PR head parodied on Twitter, Goldman mulls new moves

It is never a good sign when your PR becomes the story. When your PR guy starts getting lampooned, it's an even worse sign. 

Unfortunately for Goldman Sachs (GS), their head of PR (PR news), Lucas Van Praag, who has generated a tsunami of coverage as of late, is being parodied by an anonymous Tweeter. It's funny. "Shocked that Dick Bove had time between CNBC appearances and beard grooming to even pen this stupid missive," he tweeted. Then there was this one: "Coping strategy No. 28--When Lloyd questions our 'incoherent PR plan,' focus silently on his garish caps-for-teeth. Look contrite." And there was an especially imaginative tweet about Matt Taibbi. Taibbi of course was the guy who coined the "Vampire squid" (Vampire squid news) moniker in Rolling Stone.   

But somehow, the mock Van Praag pales next to the real Van Praag, who benefits from a higher character count. Finextra pulls out some nice morsels: "It is preposterous that the Wall Street Journal would even consider publishing such effluent." He also said: "There's speculation, and there is stupidity. This speculation transcends the simply stupid and takes it to an entirely new level...giving credibility to tittle-tattle is pretty shoddy journalism." 

This is funny stuff. The media is indeed having a field day. But for CEO Lloyd Blankfein (Lloyd Blankfein news) and other executives at Goldman Sachs, this isn't funny at all. It has gotten out of hand, to the point where major action may be required. According to Fox Business News, the firm "is nearing a decision on whether to launch an all-out media blitz to combat a massive wave of negative publicity that some people inside the firm believe could soon result in lower profits as companies that once flocked to the financial powerhouse turn to less controversial firms for investment-banking advice." 

The bank has undertaken a wide-ranging review of its current PR policy, seeking advice and opinion from executives and Goldman alumna. One issue here is a proposal by PR agency, Public Strategies, that would call for an "all-out media offensive" that would employ ads and other steps to reverse the tide of bad PR. 

You would have to think that the bank has to do something. Sitting on your hands and hoping everything turns out rosy is a time-worn prescription for disaster. - Jim