Rolling Stone rolls Goldman Sachs

July 6, 2009 | By Jim Kim

It would be easy to dismiss the now infamous article in Rolling Stone about Goldman Sachs as the "Great American Bubble Machine." The bank was correct to some extent in labeling the article a compilation of the many conspiracy theories about the bank. But the problem for the PR folks is that the article--if only news of the article--has spread like wildfire across the universe. At a minimum, it generated buzz.

Here's what Time has to say about it: "It's great stuff. And it's the kind of stuff you want to read at a time when we are still smarting from the one-two combo of the housing bubble and the credit crunch. Unless, of course, you are Goldman Sachs (or one of its hopeful shareholders)."

The article even quotes a former Wall Street Journal article repeating a memorable line: "For the record, I don't think any article that contains the line 'vampire squid sucking the face of humanity' is real journalism." Time counters: "But to call it not real journalism or lacking substance is wrong. There are plenty of facts to back up the case that Goldman generates large profits by taking advantage of others." So this is a yet another PR challenge for the firm, which is used to them.

For more:
- here's the article