Toronto employment law firm Whitten & Lublin has launched a quick-twitch social campaign in response to the chaotic saga of OpenAI, which has emerged as a textbook case of how not to handle employee relations.
Founder and CEO Sam Altman was abruptly fired by the board of OpenAI last week, then linked to a role at the company's major investor Microsoft, and subsequently rehired by OpenAI after most of the board that fired him were themselves dismissed. The drama saw the board variously labelled as
Founder and CEO Sam Altman was abruptly fired by the board of OpenAI last week, then linked to a role at the company's major investor Microsoft, and subsequently rehired by OpenAI after most of the board that fired him were themselves dismissed. The drama saw the board variously labelled as
"clueless" and accusations that they "royally screwed up."
Created by One Twenty Three West, the "Bad Boards Hate Us" campaign uses one of OpenAI's signature technologies, ChatGPT, to deliver a tongue-in-cheek message to Altman—and by extension anyone who has a job—about the importance of having a good employment lawyer.
It builds on the firm's "Bad Bosses Hate Us" campaign that debuted in September.
The creative takes the shape of an open letter addressed "to whom it specifically concerns" that unrolls as green text across a simple black background. The letter spells out how Whitten & Lublin can resolve future employment disputes: "The Whitten & Lublin team specializes in navigating and resolving employment cases... or whatever you call this recent dumpster fire of events," it reads in part, before listing services including mediation, arbitration, or legal counsel.
"Whitten and Lublin are experts at navigating employment disputes no matter how complicated they get. So, when we saw what was happening at OpenAI, we wanted to remind employees that we’re here to help," said Whitten & Lublin CMO Maria Melo-Boone in a release.
The video open letter is being accompanied by social and display ads. One of the video ads features a breathlessly scrolling message that captures the absurdity of the events in pointed form: "Were you recently let go by a bad board and then offered a new job by the company that owns the company that fired you in the first place and then the people at the company threatened to quit if that bad board isn't fired so then all of [a] sudden you find yourself being rehired by the company that initially fired you? If so, call us." That's followed by the firm's contact information.
"When we had the idea to use OpenAI’s own technology to point out that they use some legal help, the irony was just too good to pass up,” said One Twenty Three West creative director Ryan Semeniuk.
[videopress gsDTO4im]
[videopress 7Unsw2aG]
Created by One Twenty Three West, the "Bad Boards Hate Us" campaign uses one of OpenAI's signature technologies, ChatGPT, to deliver a tongue-in-cheek message to Altman—and by extension anyone who has a job—about the importance of having a good employment lawyer.
It builds on the firm's "Bad Bosses Hate Us" campaign that debuted in September.
The creative takes the shape of an open letter addressed "to whom it specifically concerns" that unrolls as green text across a simple black background. The letter spells out how Whitten & Lublin can resolve future employment disputes: "The Whitten & Lublin team specializes in navigating and resolving employment cases... or whatever you call this recent dumpster fire of events," it reads in part, before listing services including mediation, arbitration, or legal counsel.
"Whitten and Lublin are experts at navigating employment disputes no matter how complicated they get. So, when we saw what was happening at OpenAI, we wanted to remind employees that we’re here to help," said Whitten & Lublin CMO Maria Melo-Boone in a release.
The video open letter is being accompanied by social and display ads. One of the video ads features a breathlessly scrolling message that captures the absurdity of the events in pointed form: "Were you recently let go by a bad board and then offered a new job by the company that owns the company that fired you in the first place and then the people at the company threatened to quit if that bad board isn't fired so then all of [a] sudden you find yourself being rehired by the company that initially fired you? If so, call us." That's followed by the firm's contact information.
"When we had the idea to use OpenAI’s own technology to point out that they use some legal help, the irony was just too good to pass up,” said One Twenty Three West creative director Ryan Semeniuk.
[videopress gsDTO4im]
[videopress 7Unsw2aG]
