“Your brand is no stronger than your reputation – and will increasingly depend on what comes up when you are Googled” – Alan Jenkins.
This quote appears on the website for Ocean Marketing, a social media marketing company run by Paul Christoforo. It was Mr. Christoforo himself who replied to an email sent by “Dave”, a young man who wrote to the marketing company concerned that his pre-order of the “Avenger-N Controller” that the company represents had passed it’s arrival date with no update as to why it hadn’t come in yet.
In a series of increasingly volatile emails (which can be read in full on Penny Arcade), Mr. Christoforo verbally assaults Dave and tells him to “put on your big boy hat and wait it out like everyone else”, among other things.
Dave, frustrated at what has already become terrible customer service, decides to copy in Kotaku, Penny Arcade, and several other game and news sites in his next email and is rewarded with Mr. Christoforo’s response of “LOL Thanks for the Free PR I know the Editor N Chief of Kotaku , IGN , Engadget I’ll be meeting them at CES .” and “Grow up you look like a complete child bro. I Don’t have my controller so im gonna cry to the world … Really ?? Hey take that free time and do something more productive. All you had to do was check the like everyone else , people have inquired but you’re the douchiest of them all”
Eventually, Mike Krahulik of Penny Arcade joins in the email war and when all is said and done, most of the correspondence ends up getting published on Penny Arcade.
This has led to a seemingly endless Twitter barrage for Ocean Marketing with angry Penny Arcade readers flooding the site’s Twitter account in a show of support for Dave, who should never have received such awful service in the first place, let alone be verbally harassed. The company has received so many Twitter responses that it has changed its Twitter account and has had to delete its Facebook page after a flood of posts hit there as well.
In addition to the company’s Twitter woes, many of Mr. Christoforo’s “contacts” in the industry have stepped forward to deny him any support whatsoever. Brian Crecente of Kotaku has responded to Mr. Christoforo’s name-dropping with the following: “For the record I have no clue who he is, and he certainly doesn’t have my support.” Jim Sterling of Destructoid responds here, and Casey Lynch, Editor-In-Chief at IGN, responded on Twitter with “I’ve never heard of him and do not support him either.”
On top of this, it seems that this isn’t the first instance of Mr. Christoforo’s “customer service”. Check out ANOTHER customer who has been abused by Ocean Marketing right here, and a third customer is found here.
As if all this isn’t bad enough, Examiner.com reports that Ocean Marketing has been posting articles from other websites as original content and not mentioning sources at all.
There are reports that Ocean Marketing has been dropped as the marketing service for the Avenger Controllers. Though this is unconfirmed, you can see an excerpt of what looks like a genuine response from Kotkin Enterprises at the bottom of the page here.
“Your brand is no stronger than your reputation – and will increasingly depend on what comes up when you are Googled”… perhaps Mr. Christoforo should have taken this quote to heart before responding to young Dave’s simple request for some answers.
UPDATE
Here is a copy of Mr. Christoforo’s apology email recently sent to Dave. We’ll let you decide for yourself as to how genuine the apology is.
Hey Dave,
I just wanted to apologize for the way our emails progressed from beginning to end , You caught me on an extremely bad day and I had been dealing with 100’s and hundreds of emails trying to explain the situation to everyone on where the product was and you just pushed me a little too much and I should have just apologized and tried to explain things better. Also I had a really bad day losing a friend to an overdose and the stress of my newborn baby and the Holiday ,missing my family and just stressing on getting product out to everyone and why it was held up in customs wore me out.
I am deeply sorry for any disrespect , aggravation or lack of information on the delivery date. We knew when product was leaving china and we were trying to adhere to a strict deadline but due to port issues and air freight issues. The units are domestic now and awaiting pick up at customs . So we missed the 17th deadline and I apologize for that but it was out of my control and besides me no one else was helping me handle the situation so imagine the weight on my shoulders.
I’m not asking for any sympathy just for some understanding and forgiveness , I’m human just like everyone else and made a mistake. I underestimated you and its cost me a lot of trouble thousands of spam emails , a lot of personal bashing , and internet spam and trouble and just overall stress with my wife and newborn. I ask that you please accept my apology as a peace offering I will refund your money and give you your 2 units/Avengers free of charge please help me to get some of this negativity removed or at least my personal name although its already all over the internet and the calls and emails will not stop but any help will be appreciated especially with penny arcade as Mike and edit his own website I owe him an apology too which I will write next.
Read more about it on Gamerfront.net
Here is a link to Mr. Christoforo’s apology to Mike “Gabe” Krahulik on Penny Arcade.
Editor’s Note: Please note that Ocean Marketing does not manufacture the “Avenger N Controller”, they are a marketing company hired to represent and market the controllers by iControl/Kotkin Enterprises, whom may be contacted here.
Also, it seems that a new meme has already begun. Behold:
Thank you X-Cross of Deviant Art for this version:
UPDATE Yes, it’s officially a meme now. Read about it on Know Your Meme.
The wwebsiteasontheinternet – a spoof site referring to Mr. Christoforo’s quote to Dave.
Mike “Gabe” Krahulik of Penny Arcade’s Twitter: @cwgabriel
Paul Christoforo of Ocean Marketing’s latest New Twitter: @OceanDeepSea
Paul Christoforo of Ocean Marketing’s OLD New Twitter: @OceanStratagy
Ocean Marketing’s OLD Twitter: @oceanmarketting – now run by Mark Ocean to promote Indie games and game charity.
Ocean Marketing “Spoof” Twitter: @oceanstrategy – False account mocking Ocean Marketing.
Brian Crecente of Kotaku’s Twitter: @crecenteb
Casey Lynch, Editor-in-Chief of IGN’s Twitter: @lynchtacular
Jim Sterling of Destructoid’s Twitter: @JimSterling
Thank you @mountain_goats for the Facebook heads-up!
Thank you @parizad for the heads up about other customers!
Thank you @Mcslanty for info on Ocean Marketing’s new Twitter account.
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[...] It has been only a few days since Ocean Marketing head Paul Christoforo received the internet’s wrath when Penny Arcade’s Mike “Gabe” Krahulik published several emails in which Mr. Christoforo went postal on a customer named Dave for asking when his Avenger N-Control controller accessory he had pre-ordered would arrive. Clients were lost, and big-name connections he claimed to have were quick to publicly deny any connection to or support of Mr. Christoforo. (See our original story here) [...]