Alan Sugar has shared the email address of Mirror TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan on Twitter - urging his 1.9 million followers (through a thin veil of sarcasm) to email O'Sullivan following a negative review of The Apprentice in which the critic branded the current series the worst yet:
The tactic hasn't gone down well for Sugar. Some have suggested it looks desperate or petty, while O'Sullivan has claimed: "The vast majority of those who got in touch emphatically agreed with me."
Perhaps those in the Sugar camp were still trying to get their Amstrad em@iler working.
Cheap shot? Maybe, but mention of the em@iler isn't entirely gratuitous as there appears to be a precedent for this behaviour from Sugar.
In 2001, Sugar reportedly emailed 95,000 owners of the device, urging them to email technology journalist Charles Arthur who had branded the em@iler a flop in an Independent article. Sugar allegedly included Arthur's email address in his message and more than 1,300 customers took advantage.
However, the tactic backfired in the media and Arthur reported that a number of the people who did contact him did so to share their own criticism of the device.
One Amstrad customer emailed Arthur to say:
"I agree with you about the amstrad em@iler this is my 3rd one in 6 months i won't be getting another one,I think they're crap."
Another stated:
"...this is by far the worst product I have bought ever..."
Although it should be said there was positive feedback among the criticism, you'd have thought Sugar might have learned his lesson about putting his critics in touch with other critics.
He should also realise Twitter followers aren't always fans, nor are they there to do his bidding, as must have become clear after calling upon followers to share their opinions today:
Has the ermine gone to Lord Sugarbear's head? A lot of work goes into the production of The Apprentice and it IS a show Baron Alan is personally linked to. It's his dosh and his neck on the line, so I'm sympathetic to him defending it. But "telling it how it is" can't just be the sole domain of Lord Stamford of Hill. If he believes that it is, then it will be a real disappointment to those of us who like him.
Posted by: Jo King | May 14, 2012 at 20:28