10 of the “21 Dumbest Moments in Business”

I don’t know anyone who wasn’t happy to see the back end of 2008. It was a tough, tough year. There was, however, at least one bright light in the dismal landscape: The “21 Dumbest Moments in Business – 2008”, Fortune magazine’s annual list of the year’s “most laughable corporate moves.” As Fortune reports, it “proves that, even in moments of crisis, stupidity lives on.”

What I found particularly interesting is the number of these crises and scandals that could have been averted if the parties involved had taken a moment to conference with their chief communications officer, public relations firm or PR consultant about what our CEO, Ken Makovsky, calls a “PR bailout.”

Here’s an abbreviated version of the top 10 business gaffes of 2008. Check out the complete list for a look at all 21 of last year’s monumentally dumb moments.

1) Detroit execs flying to D.C.
2) Detroit execs driving to D.C.
3) Henry Paulson's initial $700 bailout proposal:
4) The final bailout
5) The Mozilo e-mail
6) The iPhone 'I am rich' app
7) Paulson's 'bazooka'
8) Tough talk from Fannie Mae
9) Scandal at the Department of Interior
10) GM's Lutz on global warming