Timothy Leary and JD Power & Associates?

 Assets Images 4 2010 10 Jdpowerbq

UPDATE: Don't miss the email response from the PR firm's president!


J.D. Power & Associates and uSamp.com quoted Timothy Leary in a "pitch letter" preceding a press release. I don't even really understand their use of Tim's famous quip in this context. Are they implying he was prescient but also totally wrong? Or…? Fortunately, they didn't include that classic photo above in the press release. Over at Gizmodo, Joel mocked that up to illustrate his blog post about it. And no, this is not the same thing as Tim voluntarily doing a Gap ad when he was still alive. "No, J.D. Power & Associates, Timothy Leary Wasn't Talking About Social Media"

UPDATE:
I just received the following email:

David,

Greetings. I'm writing in response to today's post, which concerns our client, uSamp (http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/13/timothy-lear-and-jd.html). Several points require clarification:

• The document referenced by Gizmodo was a pitch letter, not a news release. As you're probably well aware, pitch letters are typically sent as background for journalists and aren't intended for publication. In this instance, the pitch letter prefaced a news release from J.D. Power and Associates; the release detailed a collaboration between J.D. Power and Associates and uSamp. For clarity, the email included a line just above it (in blue) that read: "Note: Please see press release pasted below note…"

•The Gizmodo quote incorrectly attributed the pitch letter's inclusion of Timothy Leary to J.D. Power and Associates. The pitch letter was in fact from my agency, Edge Communications, Inc., on behalf of our client, uSamp.

• The citation of the popular Leary quote was verbal device, a metaphor – nothing more, nothing less. Since the '60s, the Leary quote has been used on thousands of occasions in reference to all manner of activity and behavior – and in this case, to show evolutionary change over time.

Given that the pitch letter was aimed at providing background on our client uSamp to an audience who may be unfamiliar with the company's recent success – and was not intended for publication per recognized journalistic procedures – my hope is that you'll consider modifying or withdrawing the post. At minimum, we respectfully request that you remove the erroneous attribution to J.D. Power and Associates.

Thanks so much for your consideration.

Ken Greenberg
President, Edge Communications, Inc.