Mackey apologizes, but doesn't quite get it

In the "It was bound to happen sooner or later" department, renegade CEO blogger/sock puppet John Mackey has apologized for his actions. Sort of.

John Mackey, chief executive and co-founder of Whole Foods Market, apologised on Tuesday for anonymously posting comments about the natural and organic food retailer and its main rival on an internet message board.

"I sincerely apologise to all Whole Foods Market stakeholders for my error in judgment in anonymously participating on online financial message boards," Mr Mackey said in a statement on the company's website. "I am very sorry and I ask our stakeholders to please forgive me."

The statement came as the retailer confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission was conducting an inquiry into Mr Mackey's comments on a Yahoo message board, in which he discussed both Whole Foods and its smaller rival Wild Oats Markets.

[...]

Mr Mackey's tone was a change from his initial more defiant response, when he suggested that the FTC's lawyers had deliberately sought to embarrass him over the postings.

He also argued that he participated in the online forum "because I had fun doing it" and that the views expressed had never been meant to represent those of the company. He also said he had never revealed proprietary information on his company's operations that had not previously been made public.

The problem that I have with this is that he doesn't really acknowledge what it is he's apologizing for. It's not a completely vacant apology - he isn't blaming anybody else (the "I'm sorry if my words were misinterpreted" dodge) for what he did - but "error in judgment" covers an awfully wide range without admitting to anything specific. How can I know that his judgment has improved if I can't tell what he thinks he had judged incorrectly?

What I'm looking for is a simple admission that praising oneself and disparaging others while pretending to be somebody else - in short, being a sock puppet - is wrong. You'd think that would be a small enough thing, but obviously not everybody gets it. I'm not a Whole Foods stockholder, so John Mackey doesn't owe me anything, but if I were, I wouldn't be satisfied with this. It just feels to me like there's no assurance that he really understands what he did was wrong.

I may not hold stock in Whole Foods, but a fellow named James Stewart does, and though he's more generous to Mackey than I am, he too sees the problem with Mackey's apology.

I use the word "misbehave" with some deliberation. Mr. Mackey has staunchly defended his right to assume a fictitious identity and say whatever he wants in cyberspace. I'm not disputing that, and I'll leave it to regulators to decide if any laws were broken.

The evident thrill of assuming a false identity, online or otherwise, eludes me. But I'm not so naive as to pretend it isn't there. Think of all the literature in which masquerade balls figure prominently. No one suggests that dressing up, donning masks and assuming another identity is wrong. On the contrary, it's fun. The problem is when a false identity and the accompanying lack of accountability leads to unacceptable behavior, sometimes with tragic consequences.

With the advent of the Internet, assuming fictitious identities has become rampant and the online alter ego even has a warm and fuzzy name: sock puppet.

Still, the premise of Mr. Mackey's comments -- that he was a nonpaid fan of Whole Foods and critic of Wild Oats -- was false, even if the sentiments themselves were genuine. (They weren't, at least not all the time. Mr. Mackey has said he sometimes played "devil's advocate," saying things he didn't believe.) No one would have given his views much credence if he'd used his real name and title. More to the point, if he had used his real name, he most likely wouldn't have said these things.

No, he wouldn't have, and that's the problem with sock puppetry. It's creating the impression that there really does exist some unconnected third party who agrees with you and will stand up for you. It's "the lurkers support me in email" taken to the next dishonest step. It's astroturfing on a smaller, more personal scale. However you slice it, it's wrong, and it should be acknowledged by John Mackey as such. I really don't think that's so much to ask.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 18, 2007 to Bidness