Office Depot really is Taking Care Of Business

Here is an update to end all updates! If you have followed my blog, or facebook status updates you will be happy to hear that all is well that ends well. My Office Depot Drama has ended well.

First, let me just say, I am so thankful for the outpouring of support about my husband Jeff’s $6 haircut story being used in a television commercial by Office Depot. My readers are my virtual rock stars. I love you guys. I am pleased to report a very happy ending, and I don’t mean they offered him a massage at one of "those" places.

Once I posted the details surrounding our story, it started a viral campaign like I’ve never experienced before. Two days after my blog post, Scott McKain gave an Internet rant too. Then the triplet moms got their panties in a wad, blogged, facebooked, tweeted and supported us. The word was out! It was a Street Fighter Approach like no other.

Within a few days of all of this action, Jeff got a call from Mindy, the head of PR from Office Depot. She obviously saw the postings and wanted to know what was going on. That google alert feature really works, huh?

Mindy listened as Jeff explained; he sent a letter outlining how his story was being used without his permission. The only response was a letter from the law firm representing the advertising agency in New York who created the commercial. Mindy instantly understood Jeff’s loss one of his best signature stories. The two began to discuss how to make it right. Both Jeff and Mindy have a PR background, they got along marvelously and it was agreed that the world would be a lot better if PR people handled these types of things instead of lawyers. Everyone knows tha lawyers just make things more complicated- sorry, sis, but you know it is true. I could post a few lawyer jokes here but will refrain for the sake of family harmony.

After the discussions it became clear to all of us, that it was a unfortunate communication oversight that the attorney’s were the first to actually respond.

No one can argue that Jeff has been sharing this awesome story from the platform for over 20 years. It’s not uncommon for audience members to share memorable stories with friends, so, yes, it's floating around.

The important point is this: All too often, a big company does something that upsets the public and they get a ton of bad press as a result. In this day and age, with the Internet on our side, that is just a fact. In some cases companies goes out of their way to make up for it. In our unique situation, Office Depot reached out to Jeff, worked out a number of ways that Office Depot’s customers could benefit from Jeff’s expertise and likewise, assist Jeff to promote his business.

I obviously can’t go into the nitty gritty details, but for the sake of transparency, you should know that Office Depot is compensating me for my time to write about this experience and the positive outcome we attained.

If you know me at all, you will realize, this is coming from the heart. I am an equal opportunity blogger. I want to be crystal clear that I am in total control of the content on my very own blog. I accept responsibility for my words.

For all my blogger buddies who helped get the word out about the problem, it's only fair to let your readers know about the positive turn of events in this story. The world is right again, and Office Depot actually DID take care of business.

I can honestly say our back to school shopping is being done at Office Depot. (Okay, so, yeah, I did get a special deal on this aspect too) but with the gaggle of kids we have to shop for, that is a good thing. The shiny new school supplies from Office Depot have arrived in the backpacks and are being utilized as I type. This triplet mom is blogging while her kids are AT SCHOOL!

More importantly, Jeff has a Street Fighter story to tell from the platform and it ends with him being the “inspiration” behind a national commercial that aired following the Superbowl! How many keynote speakers can put that on their resume? Of course now, we both hope Office Depot brings that commercial back.

To be generous, Jeff has graciously offered to allow Office Depot to use his other signature story about growing up with the last name of Slutsky. I think it's his funniest tale, but to tell you the truth, I would not blame them if they decided it just was not the right kind of message they needed for their current campaign.

Thanks again for helping me, help Office Depot, take care of business.