Subj: RE: Your kodak online card campaign; depiction of Lyme Disease
Dear Ms. Henderson,
Your "Lackus Appreciatis" ad (http://www.mom-a-thon.com/)is deplorable. It is the height of ignorance to appear in an ad that depicts Lyme Disease in such a cavalier manner. Apparently you are unaware of just how serious this disease is.
I urge you to educate yourself by visiting the following links:
I and others have requested that Kodak issue a public apology; unless and until that happens, we will not purchase Kodak products.
In light of that, I am respectfully requesting that you issue a Public Service Announcement (PSA) on behalf of those suffering from Lyme Disease and associated co-infections to undo the damage this ad has done.
Sincerely,
[ 05-03-2009, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Kathy622 ]
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- Kathy, I used your letter, I still can't think rationally enough to find the words.
The only thing I changed was the "I" to "my husband, who is a photographer, and I" will no longer purchase Kodak products.
Kim has used Kodak products when printing up shots for years, but NO more.
Kodak blew this one.
Gerifrog -
Posted by turtle 1653 (Member # 10309) on :
Kathy,
Thanks for the heads up on the Kodak advertisement.
I clicked education and added my comments with a sentence that they needed to be "educated" in Lyme!
turtle
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Turtle...thanks to Geri...I never would have seen this if she hadn't posted. So glad you wrote to Kodak. I think we all need to do this.
And Geri, I am still beside myself on this one. I just can't believe this actually made it to the internet.
Good for your hubby the photog for boycotting kodak products. They really screwed up and need to retract this.
And what was Florence Henderson thinking when she signed on to do this??? Obviously her family hasn't been touched by this awful disease.
Posted by Snailhead (Member # 18091) on :
I, too, sent off an email to Kodak. Good work Geri; thank you.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
my note to kodak using kathy's excellent example above and added my own twist to it also ... ********************************************
Your "Lackus Appreciatis" ad featuring Florence Henderson
I am appauled at the ignorance your staff by including LYME DISEASE in with the above examples of illnesses! You obviously have no idea how devastating this disease is.
Lyme disease and CO-INFECTIONS, meaning OTHER ILLNESSES the ticks/other insects are carrying, are the HIV/AIDS of the 1990s and 2000 era!!
The CDC lyme statistics only reflect 10% of what Americans have that are CORRECTLY diagnosed! See this link for all 50 states 1980 to early 2008:
1980 - Jan. 2008 ...all 50 states broken down by years!
I urge to you to educate the personnel in your company. as well as the ad agency that produced this NON-EDUCATED campaign, which included LYME disease!
You should read up so that you never do something like this again. I urge you to look through the following:
BUT until you apologize for the production and publication of this ad, I will not purchase Kodak products. I will urge everyone I know personally and professionally to do the same.
Please apologize in our newspapers for the lack of judgement and EDUCATION of illnesses from your staff responsible for this ad!
Thank you; next time, do your research CAREFULLY & THOROUGHLY.
BettyG, Iowa activist
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
kathy, what's florence's COMPLETE EMAIL addy? got my letter done with my own editing and it won't go anywhere. HELP PLEASE! thanks. xox
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
BTW, awesome letter!
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
thank you kathy for the end of shirley's email addy!
please add this to your example above so others will have it if they don't read ALL replies here ok....
@aol.com ***************
i just got my email to shirley off now thanks to you! Posted by 'Kete-tracker (Member # 17189) on :
I think Y'all may be making a big deal about nothing. I don't see where it actually "trivializes" Lyme. In fact, we got 2nd place mention in a national... heck, International Internet ad. I agree the ad Webmaster was likely asleep at the wheel &/or the ad creator is probably too young for the job, but I believe no malice or trivialization was intended.
Quite the contrary, the person atleast seems to recognize that Lyme disease IS an ailment that is often mistaken for other conditions... which, of course, it is.
I was baffled though as to why they included Hay Fever & must admit I'm not familiar with alopecia, but I think you may be jumping the... gun, gerifrog.
I wonder how many of you would be offended if Hallmark's "little division" came out with a few Lyme humour cards? I'd welcome them. (& I still suffer resdiual Lyme symptoms, BTW) (Or is it a case of "Lackus Appreciatis"?)
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
All that ad does is minimize LD. Sure, they recognize it's an "ailment" but that's the point. It's characterized as a minor inconvenience.
How can anyone put LD in the same sentence as hay fever? No one's brain, heart or other organs are affected by hay fever.
Publicity like this is just as bad as publicity LD gets from IDSA.
Oh, and no, I wouldn't want to see any greeting cards that show "lyme humor" There's just nothing funny about it.
Have you ever seen "cancer humor" cards? That would go over like a lead balloon too, with good reason.
[ 05-04-2009, 07:16 PM: Message edited by: Kathy622 ]
Posted by keltyl (Member # 14050) on :
I submitted a letter to Kodak also.
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- Kathy, I combined my post with yours on my yahoo support group NewYorkLyme to help spread the word.
I am still outraged with Kodak. Lyme is no laughing matter.
I will never be able to look back on this time in my life with anything other than sorrow for what's been lost.
I can't see how anyone could do otherwise.
Gerifrog
Posted by lakes592 (Member # 18905) on :
Thanks for sharing as you know I have no tolerance for things like this. I think people have underreacted for too long and that is why things like this ad continue.
I wrote in : Your new momathon commercial with Florence Henderson is highly offensive to me. I am a mother of two who has Lyme Disease. It has ruined my life and taken my health. I have to explain to my children why I am too sick to get out of bed and apologize to them saying "I'm sorry you have a sick mommy." The treatments that I have to undergo I'm told by doctors are " Like doing Chemotherapy." To put Lyme Disease in the same category as Hay Fever is ignorant.
" Lyme disease is growing at four times the rate of AIDS and is quickly becoming our nation's most misdiagnosed and fastest-growing infectious disease. People are becoming permanently disabled, even dying. Educating the public and physicians regarding the disease and the progression of treatment is essential."
good letter ann xox
Posted by Hoosiers51 (Member # 15759) on :
Has anyone gotten anything back from Kodak? Wonder what they said????
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
_ Got an automatic form letter right back from them. It stated they try to respond within 24 hours.
It was weekend so I waited, received nothing from them Monday.
Let's see what happens. I'll post if I hear anything.
Gerifrog -
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
Did anyone hear from Kodak yet??
Here is what they sent me and I'm really mad!! We received your note about our ``Lackus Appreciatis'' Advertisement and appreciate the opportunity to comment.
Darlene, we at Kodak adhere to strict advertising guidelines. Kodak's brand reputation is our most important company asset, and we have established our brand reputation by consistently providing quality products and services to our customers and consumers all over the world.
We do our best to protect and sustain our reputation by placing advertising messages in carefully selected form. In doing so, we pre-screen our advertisement to be sure they meet our standard. For instance, we will not participate in things that are excessively violent, rely on sexual or profane behavior, or denigrate the clergy. We avoid treat issues such as alcoholism, drug abuse, spouse beating, or other social problems in a glamorized, gratuitous way. However, we will not consider a leading character's ethnicity, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation, etc, in our evaluation process.
Almost any advertisement has content which is not agreeable to all. Our guidelines direct us to be responsible in our evaluation, to support diversity of thoughts and ideas, and to avoid gratuitous exploitation. We understand that not everyone will agree with all of our advertising selections.
Please be assured that your feedback is being shared directly with our advertising staff.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Josephine P.
Kodak Information and Technical Support
Here is my response.
Josephine,
This sounds like a form letter of some kind. Perhaps you did not understand how insensitive this ad is to some very sick people. Chronic Lyme disease is a very serious illness. I have been completely disabled by this illness. To be compared to your made up "Lacus Appreciatis" illness and to other illnesses like heat rash is offensive. Your policies will not digenerate clergy, yet you don't think twice about doing this to sick people.
Are you aware of the Lyme disease controversy?? Are you aware of how sick people with lyme disease are?? Would you do the same to people with AIDS or cancer?? I think not.
I was really expecting an apology here. I'm very disappointed in your lack of judgement. I am going over to the kodak website right now to remove my photo albums. I will never purchase anything from Kodak again.
I am also going to tell all my family and friends to do the same.
Thank you for your time.
SIncerly,
Darlene Mitchell
Posted by keltyl (Member # 14050) on :
All duplicates. I got one also.
A thank you to twingirl for replying. I don't have the brain to do it today, since I worked last night. Thanks Twingirl!!!!
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
all,
i just received same DUPLICATE FORM LETTER NOT addressing why we wrote in the 1st place.
darlene, thanks for replying, and i will too !! ***************************************************
edited; just sent my email as well!
Josephine,
YOU did not address my/our issues at all !!
The form letter you sent was just plain impersonal and lacking taste!
Your form letter could have been effective if:
* you had used the MERGE feature where you could have had ONE paragraph why we were writing! It's an easy procedure and TIMESAVER! * I'm a former secretary of 25 years, and used this all the time for volume letters.
Lyme disease & co-infections/other diseases the ticks carry is the AIDS/HIV of this current century. IT KILLS PEOPLE including your children! See this site:
We were expecting KODAK'S APOLOGY; none was given!
I'll take my $$$ business elsewhere where we are treated WITH RESPECT!!
Betty G
[ 05-05-2009, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: bettyg ]
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Good letter Dar.
I received the same stupid note. I will write back too.
Wondering why "Josephine P" from Kodak Tech support responded. Replies should have come from Kodak's corporate office, not from some computer geek.
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
Kathy,
Some others have been getting responses from a guy named Vincent also a computer geek. The letter is not identical, but pretty much says the same thing.
Posted by lakes592 (Member # 18905) on :
Same lame response here as well. This is what I wrote back:
Hi, Please remove it. It is not a necessary part of the ad. It is offensive and can be removed without disturbing the integrity of the ad.
Sincerely, Ann Ehlers
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- Make it unanimous, I got the same letter from Josephine.
I'm so angry I'm speechless (and with the nickname Motormouth, guess how often that happens).
Having a really bad day physically & emotionally, this caps it. We're fighting to regain our lives and they hand us this!
**"Our guidelines direct us to be responsible in our evaluation, to support diversity of thoughts and ideas, and to
avoid gratuitous exploitation.We understand that not everyone will agree with all of our advertising selections." **
Yeah, right. Like we had a petty complaint. Below is the letter I sent. (Broken up for Lymies) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Josephine,
I find your form letter to be of further insult. We are not complaining about a minor mistake.
How responsible is it to insult an entire group of seriously ill people, then insult their intelligence again with a form letter when we protest?
You would never have used Aids or Cancer in that context. Are you incapable of understanding how serious Lyme Disease is?
Go to the links provided and see exactly what we are dealing with.
I lost my ability to walk independently, have difficulty expressing myself verbally due to speech and
cognitive damage, can not read even simple text without severe headaches, and spend my days in severe pain
due to joint involvement.
Many others are much worse than I. People have died from Lyme. This is supposed to be funny?
You have lost long time Kodak supporters in my husband (a photographer) and myself. You did your company no good service with that form letter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My head hurts so badly from writing all this but I think it's worth it.
How can we get more Lymies involved?
Geri
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- PS: As of right now, (4pm EST Tues. 5/5) the ad is still up and running.
Geri -
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
Listen to this!! I posted about this on the Michigan lyme disease asso message board and one of our members decided to call Kodak Gallery instead of writing.
She got someone named Liz from Marketing on the phone and had a talk with her. This Liz was sympathetic and said someone in her family has lyme and knows that it is a horrible disease. She says she thinks the ad was an oversight and that she was going to look into it!!
It never occured to me that I could call and talk to someone over the phone! If they dont' do something soon, maybe we should all start calling over there!!
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
I have put this on the HW site as well ad MLDA site. I have also emailed everyone I know. Can't seem to get many to do anything which kind of perplexes me. This really ticked me off and I thought it would do the same for other lymies as well.
Should we post something on the general support page too??
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
Good news everyone! The Kodak Gallery site has removed the offensive note!! The person from the MLDA recieved an email from Liz the Kodak marketing person that they removed the note! This is what they wrote to her:
"I wanted to let you know that we value your feedback and have removed the content you mentioned from the site. As I mentioned, it was never our intention to make light of any disease. A humorous tone was taken too far, and we apologize for any offense. Thanks again for your feedback and please take care."
I wonder if the rest of us will get an apology as well?
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Dar, that's awesome that "Liz" from Kodak emailed the MLDA person. At least someone from Kodak has some common sense.
I wrote to Kodak's corporate offices earlier today. I also sent a reply to "Josephine P" as follows:
Dear "Josephine P,"
Actually, you are not "commenting" on what I wrote at all. All you've done is tweak a form letter prior to sending it to me and others. And, it is quite unprofessional for a response from a company of Kodak's magnitude to end with "Josephine P."
We all know about Kodak products, so spare me.
Exactly what process did you go through in placing this advertising message in "carefully selected form?" Who pre-screened this awful ad?
You say: For instance, we will not participate in things that are excessively violent, rely on sexual or profane behavior, or denigrate the clergy. We avoid treat issues such as alcoholism, drug abuse, spouse beating, or other social problems in a glamorized, gratuitous way. However, we will not consider a leading character's ethnicity, gender, religious belief, sexual orientation, etc, in our evaluation process.
I am delighted that your ads don't feature the items mentioned above. You would never have parodied breast cancer or AIDS in your ``Lackus Appreciatis'' ad either, and with good reason. So, why then is it acceptable for you to denigrate Lyme Disease?
I urge you and other employees of Kodak to educate yourselves about just how devastating Lyme Disease is. A good start would be to peruse the following websites:
I reiterate: Unless and until you apologize for the production and publication of this ad, I will not purchase Kodak products. I will urge everyone I know personally and professionally to do the same.
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
And Geri,
Being speechless with the nickname motormouth
Guessing that doesn't happen too often..
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
thx for update that liz mailed someone! that's a start. i couldn't read the site at all so gave up.
Posted by liesandmorelies (Member # 15323) on :
GREAT work Dar!!!!! =)
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- Just checked the ad again and they removed the bottom lines with the insulting Lyme "humor".
I don't know about anyone else, but I still feel an apology is in order.
One of the NewYorkLyme support members put it out on Twitter, her posting:
**I raised a ruckus on Twitter. Many followers retweeted my original complaint, worldwide. I quickly heard from the official Kodak blogger, Jennifer Cisney. @KodakCB if you want to contact her.
She said,"Pam I hear you and I'm talking to some folks here. Stay tuned okay?"
I followed her so I could send her two further tweets (tweets can only be 140 characters long.)
"Thanks, Jennifer. We've already contacted Kodak & Florence Henderson's publicist. This is not funny. Lyme patients are angry."
"Kodak's response needs to be fast, strong, and come from the CEO."
Tweet from Jennifer Cisney:
"Pam we have taken the reference down. We value what you have to say. It was a humorous tone taken 2 far. Apologies 4 any offence."
My reply:
"Thanks, Jennifer. Great first step. Beyond removing the offending paragraph, Kodak owes the Lyme Community an official apology."**
- So we got it taken down and talked to a couple of "live" people at Kodak, but we still need an official apology.
Geri
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Good work everyone!
Awesome that people "twittered" about this issue. We got Kodak's attention.
As of today 11:45 am, the ad still is up, but the reference to Lyme Disease is gone.
Removing the offensive material is a good first step, and surely this wouldn't have happened unless many of us spoke up!
But Geri is right...we still need an apology from Kodak, big time.
"Erasing" the evidence of the ignorance is not good enough. Kodak needs to publicly ackowledge its ignorance regarding Lyme Disease and apologize for same.
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
I just sent this email to a few Kodak execs. I don't want to publicly state their names or email addresses, as I don't know whether or not these people are the actual ones who can effect change. I'll let you know what response I get, if any.
I submitted my comments through the Kodak website the other day regarding this tasteless ad campaign. In return, I received an unsatisfactory email response from "Josephine P." I emailed a response to her yesterday, which is contained below.
As of today, the ad, which essentially characterized Lyme Disease as a mere annoyance, like hay fever, has been modified and no longer contains reference to Lyme Disease. However, merely "erasing" the ignorance displayed in this ad, although a good first step, is simply not good enough.
I urge Kodak to live up to its number one Corporate Responsibility Principle, "Kodak conducts its business activities to high ethical standards" by completely retracting this ad and issuing a public apology on behalf of all those suffering from the devastating effects of Lyme Disease.
I urge you and your fellow employees to gain a greater understanding of this disease by perusing the websites cited below. I have no vested interest, financial or otherwise, in any of them.
In addition, given the circumstances, and the fact that May is Lyme Disease Awareness month, it would be appropriate for your company to consider doing a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to educate the public-at-large about Lyme Disease.
Sincerely,
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
geri, thx for the update and 1 of us somewhere were able to make direct contact with kodak.
kathy, i completely agree with you; good letter as usual. thank you both for your efforts. Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
I received this from Kodak, shortly after I sent a note to the execs:
Hello Kathleen,
Your email was forwarded to my by Kodak's Corporate PR Department. I'm sorry that you did not receive an adequate response from customer service.
I wanted to let you know that we value and appreciate your feedback and have taken action by removing the content from the site. Please know it was never our intention to make light of any disease. A humorous tone was taken too far, and we apologize for any offense.
Thanks again for your feedback and please take care.
Best, Liz Scanlon KODAK Gallery
This was my reply (cc'ing the execs I had emailed):
Dear Ms. Scanlon,
I appreciate your timely reply. I am sure Kodak did not have ill intent and did not purposefully poke fun at Lyme Disease.
However, the fact that a major corporation like Kodak displayed such ignorance about a serious disease in such a public way remains unacceptable.
This is not just a matter of a "humorous tone taken too far," as has been told to others who have complained. There is nothing humorous about Lyme Disease, no matter how far the tone is taken.
Once again, I urge Kodak to live up to its number one Corporate Responsibility Principle, "Kodak conducts its business activities to high ethical standards" by completely retracting this ad and issuing a public apology on behalf of all those suffering from the devastating effects of Lyme Disease.
Additionally, given the circumstances, and the fact that May is Lyme Disease Awareness month, it would be appropriate for your company to consider doing a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to educate the public-at-large about Lyme Disease.
Sincerely,
*******************
So, we'll see what they say next. Oh, and BTW, I haven't heard back from Florence Henderson's reps or her PR firm.
Posted by lakes592 (Member # 18905) on :
Glad to hear it was removed and hopefully we are educating some people along the way.
Ann
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Ann, at least we know we're educating some folks at Kodak!!
I've been like a dog with a bone on this issue, so forgive me in advance but I just had to re-write Flo and her PR firm:
I sent you an email on May 2 regarding this tasteless ad campaign. I have yet to receive a response, which I find puzzling.
Kodak has removed the offensive reference about Lyme Disease from the ad.
However, that does not change the fact that the placement of this ad on the internet by such a large corporation displayed a great deal of ignorance and in so doing did a great disservice to those of us whose families are ravaged by this disease. In other words, the damage is done.
Kodak has yet to issue a public apology.
I am saddened that we (in the Lyme community) have not yet heard from Ms. Henderson. As a well-known, highly-respected actress, she could do so much to help educate the public-at-large about this disease.
May is Lyme Awareness month. It would be quite gratifying if Ms. Henderson could personally address this issue.
Once again, here are links to informative websites, none of which I have an interest in, financial or otherwise:
Sincerely,
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- There are 3 postings on NYLyme suggesting we drop the subject.
The gist of all three is summed up by the statement that calling for a public apology is an
**"absurd demand. We spoke, they reacted and that is that. Please don't continue to demand an apology.... it only
feeds into the theory that Lyme patients, particularly those that have been clinically diagnosed or are considered
to have chronic Lyme, tend to be crazy in one way or another.
Let's find a better issue to rally against and just put this one in the "I Win!" basket."**
They feel **"Kodak's swiftness in removing the statement from the ad shows remorse enough."**
I first e-mailed Kodak late Saturday. Removal Monday morning I would have considered swift.
The ad running from early Sat. till Tues. night before the offensive material was removed was not a swift response.
I don't think I'm "crazy" to feel deep insult.
I have to deal with people who already think I'm (chose one or more):"malingering, lazy, a wuss, a hypochondriac,
making much of nothing, suffering from emotional stress, or milking it for all I'm worth".
The misperceptions we face combined with the IDSA's arrogance are hard enough to deal with.
That ad just cut too deep. Maybe I have lost perspective. Thoughts anyone?
Geri
PS: Been dealing with A-fib all day, a result of Lyme damage. Life is so much fun now. -
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
kathy,
I called the kodak gallery contact number for customer service the other day to complain about this after I got the first email response. The customer service rep referred me to his supervisor who just now called me back.
I told her we appreciated the fact that the offensive note was removed, but were disappointed that there was not an apology given by Kodak. She told me that everything she knows about the situation she just learned today and that they don't always tell her area everything. She was going to try to find out if the plan was for Kodak to issue some sort of apology and get back with me. She was very nice and did apologize to me, but it wasn't her who did this! Big Corporate Kodak needs to apologize!!
My husband feels we won't get an apology because big corps do not like to admit fault. I hope he's wrong about that!
Geri, We must have been posting at the same time! So I am amending to say I agree with you. I didn't actually demand an apology. I had a very nice, calm conversation with the Kodak person.
Posted by twingirl (Member # 13172) on :
anybody get this email??? I was happy to fill it out!!
Please help us make our support even better by answering a few questions about your recent support experience. This survey should take you no more than 3-4 minutes. Your answers will help us to improve your support experience in the future.
I too found this ad deeply insulting. You have not lost perspective at all. It's ashame that those on another board apparently have.
Despite being dx'ed with every co-infection under the sun, I have been spared what so many of you have been through. However, my daughter has been through hell and back with Lyme and cos. It has been a long difficult road for her and our family, as you all can imagine.
This ad cut far and deep with me. I don't think I've ever posted so much about anything, so you are not alone in your feelings.
For what's it's worth, I strongly disagree with the NYLyme folks who are suggesting that the subject be dropped because Kodak has "reacted" to the onslaught of justifiable complaints it received because of this ad. Kudos to us all for helping to make that happen.
Requesting a public apology is far from absurd. In fact, demanding it is required, as far as I'm concerned.
To presume, as some on this other board have unfortunately done, that respectfully, strongly and justifiably standing up for our rights
"feeds into the theory that Lyme patients, particularly those that have been clinically diagnosed or are considered to have chronic Lyme, tend to be crazy in one way or another"
is quite sad, or actually, quite pathetic.
Are those afflicted with LD expected to cower in a corner expressing gratitude because some random employee of a huge corporate entity has pulled an insulting reference to Lyme Disease off an online campaign? HELL NO!
What kind of activists are we???
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who thinks those afflicted with LD are "crazy" are the ones with the problem. Who cares what "they" think? Afterall, aren't "they" the IDSA and their proponents? They're doing an amazing job of discrediting themselves, so I for one am not concerned what "they" think.
Activists do not and should not give in to the misguided notions others have of them. Our collective mentality should be one of strength resolve and unity.
Remember AIDS?
A minor battle won does not win the war. So, no, I won't be putting this into the "win" basket any time soon. I'll wait until we receive an apology from Kodak.
Posted by Kathy622 (Member # 14077) on :
Hi Dar,
Glad to hear that you got a return phone call from a Kodak supervisor.
Sounds like you gave her a good earful and that she was receptive! Hopefully, she will get back to you as to whether or not an apology is in the works.
And yes, Big Corporate Kodak needs to apologize...not an employee caught in the cross-hairs.
I hope your hubby is wrong too. But, I do think he's right, unfortunately. It would take a mighty big company (in terms of courage!) to offer up an apology.
Let's hope Kodak is up to the task.
I didn't get the email you received. But, I'll click on the link and respond anyway.
Posted by Gerifrog (Member # 17990) on :
- I got the E-mail also, most questions I responded to with "very unsatisfied" then wrote in "comments":
**"I contacted Kodak about the Lyme Disease reference in the "Mom-a-thon" ad. In return I got a form letter that
did not address my complaint, just made me feel that it was considered petty.
Lyme disease has put me in a wheelchair, damaged my heart, took away my ease of speech. Due to cognitive and
visual damage, reading for more than a few minutes at a time is impossible. I can no longer work to support my
family. I'm in constant pain. Not a laughing matter.
It took 2 business days to remove the offensive material. I think the Lyme community is owed an apology ASAP.
May is Lyme Disease Awareness month, Kodak needs to become aware.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The "contact us" link just above the blank space took me to the link Kathy has at the top of this topic line.
I feel like I'm running in circles.
I'd call them but my speech is not great and stress make me stutter so badly I can't be understood,
not to mention I frequently can't find the word I want, making me sound stupid.
(Hard to believe I used to present workshops at national conferences!)
I'm glad others also feel Kodak still owes us an apology.
I don't see how we can be thought crazy as long as we remain rational and polite but firm.
Geri -
Posted by slappy2779 (Member # 12193) on :
Here's what I sent:
Your Mom a thon commercial where you so calliously refered to Lyme disease as a joke i completely reprehensible. As a result you have and will lose the buisness of Millions of Lyme sufferers and they're families until you issue a public apology for such calliousness.
Posted by lakes592 (Member # 18905) on :
Good job guys and I did get the survey as well. I love your diligence. I think we have to be proactive and assertive when it comes to issues like this.
I for one do not care what people think of me. I do however care about what they think of Lyme disease. If we have to be assertive in our attempts at making others aware so be it.
I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for an apology and the PSA is a nice touch. Can't hurt to ask you never know who may be willing to help.
We have to leave no stone unturned. Pursue every opportunity and keep educating the public. I think the IDSA feeds the whole "Nut" syndrome. They even spoke about Dr. Jones being referred to as a "Nut" in "Under our Skin." It works and does keep some quiet. Don't buy into that.
I couldn't believe when I relapsed and got back involved how little had changed in the last ffive years. I know there has been changes but it was shocking to me. I kept quiet and downplayed my disease for five years. I underreacted and guess where it got me...nowhere.
I am not going to keep quiet any longer. When the whole truth comes out we"ll see who the "Nuts" are. (Not that I'm not a Nut...LOL) I think you guys are doing the right thing and keep doing what you are doing and don't worry about what others think. Besides this thing has been going on for 30+ years we have the right to get alittle nutty!
Take Care, Ann
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
ann's quote "Besides this thing has been going on for 30+ years we have the right to get alittle nutty!"
shall we make NAUGHTY instead? or persistent ...
geri, great letter you wrote! touched my heart...
Posted by lakes592 (Member # 18905) on :
Why are you naughty Betty? If you want to be naughty you go right ahead...I bet you are naughty! J/K
Oh boy...
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
yes, we've got to have some fun on such a serious topic and all the frustration we go thru trying to accomplish anything with congress and now kodak! xox
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
xox
![[toilet]](graemlins/toilet.gif)
![[tsk]](graemlins/tsk.gif)
![[group hug]](graemlins/grouphug.gif)
![[kiss]](graemlins/kissing.gif)
![[shake]](graemlins/shake.gif)
![[lick]](graemlins/facelick.gif)
Oh boy...