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This wouldn't have even been an issue if AIG had been proactive on the public relations front. They should have gotten out in front of this thing and laid it all out in interviews and advertising prior to getting called out by the pols. Nobody ever scores any points running nothing but defense.
It also didn't help that AIG was in the spotlight for holding a six figure corporate retreat after the first round of loan guarantees.
Contrast the AIG experience with that of an earlier bailout package:
Remember when Chrysler had to get bailed out back in the 80s? Remember Lee Iacocca getting in front of his new de facto bosses, the American people, and thanking them for their faith in Chrysler, and how it was going to succeed? Remember Lee Iacocca announcing that he was going to give up his salary? That approach sold a lot of really crappy k-cars, built a lot of goodwill, made Iacocca a folk hero, and defused a possible bomb.
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