You're suing and being sued. Your work skills and corporate acumen are being demeaned. And in the biggest insult, you are tagged with the Scarlet Letter. What do you do? (Cue Animal House track ...)
Road trip.
Or in this case, Road show.
Julie Roehm and Sean Womack, the former Wal-Mart marketing executives currently in a brouhaha with the giant retailer, showed up at a marketing conference in Hollywood this week to pitch their new consulting firm.
If you haven't heard about the case, you can read about it here. The quickie version: Roehm was an edgy marketing executive who was fired by the retailer after less than a year of service. She sued for breach of contract. Wal-Mart countersued this week, claiming she had an affair with Womack (then her subordinate) and misused her position to drum up a possible job at an ad agency. And it trotted out some eye-brow raising emails to make its case -- emails that Roehm's lawyers say are being misconstrued.
No doubt we'll be hearing about this case, with all sorts of salacious details ... or at least allegedly salacious details ... for a while. It seems obvious there was a clash of culture and approach. Roehm did do a Lingerie Bowl campaign for Chrysler. And Wal-Mart is the Church Lady of corporations. You kind of wonder how they ever got together.
Well, the fight should break up the earnings report monotony al least. But you have to give credit to the two executives (notice I didn't say couple) for going into the public eye with such racy stuff being said about them ... even if it was just to talk some marketing mumbo jumbo.
Mediapost, which staged the conference, interviewed the two. The first part is really tedious, unless you like marketing talk. But eventually they get to a polite brush off about the Wal-Mart (WMT) suit: you know, the usual talk to the lawyers bit.
"I'm just thankful, I think we both are, that people who knows us, who have worked with us in the past, know who we are, they know our character," said Roehm, with Womack nodding by her side. "You just have to stay positive, stay focused and do the things you know you could do well, and thankfully have a big enough support system that you're allowed to do it."
What will no doubt be great sport for the gossip crowd (not me mind you), is trying to divine the body language when they are asked about their relationship.
"We're very good friends," said Roehm. "We're certainly working together, but that's the context of our relationship."
It's just two people talking. You can watch it here. Great sport.