Toyota: A PR Catastrophe Made Worse

Beware the poisonous use of 'we,' 'us' and 'our'

The In the News story at right is a stunning admission by the president of Toyota—a dozen words that describe his giant corporation being totally out of control:

Some people just got too big-headed and focused too excessively on profit.

Who are “some people"?

Let’s call them a cabal, which the OneLook Dictionary defines as “a clique (often secret) that seeks power, usually through intrigue.”

Since 1999, this cabal has been responsible for a reported:

• 2,262 instances of unintended acceleration
• 815 crashes
• 52 deaths.

“We did realize that it was not good that pedals were not returning to their proper positions,” said Toyota’s quality control chief, Shinichi Sasaki, “but we took some time to consider whether we needed to take market action.”

Parse that. “We did realize ... but we took some time ..."

The message here to all businesspeople—from lone wolves to the CEOs of giant corporations:

For Pete’s sake, if you're CEO of anything, don't hide behind the words “we,” “us” and “our.” Don’t use them in copy. Don’t use them in speeches.

“We,” “us” and “our” are code for, “It wasn’t my decision alone, so I don’t have to take responsibility.”

Or, in the words of the late Freddie Prinze Sr., "Eez not mai yob."

When the Philippines fell to the invading Japanese armies in 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur didn't say something half-baked and corporate such as, “We shall return,” or “America shall return”—meaning if the Japanese won the war, it wasn’t his fault.

He electrified the world with three iconic words:

“I shall return.”

A Decade of Carnage
After 10 years of deceit and denial, Toyota management was finally forced to bite the 6.5x50mm Arisaka bullet and level with the world about its massive customer betrayal. The record was horrifying: As of Feb. 3, 2010, the 3.8 million models recalled included:

• Toyota Avalon — 2005-10 models
• Toyota Camry — 2007-10 models
• Toyota Prius — 2004-09 models
• Toyota Tacoma — 2005-10 models
• Toyota Tundra — 2007-10 models
• Lexus ES 350 — 2007-10 models
• Lexus IS 250 — 2006-10 models
• Lexus IS 350 — 2006-10 models

Not included in the list was an unspecified number of Pontiac Vibes built for GM by Toyota.

Since that list was published, Toyota admitted that the hugely popular Corolla has steering problems. In addition, 1.3 million cars worldwide are being recalled for oil hose leaks that could damage the engines.

The current count of recalls—so far—is in the neighborhood of 8 million vehicles.

Jim Lentz’s Non-promise
What triggered this column was a full-page open letter to Toyota drivers in the March 2, 2010, New York Times (and presumably elsewhere) signed by Toyota U.S.A. President and COO Jim Lentz. The headline:

Our Pledge To Toyota Drivers

“Our” is a weasel word.

Lentz is saying all the folks that built crappy Toyotas, obfuscated the truth for 10 years, put profits over people, and caused 815 crashes and 52 deaths are now making a pledge to be good boys and girls.

This is akin to the disingenuousness of Ambassador Saburō Kurusu hand delivering to Secretary of State Cordell Hull a note that ended, "The immutable policy of Japan is to promote world peace." At that moment, bombs were falling on Pearl Harbor.

For Toyota to have a chance at winning back the American driving public, Jim Lentz must project the image of a strong and impeccably honest guy who's been ordered to take charge and is personally committed to making things right for Toyota drivers, cleaning up the company’s corporate culture of duplicity and keeping it clean.

Remembering Kipling
A good friend of mine many years ago was a hail-fellow-well-met Scot named Ian MacKenzie, president of St. Martin's Press. I mentioned to Ian that I was in the midst of writing a novel about the Mafia running a candidate for mayor of New York and that my protagonist's favorite poet was Rudyard Kipling.

"Ah, Kipling," Ian exclaimed and hoisted a glass of whiskey to the memory of the late bard. "Say 'we,' 'us' and 'ours' when you're talking, instead of 'you fellows' and 'I.'"

He quoted several other favorite lines of Kipling, but that one stuck in my mind.

It is part of the last stanza of "Norman and Saxon," a dramatic monologue by a Norman king on his death bed who tells his son and heir how to govern the difficult Saxons.

It is imperative to make them look up to you, respect you and revere you, he counsels. A ruler cannot be buddy-buddy with his subjects.

Appear with your wife and the children
   at their weddings and funerals and feasts.
Be polite but not friendly to Bishops;
   be good to all poor parish priests.
Say "we," "us" and "ours" when you're talking
   instead of "you fellows" and "I."
Don't ride over seeds; keep your temper;
   and never you tell 'em a lie!

"We," "us" and "our" set the speaker apart from the listener or reader. They are used when speaking ex cathedra or making public pronouncements on behalf of the government. This is imperious and impersonal communication, rendering the speaker or writer faceless and, ultimately, weak.

I remember meeting a guy who worked for a giant investment banker that bought companies and merged them with other companies. This guy’s job was going into the various divisions of newly acquired companies and determining who should stay and who should be fired.

“So you show up in the offices of a new acquisition with the intention of firing a lot of people,” I asked, “what do you say when you arrive?”

“We’re here from corporate, and we’re here to help.”

How Jim Lentz’s New York Times Letter Should Have Been Written
Below is the full text of the Lentz New York Times letter—obviously cooked up by sad-sack PR hacks and flyspecked by lawyers.

In the letter that follows, the words and phrases crossed out and [replaced] are my edits.

In the original, Lentz uses “we” 15 times—and “our” eight times.

TOYOTA
Moving Forward

Our [My] Pledge To Toyota Drivers

When Kiichiro Toyoda brought Toyota into the auto business in 1937, he created a set of principles that has always guided how we [Toyota should] operate. The pillars of the “Toyota Way” are “respect for people” and “continuous improvement." These remain core values—and we’ll [I personally guarantee that Toyota will] adhere closely to them as we make vehicle safety [becomes my] our top priority.

We [I] have already taken decisive steps to make things right for our [you, Toyota’s owners and] drivers.

• All 172,000 team members and dealers across North America are working day and night to fix our recalled vehicles—and one million have already been repaired.
• Our [These new] solutions are effective and durable—and we are [I am absolutely] confident that no problems exist with our [the] electronic throttle control system.
• We’ve asked [I have hired Exponent Inc.—] a world-class engineering firm [with vast experience in the automotive industry—] to conduct a comprehensive independent analysis of this system. Their interim report confirms that its multiple fail-safes work—and we will [I promise to] make their final report public.

But we are not stopping [I will not stop] there.

Toyota will set [I am setting] a new standard for speed of response on safety issues. For example, we are expanding our [I have ordered the] field monitoring team [to be greatly expanded] with the goal of conducting on-site inspections of unwanted acceleration reports as soon as possible.

And we’ll be a leader [I will make Toyota a leader] in introducing advanced safety technologies to provide you with added confidence—including an advanced brake override system that automatically cuts engine power when the accelerator and brake pedals are both engaged.

We’ll ask [I am appointing] distinguished independent safety experts to ensure that the[se] enhanced quality controls we’re [I am] putting in place conform to best industry practices. Those [These] experts include [Name, Name and Name].

We continue [Believe me when I tell you that Toyota continues] to produce many of the best vehicles on the road. Many of you who are bringing your vehicles to our dealers for repair continue to tell us [say] that, and we deeply appreciate [everyone at Toyota is deeply appreciative of] your loyalty.

More than anything, we want you to [I am focusing like a laser on making you] feel safe, knowing the vehicles you are driving are among the safest, most reliable in the world.

Sincerely,
/s/ Jim Lentz
Jim Lentz
President and Chief Operating Officer
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.

Now for the Good News
On March 2, Ford announced that its sales jumped 43 percent.