Post Mortem of a P R Campaign

Sometimes, to get at the heart of the matter, you have to dig a little to uncover all relevant facts. Such is the case with Massey Energy and its latest PR campaign. In it, Massey’s spokesman solemnly proclaims “Massey Energy – we work here and we give here because we live here, too.”

This gives the impression that Massey and its workers exist in an egalitarian paradise, where everyone gives and get equally. Take the idea of fair pay, for instance. In April of 2009, CEO Don Blankenship announced a pay cut for all Massey employees of six percent. To make sure that everyone shared in the pain, Mr. Blankenship and all Massey executives took a ten percent hit on their not insubstantial salaries. Since his base salary is around one million a year, that was a $100,000 pay cut. Yep, there he is, leading by example.

Except that Mr. Blankenship’s salary is a very small part of his pay package. In an on-line article from the Washington Examiner dated 01/07/10, it was reported that “Coal producer Massey Energy Co. is upping Chief Executive Don Blankenship's already substantial compensation package.” Turns out those “cash and stock performance bonuses” are what really make Mr. Blankenship the highest paid CEO of any coal producer, and the article notes that his could be substantially higher in 2010. The “performance bonus” that was $900,000 in 2009 could reach $1,500.000 this year. All this ought to go a long way toward easing the pain of the ten percent pay cut.

Then there is the implication in the statement “we live here, too” that seems to imply Massey would never do anything to hurt this area’s environment, because it would hurt them as well. Any idea to the contrary is spread by those “Treehugging extremists and self-serving politicians”. I would suppose that all those people whose wells were polluted by Rawl Sales in Mingo County would be included in these groups.

Okay, so some contaminants showed up in their drinking water. Why should a little mercury or arsenic or other various pollutants that coal slurry contains stain a company’s reputation? Massey eventually made good on it, didn’t they? And didn’t that nice judge give the majority of plaintiffs in this suit up to five minutes to decide whether or not to accept Massey’s offer? Move along, please. Nothing to see here.

No, of course Massey would never harm the environment, no matter what a worthless organization like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might say. (This opinion was expressed by WV State Senator Truman Chafin.) You’d think that a company willing to take such a tough stance in public would never kowtow to such a group.

You’d be wrong. In 2008, Massey acknowledged to the EPA that it had violated the Clean Water Act (see above) more than 4, 500 times. Amazing. Would Massey and Mr. Blankenship admit to so many gross violations if they had never committed them? The severity of their admitted conduct, after all, resulted in the largest fine ever levied against any coal producer. It only cost $20,000,000 to settle up.

Well, I guess that’s why Massey and Mr. Blankenship have all that money, to spend on a big PR campaign. Kind of like kitty litter for coal corporations, ain’t it?