Dean Evans & Associates, located in Englewood, Colorado, recently promoted some of its Event Management Systems software (the software creates calendars) by mailing an advertisement to churches geared toward church management. They tried to be cute but failed.
On the cover of the ad is a man with a silly face dressed in vestments and a mitre. The mitre has a note on it that reads: “Is managing your calendar by hand a nuisance?” The caption next to it reads: “Does the pope wear a funny hat?”
We were no sooner in possession of the calendar when we received a call from the vice president of Dean Evans & Associates. He was extremely contrite and apologetic about the ad. We told him we had already received several complaints. He said that the company had made a terrible mistake in judgment and he wished to have our input as to how his company could rectify it.
The next day we were faxed a letter from Dean Evans, CEO of the company. In it he accepted full responsibility and apologized for the ad saying: “There is no doubt whatsoever that the representation of the Pope was disrespectful and that the ‘humor’ was in the poorest of taste. The piece should never have been produced and mailed.”
Evans then pledged to send a letter of apology to every parish that received the mailing. Not only that, he wrote that anything similar to this ad will be unacceptable, “not just because it was offensive to some of our customers and prospects, but also because it inaccurately reflects what I know is a fine and wholesome organization.” He then called the office as a follow up.
We thank Dean Evans and his company for the swift handling of this matter.
