In the midst of an SEC investigation about Whole Foods acquisition of Wild Oats, Whole Foods is back on the negative press coverage trail. Here is a link to the latest PR blunder by CEO Jack Mackey.
Summary
John Mackey, Whole Foods Chief Executive, decided to post anonymously on Yahoo! forums. However, rather than just posting about his favorite sports team or hobby, Mackey wrote about a bleak future Wild Oats, Whole Foods primary competitor and the company that his organization is looking acquire. c
This is not the first time Mackey has faltered. As you may remember, I had a brief post that included links to Mackey and Whole Foods lack of well-coordinated actions when dealing with trade media. Here is a link to that post.
The Big Deal: News is reported on action. No bad action. No bad press. No bad reputation.
No coordination of actions and communications signifies incompetence, especially to analysts and investors during an acquisition.
Bad for Business
You may recall that Whole Foods announced its plan to acquire Wild Oats in February of this year. On February 1, 2007, Whole Foods stock was at $45.75 per share. Today, Whole Foods stock is at $40.17.
Things are looking rather "bleak" for Whole Foods, in terms of public relations, right now.