Marketing guru and author Seth Godin has taken to his much-read blog to write about Progressive's recent scandal.
The huge insurance company has been pummeled by a relentless wave of criticism from the pundits and the public for how it handled claims filed by Kaitlynn Fisher's family.
Fisher was killed by a driver who ran a red light, and word spread that Progressive's legal team had defended him — not Fisher — in court when her brother Matt posted a lengthy explanation on his Tumblr.
Progressive has now settled with the family.
"Corporations don't have to act like this," writes Godin. "It's people who can make them stop. Corporations aren't people, people are people."
What would happen if a regular person did what Progressive did? Godin addresses that:
"If someone in your neighborhood used this approach, treating others this way, if a human with a face and a house and a reputation did it, they'd have to move away in shame. If a local businessperson did this, no one in town would ever do business there again.
Corporations (even though it's possible that individuals working there might mean well) play a different game all too often. They bet on short memories and the healing power of marketing dollars, commercials and discounts. Employees are pushed to focus on bureaucratic policies and quarterly numbers, not a realization that individuals, not corporations, are responsible for what they do."
NOW SEE: 13 Epic Twitter Fails By Big Brands >
Please follow War Room on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
