Ocean Marketing's Founder Claims He's Sorry

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
6,107
0
0
Ocean Marketing's Founder Claims He's Sorry



Now that he's incurred the wrath of the entire internet and become a lesson in terrible PR tactics, Paul Christoforo has said he's sorry. Sort of. (Not really)

Yesterday was <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114961-UPDATE-Penny-Arcade-Smacks-Down-Shady-PR-Dude>not a good day for Paul Christoforo. After months of providing terrible customer service, things blew up in his face when a customer named Dave forwarded a recent series of abusive emails from Christoforos over to Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade. Krahulik involved himself (after seeing Christoforos brag about involved with PAX East), but the one-man PR firm kept the venom flowing until he realized who Krahulik actually was. As a result, Krahulik posted the entire exchange on the Penny Arcade website, and the story went viral.

Christoforos was quickly fired from handling PR and customer relations for The Avenger - a controller accessory that was originally created for helping disabled gamers - but that was only the start of the bad day for the man. He became the subject of ridicule, <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqV9kx40RG0&feature=share>video parodies, and even became <a href=https://twitter.com/#!/GEICO/status/151720116357308416>the butt of a joke made by the insurance giant Geico. He'd achieved a status normally reserved for reality television stars: Reviled laughingstock.

Now, a day after he stirred the proverbial hornet's nest (and been stung all over), Christoforo is trying to do some damage control. Speaking to Kotaku, the man admitted to being humbled by the swift retribution thrown his way and that he didn't handle things as well as he should have, but insists that people are overreacting to the situation. Aside from receiving thousands of antagonistic emails, Christoforo has stated that Web users are also targeting his wife and child.

OK, on one hand: Going after the man's wife and young son is definitely wrong. The fact that people are harassing his wife on Facebook and leaving voice messages containing death threats directed at both her and his two-month-old child is disgusting.

On the other hand? Christoforo clearly isn't sorry. Reading through the entire account, he never actually apologizes for his actions. He's just sorry he got caught:

"I didn't know who that guy at Penny Arcade was," he admitted. "If I had known, I would have treated the situation a little better."

Translation: "I'm nice to people as long as they're important."

You can read through the whole story over at Kotaku. Here are a couple of jaw-dropping highlights, though: Christoforo was "just joking around" when he claimed to know people like Cliff Bleszinski and the mayor of Boston; he also accuses Mike Krahulik of being "unprofessional" in his emails (while saying nothing about his own incredibly disrespectful tone and determination to poop all over the English language).

If Christoforo is telling the truth and hasn't lost any other clients after this mess, that's incredibly disturbing. This is not a person you want representing your company, in any capacity.

Source: <a href=http://kotaku.com/5871656/chastened-gaming-rep-paul-christoforo-responds-to-internet-infamy>Kotaku

<a href=http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/223959-ocean-marketing-avenger-controllers>Image Source

Permalink
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
24,759
0
0
I agree with the article and Penny Arcade. He's sorry he got caught. He's not sorry he was a massive jerk to a customer, or even the way he jerked around with Mike. That's really not good enough.
 

sir.rutthed

Stormfather take you!
Nov 10, 2009
979
0
0
Hasn't lost any other clients huh? Ya, I call bullshit. No way anyone's letting this asshole handle their PR after this mess. And if they do, I'll be the internet hate machine finishes the job and destroys whatever's left of his career.
 

chaosyoshimage

New member
Apr 1, 2011
1,440
0
0


Yep, I too am disturbed by the idea that he's kept his accounts (Hopefully that's BS like everything else, does he even have other accounts?). It sounds like he only has the Avenger job because he's friends with the guy in charge...
 

Knight Templar

Moved on
Dec 29, 2007
3,848
0
0
He's not even pretending to be sorry, he is still going at it through twitter and trying to trick people into thinking he likes all this abuse.
 
Sep 14, 2009
9,073
0
0
Zachary Amaranth said:
I agree with the article and Penny Arcade. He's sorry he got caught. He's not sorry he was a massive jerk to a customer, or even the way he jerked around with Mike. That's really not good enough.
agreed, acting like a doucheblast, on continuing occurrences long enough till he picked on the wrong person can't simply be excused with a simple "i'm sorry"; especially in the form that it's "i'm sorry i got caught, not that i'm sorry for being one of the biggest douches in customer service history."
 

Sixcess

New member
Feb 27, 2010
2,719
0
0
vansau said:
OK, on one hand: Going after the man's wife and young son is definitely wrong. The fact that people are harassing his wife on Facebook and leaving voice messages containing death threats directed at both her and his two-month-old child is disgusting.
Ah yes, internet justice at its finest.

That's the problem with mobs. They're not very precise, or picky. If this wasn't the internet, and the keyboard warriors concerned weren't massive pussies, they'd be smashing his windows and throwing shit through his letterbox.

That's my entire objection to this whole sorry story. This guy is an asshole, no question, but the mob is never right, and it's frankly scary to see how quickly so many people can start hating a complete stranger.


Good going, Internet.
 

Scow2

New member
Aug 3, 2009
801
0
0
Looking at his response to his infamy, and the profile of the guy, I'm almost sympathetic to his plight, though I hope his days as a PR guy are over. He's a young, over-enthusiastic idiot who got himself in way over his head because E-mail is terrible for communication. Tip - If you're in customer service, stay AWAY from websites like "Not Always Right".

However, I do believe he needs to look for a new career field.
 

Jumplion

New member
Mar 10, 2008
7,873
0
0
The only thing I can sort of see the guys point is with the Penny Arcade guy. I honestly find Krahulik's response to all of this a little disturbing, such as this gem, "When these assholes threaten me or Penny Arcade I just laugh. I will personally burn everything I?ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames."

He who fights monsters, Krahulik...

All of that said, he was a dumbass. Even worse, a dumbass caught in the act of being a dumbass. Keep his wife and child out of this (if he even has a wife and kid), they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Christoforo just happened to be the (un)lucky gentleman that incured the wrath of the internet. The internet gets a little pent up every now and again, so stuff like this happens every now and again. They'll rage for a bit, and after a few weeks everyone will get over it. Such is the cycle.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
4,190
0
41
This man is a bastard. He beats his wife and acts like a bellend at his work. I hope with my sadistic heart that bad things happen to him in the future.

Calumon: ...Is it mean to be mean to a meanie?
 

SnakeoilSage

New member
Sep 20, 2011
1,211
0
0
It always tickles my sense of smugness when people like this get smacked down. Because I'm a prick.
 

IndianaJonny

Mysteron Display Team
Jan 6, 2011
813
0
0
vansau said:
...Paul Christoforo has said he's sorry. Sort of. (Not really)
Er, yah...

Good riddance to the slimeball, but his family shouldn't be approached and/or abused; that's a given.
 
Feb 13, 2008
19,430
0
0
Sixcess said:
If this wasn't the internet, and the keyboard warriors concerned weren't massive pussies, they'd be smashing his windows and throwing shit through his letterbox.
Unlike News International & the NYPD who did exactly that, said "sorry" and got away with it.

Or Egypt, Libya and Syria who did that to get rid of a corrupt dictator.

But while you're standing up for the rights of a man who is glad to carry on what he's doing - just more carefully this time, don't you think that Dave & Nate would like to know where their money had gone to?

Or that Paul challenged Gabe to bring on the dogs?

It's a little late to complain about bulls being lose in the field when you're the idiot waving a red flag at them.
 

DustyDrB

Made of ticky tacky
Jan 19, 2010
8,365
3
43
I hope he loses his job (I can't imagine how he earned it anyway). That's punishment enough, especially considering it's going to have to be hard for him to find employment again for a while. It's hard enough for some decent people with an actual good work ethic to find a job, so it has to be a feat of impossibility for a notoriously irresponsible and unprofessional asshole to find one. All this wife, kids, and digging up his history? I'm not in favor of that.
Jumplion said:
The only thing I can sort of see the guys point is with the Penny Arcade guy. I honestly find Krahulik's response to all of this a little disturbing, such as this gem, "When these assholes threaten me or Penny Arcade I just laugh. I will personally burn everything I?ve made to the fucking ground if I think I can catch them in the flames."

He who fights monsters, Krahulik...
Agreed. And not just Krahulik, but everyone. The internet's attention span may be short, but it's rage in that time is vicious. Don't take it too far.
 

Sixcess

New member
Feb 27, 2010
2,719
0
0
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Sixcess said:
If this wasn't the internet, and the keyboard warriors concerned weren't massive pussies, they'd be smashing his windows and throwing shit through his letterbox.
Or Egypt, Libya and Syria who did that to get rid of a corrupt dictator.
You didn't seriously just compare those popular uprisings against oppressive governments in which people were were arrested, tortured and killed to this bout of epic nerdrage, did you?
 

Insanum

The Basement Caretaker.
May 26, 2009
4,452
0
0
Although I dont agree with the harassing of his family, the guy had it coming.

At least he's honest - he's not sorry for the customer services but is sorry he got caught.

I mean come on, he's just balls'ing it out now.