Alan Siegel, who runs a New York-based brand consulting firm,
told The Washington Post that the full page "open
letters" newspaper ads signed by Andersen's, CEO Joseph
Berardino, are "a waste of time" and lacking in
credibility.
Berardino 'open letter'
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The letter, which ran Feb. 6 in The Post, The New York
Times, and other major newspapers, was the accounting
firm's third crisis ad since it got caught up in the Enron
scandal.
"Almost two months ago we went before Congress and acknowledged
our responsibilities," read the ad. "We said that
we will be accountable for our actions, will learn from the
experience, and will become a better firm as a result."
The ads are the work of Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter &
Assocs., a Washington, D.C.-based firm that is a unit of Gavin
Anderson, which is owned by Omnicom Group. Andersen retained
the firm on Jan. 7.
Siegel told the Post's Frank Ahrens that it is "disingenuous
for Andersen to say We're learning, we're studying the
situation.' This company has been in business 100 years, they
are the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval of accounting,
and they say they're going to learn from this?"
Further, any message the ads attempt to convey is "garbled
by this legal writing," Siegel said. "If the president
of Arthur Andersen really talks like that, are they really
human beings?" Siegel asked.
Charles Leonard said the purpose of the ads was to amplify
Andersen's position. "You don't get your side of the
story out with six [paragraphs]" in a newspaper article,
said Leonard, who is acting as an Andersen spokesman.
Leonard said the language in the ads was "either genuinely
crafted or inspired by Joe Berardino in previous statements."
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