Make Money Fast Through Creative Use Of Flaming!

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Scott Jennings| 18 Comments

CEO of Whole Foods trashes competitors and buyout targets anonymously on message boards.

For about eight years until last August, the company confirms, Mr. Mackey [, the CEO of Whole Foods,] posted numerous messages on Yahoo Finance stock forums as Rahodeb. It’s an anagram of Deborah, Mr. Mackey’s wife’s name. Rahodeb cheered Whole Foods’ financial results, trumpeted his gains on the stock and bashed Wild Oats. Rahodeb even defended Mr. Mackey’s haircut when another user poked fun at a photo in the annual report. “I like Mackey’s haircut,” Rahodeb said. “I think he looks cute!”

Yeah, that never happened before. What’s surprising is that it’s apparently a growth industry now.

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  • http://larpscribe.threadsnola.com savagex

    FFS, he couldn’t even come up with a GOOD anagram.

    Execs are so shitty at doing much beyond big picture management.

  • TPRJones

    I’m not so sure this is as bad as is being reported. It’d be hard to demonstrate that he was trying to game the stock market, since some anonymous poster on Yahoo isn’t going to have any real weight. More likely he’s just like all of us commenting here in a semi-anonymous manner; talking about things he is interested in online. In his case, he’s interested in what he does for a living, so that’s what he was talking about (but doesn’t want to try to claim to be the CEO of the company because after all who’s going to believe him online anyway, and if they did then now his personal ramblings about the company are also official and probably should go through the lawyers … that’s a lot of work to go through to make a semi-anonymous comment on a web page).

    Are any of you here who are posting comments with names other than your own legal first and last names also developers for game companies? Of those, have any of you ever said good things about your game under your psudonym? Ever said bad things about any game that’s not yours under your psudonym? If so, then you’ve done the same thing he has.

  • Idealist

    I’m pretty sure that the (vast) majority of developers posting anonymously don’t claim that they think their real identity has cute hair.

  • Nicademus

    That’s not THE Sir Bruce is it? How the hell could you become a millionaire if you never leave your parents basement.

  • Vleskoe

    Glass is half full type of guy aren’t you?

  • Jeremy Dalberg

    Pseudonymous or not, I’ve never actually talked about myself in the third person…

  • Brask Mumei

    I guess you never had marketing demand you write a bio for yourself then, eh? That is some serious third-person writing.

  • Amp

    Sirbruce had his entire life splashed on Business week? I never caught that back in the day.
    He must have wet his pants with all the attention.

    OMG I said his name…..that’s twice on this forum…….once more and we might summon him.

  • http://www.killtenrats.com Zubon

    Should we sight John Lott/Mary Rosh here?

  • http://gawain.diaryland.com Gawain The Blind

    Attention execs:

    30 year old computer nerd seeks job defending YOUR company on other people’s websites and message boards. Willing to lie and shamelessly flame innocent users who disagree with my completely imaginary statements about your company and/or products.

    Salary negotiable.

  • http://mythicalblog.com/blog/ Jeff Freeman

    Gawain, setup a website offering your services. ‘Just need a company name and whatnot. There are clients out there for you…

  • http://gawain.diaryland.com Gawain The Blind

    I… I think I WILL!

  • Njal

    What, you say Sir Bruce is here?

  • http://www.thisisnotacommunity.org D-0ne

    Common practice on the Internet and it has been for over a decade now. What is sad in this case is that the guy was to cheap to hire a professional.

  • http://mythicalblog.com/blog/ Jeff Freeman

    You’re bound to be at least ten times better at it than that guy. I “get” the “posting on message boards is fun”-thing, but MAN… doesn’t everyone know better than to post about your own company/product/etc.?

    What a maroon.

    ‘Sure glad I’ve never been dumb enough to do anything like that…

  • ChunkaCheese

    Did he mention his company is at steak? A free-range, organicly-fed steak of course.

  • http://eatingbees.brokentoys.org Sanya

    This is why I asked people not to post with their private identities at work.

    IP tracking will screw you every time.

    That is, of course, IF the IT guys care enough to bust you. I know a couple people posting from work with their private IDs saying some very interesting things, with no fear of repercussions.

  • http://mythicalblog.com/blog/ Jeff Freeman

    I don’t think you could convince me to have a private identity at this point.