I was distracted from completing my diatribes about the mysteries of unintended acceleration. When we last looked there was a wild search for Toyota executives to be strung from the yardarm. Then as is often the case the “nevermind” story was barely mentioned.
If my previous posts seemed that I was already leaning in that direction it is only because I have seen this movie before. If we had any credible journalists to handle such stories they would know this movie had been seen before, but you would not turn your head to watch the news or buy a paper if that was the norm. A century has passed but yellow journalism seems bigger than ever.
The frothiness of this story attracted lawyers by the score. So many that the court had to decide who could even be heard. It should be no surprise that the lawyers on the case did not hear any reports that these “unintended acceleration” cases seem to be driver error–just as with every other case like this. If you have anything to hang a class action suit on the lawyers will not surrender, so we will still hear from them. The short-term damage is done and who knows what “extortion” will still be in play, but this story is over.
Of course the Toyota story is not totally over. I meant that the rational analysis of the facts would make this much to do about not much, except some tragic events– car accidents. Still missing in my discussion of this episode are comments about the role of social media or lack thereof. These events should serve as a message to anyone who thinks the business of last year is good enough for this year. Because Toyota has some Facebook page does not give them anything to hang their hat on in consumer views. This story should have demonstrated that. So I really need to post my thoughts about social media and Toyota. Everyone in business should be thinking about how to mange challenges like Toyota’s. If you thought you had control over your “brand” and still think so, you are not paying attention.
