&T-sponsored webcast of the
Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee last June, the
company edited out negative comments from the John Butler Trio criticizing the
government’s response to Katrina, as well as the Flaming Lips’ comments about
the Bush administration and the war in Iraq. Was it the web vendor’s fault
then, too?
AT&T, learn to pick your battles. Vedder’s comments, including “George Bush,
leave this world alone” and “find yourself another home,” while arguably rather
weak onstage improv, weren’t worth editing.
You’re in the telecom business, not the oppression of political thought
and artistic expression business.
Vedder’s comments were neither distasteful nor obscene. Perhaps if Vedder said “George Bush is a
bats*#t crazy @$$hole” it would be a different story. You weren’t protecting
your audience from anything – except the desire to support your brand in the
future.
Stick with doing what you do best – providing weak signals
and constantly interrupted cell phone service.
Or consider changing your acronym.
AT&T…American Telecom & Totalitarianism.
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