I was watching CNBC like I do everyday around 3 - 4pm (the only times I’m not hooked on caffeinated beverages) and noticed a campaign for Wal-Mart which seeks to brand the company as a high-end retailer (like that will ever happen). Hundreds of agencies and executives do what she allegedly did but who cares. She took the initiative to be different and rattle some cages. Isn’t that what marketing should be? If marketing didn’t cause controversy or build brand awareness and PR then what point of hiring a marketer would there be? Sure, marketers could do market research in their cute little cubicles crunching numbers from mall surveys alongside statistics graduates but what’s the fun in that.

Let’s examine this further. She is accused of having dinner with agency execs. She is also accused of taking rides in exec fancy cars. Who hasn’t been optimistic about a potential partner and changed themselves to be like their potential partners? She is also accused of accepting gifts from ad agencies to court the Wal-Mart account. Oh big deal. Our politicans do the same thing. Rememeber, our economy once worked on a barter system and selfishness and competition are just a fact of life. The moment you let your guard down and confirm to what society proclaims as ‘morally right’ will others step right over you and open a door to success.