To see what’s wrong with CBS, look no further than Stanley Bing’s appearance on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson” on Wednesday night.
Bing was on the CBS show to plug his new book, “Executricks: Or How to Retire While You’re Still Working,” a cheeky handbook on shirking responsibility at work.
But Bing is the alter ego of CBS head of corporate communications Gil Schwartz.
And given the beating CBS has taken for its poor stock performance, observers found it ironic that CBS’ top spokesman was promoting a book about slacking off on the job.
“It does seem odd that they would allow an executive to promote a book preaching laziness,” said Columbia Journalism Review Executive Director Mike Hoyt.
When Ferguson asked Bing how he could write the book and still work for CBS, he said, “I practice some of the tricks in the book.”
CBS shares closed at $20 yesterday – way off its 52-week high of $35.75.
“It [is to CBS’ credit] that they would permit Schwartz to have this alter ego and accept the downside,” said Fraser Seitel, who teaches p.r. at New York University. “Does it get dicey when the company isn’t doing well? Yes. Is the timing of a book with this kind of topic optimal for them? No.”
For his part, Schwartz said, “I’ve worked for CBS for 25 years, 365 days per year, 24/7. For 23 years of that quarter century, I’ve also been Stanley Bing. Anyone who doesn’t like that can go stuff it.”