Mumbrella’s media feud with a meatsuit-hating PR
Dr Mumbo always did enjoy a good media feud.
And it seems he’s found himself one with senior Weber Shandwick PR Andres Lopez-Varela who this afternoon tweeted the following message:
“huzzah to that! RT @JamesHova: Mumbrella actually just makes me angry now… I just don’t want it to exist.”
Which is fine. He’s more than entitled to his views.
But next time Mr Lopez-Varela has to pitch a press release – and Weber Shandwick regularly does so to Mumbrella – there might be a slight credibility gap of pitching a story to an outlet that he wishes doesn’t exist.
However, Dr Mumbo does detect a slight existential angst in his tweets with recent messages including:
“what do you do when your client includes the term ‘meatsuit’ in T&Cs? tell them they’re crazy or go with the flow? #agencydilemma”
“doing a deeply unpleasant task at the moment. you know, one of those that makes me want to lick my way to the centre of the earth instead.”
More insight comes in an interview he gives on colleague Jye Smith’s blog: “When I go to work and commune with the internet, I feel as if what I’m doing has some purpose in this big, messy, electronic world.”
Indeed.
And indeed more from his own blog, The Y-Front:
“this is how my brain works: i boot up my computer in the morning, log in and then grab a coffee slash juice slash whatever while the computer takes its sweet time to start things up. then, i look back at my screen and the email is up – right, i could start working, but, no, tweetdeck isn’t open yet. so, open that. yeah, i know it only takes, like, 30 seconds to start up, but this is way too long for me to sit around and do nothing. so, cue me impatiently strutting around the office talking to people to fill the time. before i know it, i’ve actually achieved nothing, but i sure as hell feel stimulated and have averted that terrible curse that has claimed many a gen x and baby boomer. boredom.”
He sounds like an asset indeed.
As much as I enjoy reading Mumbrella, I think this comes across as a bit vindictive Tim.
I voiced similar frustrations when the loss of a client was reported via Mumbrella before we even found out.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that people are going to have beefs with this site from time to time and airing dirty laundry like this comes across as a bit juvenile and nothing more than mud-slinging. And I’m sure this site strives for better.
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Hi Marshy.
Fair point. As I say people are welcome to have beefs with us – and express their views. But we may also respond to them from time to time to, particularly where there’s ample material to do so… which there appears to be in this case.
(But for the record: we haven’t really got anything against Weber Shandwick and won;t be pretending they don’t exit – that was a joke. There are lots of nice people there.)
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I don’t think it’s a feud yet – not until he responds in a cranky way.
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To be fair, it’s not really a feud, just a silly retweet.
Although that’s not the stuff of great headlines, one has to admit…
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Hi Tim
Whilst I wouldn’t call this a ‘media feud’, I accept the fact that sharing such angst in this environment mightn’t be the best thing to do – apologies.
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No apology actually needed, Andres. Stand by your convictions! We don’t mind it going both ways.
But thanks for your comment and I look forward to saying hello properly at some point.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Slow day Tim?
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@ Marshy – you can’t blame the media for reporting news. You can blame your organisation / client for leaking it.
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Hey just a wee note . . most Baby Boomers are not bored matey. Maybe they think a bit slower because they have much bigger, deeper memories and experiences to sift through before commencing anything. Some of that stuff they actually did themselves too, not via the computer interface first thing in the morning!.
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Hug it out, bitches
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Andres sounds like a bit of a dick.
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Grow up Tim. It’s juvenile.
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Nicely handled Andres. Everyone has bad days. I’d hate to think what people would think if my tweets were collated like this. It wouldn’t be pretty.
Maybe you can both laugh about it over a beer?
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This is a solid attempt to justify that anti-Mumbrella sentiment. Great, someone was low-level mean to your website. That’s absolutely worth posting about.
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Indeed more.
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@Andres Lopez-Varela
“Mightn’t be the best thing to do”?
Yes, I think the word is ‘unprofessional’ given your profession….
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I thought it was funny! If you’re going to tweet something, you should be able to stand by it.
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Ugh I’m not sure about this article Tim.
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We love you Tim but Marshy nailed it
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It’s far from interesting to note that this isn’t the first time Tim, and Mumbrella, have been accused of being juvenile/infantile/immature. Nor is it the first time he has used his platform (Mumbrella) to publicly lambast someone or an agency who has crossed his path, or said something negative to him or this site.
We all know ACA and TT are shit-journalism, but people still watch it.
I guess the ball is in Tim’s court as to whether he grows up, or accepts the allegations.
I don’t expect ACA or TT to change, but maybe somewhere in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours, there will be a beacon of shining hope.
Also… grow up Tim. You put yourself out in a public forum, expect to cop flak. You don’t have to try and win every argument. Just turn the other cheek.
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Join comment 1, 16 and 19 together and there you have it.
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Pretty sure that Weber would have gone into a mini meltdown over this. I’d be interested to now hear a case study on ‘what to do when your agency is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons’. I’m sure there would be a beautiful step-by-step crisis process that Weber would love to provide.
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PS, Andres is an Account Supervisor at Weber Shandwick, which makes him only just a midweight in the PR game. Hardly senior, and hardly worth the attention…
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Hi Will,
In his colleague Jye’s profile of him, he describes him as “senior”. I refuse to believe that a PR person would indulge in spin, in talking up the experience of a colleague…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Hi Tim, actually what I think you’ll find Jye has referred to is Andres’ role as a senior consultant which is not actually a senior role. It’s a common title for someone who does not yet manage accounts but does do more than just media monitoring. I think you should give him a break and focus on the big end of town. Edelman and delimiter comes to mind.
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The crime? Retweeting something SOMEBODY ELSE said….
The punishment – A collation of some of Andres’s more embarrassing/cringe worthy online musings on a website read by just about everyone that works in his sector will read.
Tim, I think your response is entirely disproportionate.
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Wow, Andres must have a lot of friends!
@GrowUp – perhaps you should just stop reading Mumbrella… just a thought 🙂
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This thread is hilarious.. And let it be a warning to us all that our comments in whatever medium or format can be used against us… especially if we choose to ‘get into the ring’ with Tim, ha!
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@ Alison F is spot on. Becareful what you throw out there in the social media world as it may come back to haunt you.
Having said that, I agree with Tim’s stance in his reply to Andres (who was also man enough to bury the hatchet, kudos), to not have to back down on your thoughts, they’re your thoughts, you’re entitiled to them.
Just in this social media age, they can be used against you, so to speak, so rant on, and just be for you hit, ‘send’, ‘submit’, ‘post’, ‘enter’ or whatever, read it again and think, “do I really want this out there for all eternity?”
Hell knows I’ve definitely deleted comments/tweets/posts after writing them before pressing that key, for exactly that moment. Theraputic to type, annoying to read when used in a negative way against you, (sometimes incorrectly).
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I just heard a rumour that Lady Gaga, The Wiggles and Bananas in Pajamas are going to be Keynote speakers at Mumbrella 360.
Sounds like there’s going to be 3 Keynote expert to every attendee.
But Gaga could show all these attention seekers a thing or two about being famous for nothing.
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Hi Goldmember,
I think you may be slightly confused between “keynotes” and “sessions”.
There are two individuals doing keynotes – one on each day. On the first morning, Richard Freudenstein from News Ltd is our keynote. He’ll be giving a speech.
On the second day, it’s Peter Boone, the chief marketing officer of Unilever. I’ll be interviewing him.
(You do know what a keynote is, don’t you?)
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
As just an occasional reader of Mumbrella, I am disappointed to see this infantile behaviour “Dr Mumbo” as another comment says, why dont you focus on the big end of town.
I am here for some news and an educated perspective… Not trash mag gossip.
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thanks for the light entertainment tim – @Andres keep it coming @JamesHove you got off scott-free mate, hilarious!
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Have to agree with marshy here, this has crossed the line from the usually quite good journalism to common mud-slinging.
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Aren’t you all the same people who came to the defence of the tards at GPY&R Tipereth Gloria et al? for acting like morons.
And yet, a similar story here is not ok for Mumbo to write?
Protected species much?
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What about @jameshova – he wrote the tweet in the first place…
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What’s a meatsuit?????
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