Bad Social Media Lessons from Paul Christoforo

So Paul Christoforo and Ocean Marketing have gone viral.  But even though they say bad marketing is good marketing, I think this particular instance is an example of bad marketing being bad marketing.

It appears that Paul had a lovely email exchange with an individual who wanted to purchase an XBox 360 controller modification.  Paul is the PR man for the company who makes these controller mods, so he was the one to talk to the customer.  And I use the word “talk” lightly.

The email exchange went for a while.  The customer, Dave, was rather upset by this and decided to CC a few major players in the gaming industry, including Penny Arcade’s Mike Krahulik and Kotaku.  Well PA’s Mike found this noteworthy and posted all of the drama on Penny Arcade.  It’s since gone viral, and hugely viral.  It’s also been posted on Kotaku and several other major gaming sites as well as on Reddit and Twitter.

One of the newest developments is he’s since removed his Twitter account (@OceanMarketting, yes that’s spelled right) and it’s been snatched up by someone who says they’ll use the account to promote indie games.  Update: He’s now using @OceanStratagy (go figure, @OceanStrategy was open and available).  The controller mod manufacturer is @Tatterr, and he’s only acknowledged this hubbub, saying that he’ll detail more soon.

As for Paul Christoforo, his name and company name are now all over the internet forever and not in a good way.  If you want to keep a good name for yourself and your company, it’s best to treat your clients well.

Especially if they are ‘net savvy.

Update: Looks like Examiner.com has quite a few details on the huge mess this is turning into, as well as finding out more information on Paul Christoforo and his lack of marketing expertise.  They’re adding continual updates on this.