Starbucks' Petition to End the Government Shutdown

If you've been to Starbucks lately, you may have seen a petition to end the government shutdown. The company is promoting the petition through several channels.

In a brief video on Instagram, CEO Howard Schultz asks customers to "Join us in our stores to sign a petition to ask our government to come together, solve our problems, and open up our government."

With the hashtag #ComeTogether, Starbucks is inspiring its 4.7 million followers to sign, and full-page print ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Washington Post are promoting the campaign. 

If that's not enough, Starbucks is asking people to text a code to encourage the government to get back to work.

Discussion Starters:

• This is not the first political issue that Starbucks has gotten behind. What other recent examples can you find?
• What are the risks and rewards for Starbucks' involvement in this campaign? Why would the company-and Schultz particularly-want to deal with this controversy?
• Overall, do you think it's a good idea? Why or why not?

Employee Confronts McDonald's President at Dinner

The president of McDonald's USA Jeff Stratton was caught off guard during a dinner in Chicago. Ten-year-employee Nancy Salgado interrupted the event at the Union League Club of Chicago when Stratton was speaking. The confrontation was captured on video and is described by TheRealNews.com.

On the video, Salgado says, "I'm a single mother of two. It's really hard for me to feed my two kids and struggle day to day. Do you think this is fair that I have to be making $8.25 when I've been working at McDonald's for 10 years?"

Stratton responded, "I've been there 40 years." Then, Salgado was told she would be arrested. She and six other protestors were given trespassing tickets. 

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of the situation? What would lead Salgado to confront the president in this way? On the other hand, what other avenues does she have?
• How do you assess Stratton's response? What could he have said or done differently?

Twitter CEO Responds to Criticism About Lack of Women Execs

As Twitter's IPO approaches, the company is being criticized for having an all-white board and only one woman on its executive team (an attorney who was hired five weeks ago). Also, although Twitter has females in VP business roles, none are in technical roles.

Twitter management has acknowledged the problem. Back in March, chief technology officer Adam Messinger told The New York Times: "Half our customers, more or less, are women, and we want to have empathy for our customers, and part of that is having a wide variety of opinions in-house. It's also something a lot of people here think is the right thing to do." He also said, "There is definitely a supply-side problem." A New York Times writer has since suggested 25 women from a variety of industries who would "bring value beyond a checked box."

In response to the criticism, CEO Dick Costolo attacked Vivek Wadhwa, who was quoted in the NY Times article: 

In a blog post for the Wall Street Journal, "Silicon Valley Has a Code Name for Sexism & Racism," Wadhwa asked for an apology-and flung an insult of his own:

"Yes, Costolo's comments were inappropriate and he owes me a formal apology. But I don't for a moment think that he is overtly sexist or that he deliberately discriminates. I think that he is reflecting a common behavior in Silicon Valley, where power brokers proudly tout their 'pattern recognition' capabilities. They believe they know a successful entrepreneur, engineer, or business executive when they see one. Sadly, the pattern is always a Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, Jeff Bezos-or themselves. Nerdy white males."

And the missives continue:

 

Discussion Starters:

• Some people have expressed disappointment in what they consider Costolo's defensiveness. What's your view? What could have been a better response?
• How, if at all, do you think this controversy will affect Twitter's pending IPO? Should the issue of female management be a consideration as the comany goes public?

Riders Stuck on Roller Coaster for More Than Two Hours

Twelve thrill-seekers got more than they wanted when a roller coaster at Universal Orlando malfunctioned and left them in the air for more than two hours. The twelve-story Rip Ride Rockit reaches speeds of 65 mph and, according to the webpage, "features six near-miss moments and first-ever thrills including a record-breaking loop."

Naturally, the fiasco was recorded on a cell phone.

Tom Schroder, a spokesperson for the park, called the problem a "technical glitch" and said, "We are going to work to understand what happened tonight before we reopen the ride again."

It took a while, but rescue teams moved the stuck car to a horizontal position that allowed people to walk along a platform towards elevators to ground.

With more than 99,000 followers, Universal Orlando's Twitter page appropriately addressed the situation:

Discussion Starters:

• Assess the communications we have from Universal Orlando so far. What's your view of the spokesperson's statement and the tweets?
• What would you suggest the company tweet when the ride reopens? Write a few tweets that would be appropriate to the situation.

HP Asks Remote Employees to Work at the Office

Following in Yahoo's footsteps, HP is next major company to ask employees who work from home to come into the office. Part of CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround plan for the company, employees are being asked to make a case for working remotely.

In a Q&A document, the company explains the rationale for the change, which is similar to Yahoo's, focusing on collaboration and innovation:

My Workplace, My HP Community. What is the goal of the effort?

As part of the company's overall turnaround strategy, there is an effort underway to bring employees who currently work from home to work from the office. This effort is part of the company's cultural shift and will help create a more connected workforce and drive greater collaboration and innovation. In some major sites thereto large amount of underutilized workspace and we want to make the best use of our space. HP will maintain flexible work arrangement options, but with greater clarity and consistency about how to use them.

Why now?

During this critical turnaround period, HP needs all hands on deck. We recognize that in the past, we may have asked certain employees to work from home for various reasons. We now need to build a stronger culture of engagement and collaboration and the more employees we get into the office the better company we will be. Belief in the power of our people is a core principle of the HP Way Now. Employees are at the center of what we do, we achieve competitive advantages through our people. HP has amazing employees who are driving great change. We believe the more employees we have working together, the better for HP and our customers.

How does this support the company strategy end culture?

We want to make HP a great place to work and build a stronger HP Way Now culture of engagement and collaboration. Employees who are more connected tend to be more collaborative, productive, and knowledgeable They will also have a greater sense of the company goals and experience a greater sense of pride in HP. We believe that having employees work from the office will unite and inspire them to achieve higher levels of operational excellence and innovation.

Which employees are affected?

The overall effort is designed to increase collaboration among all employees, including employees who regularly work from home despite having an assigned desk at a site, telework employees who are near HP sites, and those who regularly work in an office now. Employees with part-time or job share arrangements are expected to work from the office. Where legally permissible, contingent workers also are expected to work from the office.

 An HP spokesperson gave this statement to AllThingsD:

"Over the past several years, HP has been focused on developing workplaces that attract employees to the office and encourage effective and collaborative work. Our investments in real estate and IT infrastructure have made it possible to now accommodate more employees in the office and also support new styles of working which we believe will further HP's business strategies and objectives. Flexibility continues to be a core operating principle at HP."

Discussion Starters:

• Compare Yahoo's email to employees to HP's Q&A. What similarities and differences do you notice, and what could account for them?
• Which message is more effective and why?
• List all of the possible questions and concerns that employees would have about the change. If you were part of HP management, how would you address them?

Language Variations Gathered from Facebook Users

A University of Pennsylvania study of 75,000 Facebook users identified interesting differences in language by personality, gender, and age. 

This is the largest study of language and personality, and it reveals, for example, that a Faceboook user's gender can be predicted with 92% accuracy just based on words used in status updates. According to the authors, language also predicts age within three years more than 50% of the time and personality (based on questionnaires).

Comparing extraverts' and intraverts' language, for example, we see some obvious differences-and some that are surprising. A graduate student who contributed to the study explained,

"It may seem obvious that a super extraverted person would talk a lot about parties, but taken altogether, these word clouds provide an unprecedented window into the psychological world of people with a given trait. Many things seem obvious after the fact and each item makes sense, but would you have thought of them all, or even most of them?"

The study raises interest in the "open vocabulary" to research rather than giving subjects a list of pre-determined words.

Discussion Starters:

• What surprises you about the word choices of each group?
• How do you do see your own language choices reflected in these examples?
• What other applications could you see for the "open vocabulary" approach to research?

News Anchor Compares Shooting to "Breaking Bad"

Not quite as tasteless as the CEO of AIG comparing its bonus controversy to lynchings, but a news anchor was criticized for comparing Philadelphia shootings to the TV series "Breaking Bad."

Either really insensitive-or perhaps a bit dense-Evans replied with this general tweet and repeated it as a reply to a few naysayers:

It didn't take long for Twitter joksters to create #JoyceEvansTweets:

Discussion Starters:

• What's your view of the reaction? Are people just too insensitive?
• How does the #JoyceEvansTweets help or hurt the situation?
• Write a more appropriate tweet response (an apology) of Evans' behalf.

Another Daniel Loeb Letter

Followers of business news may remember hedge fund manager Dan Loeb's letter to the Yahoo board of directors calling for the termination of Yahoo's now former CEO Scott Thompson. Thompson had falsified some information on his resume.

Now Loeb is after Sotheby's chairman and CEO Bill Ruprecht. This latest letter is more personal, according to a Reuters opinion writer, than his letter about Yahoo-or another letter about Sony's strategy. In this case, Reuters writer Felix Salman speculates that Loeb will not be successful in "outsting" Ruprecht, but he may get a stock price boost he's looking for.

Here are headings of the full letter: 

• Pressing Issues at Sotheby's
• Management's Lack of Alignment with Shareholders
• Limitations in Formulating and Executing Strategic Initiatives
• A Prescription for Repairing Sotheby's

Discussion Starters:

• Compare Loeb's three letters: to Yahoo, Sony, and Sotheby's. What differences do you notice, and what could account for them?
• In what ways do you agree or disagree with the Reuters writer's view?

Employee Quits by Dance Video

Fed up with her job at Next Media Animation, Marina Shifrin resigned byvideo rather than the traditional letter. As of this writing, the video received 13 million views.

One of the company executives, Mark Simon, responded by email to Gawker:

I am Mark Simon, I am the one who hired Marina Shifrin, who danced her way to fame in her resignation video which she sent to Gawker.

Currently, I am one of the senior executives of the group and she reports up to the folks who work for me. Marina actually thinks enough of me to have given me a call the Thursday before she released this to say that she was resigning, which I appreciated. I asked her to tell her bosses, as I took our call to be in confidence. The first her boss saw was the video.

Look, I actually like Marina a great deal. Marina herself has said we are a great company to work for, and I do not think she intended to hurt anyone, but it has happened.

There are a few things I would like just make a point of and if there is an interest I will be happy to be asked any question. (We do not have a PR department and we are wide open to any and all questions).

There is an image now of a sweat shop, we are not. Marina made USD$42k per year. She had a 40 hr work week, 5 days a week. There is no expectation of OT on our behalf, you finish your shift and leave. In our office most folks leave when their shift is up as you work on news flow.

Also we ask journalists to work one month per year on the midnight shift as we just need to cover the shift. We pay a differential of 30% for these hours, which I know are hard hours to work.

Look, we do news animations. We are not investigative reporters. Two international outlets have asked us for comment, and her video is up on nearly 300 sites. We think we have something to say about this and we are hoping Gawker will have us.

I am not looking to slam her, nor am I engaged in anything but trying to help some other managers in their early 30's, understand why the young lady they hung out with just cashiered them. I don't think she meant for it to be seen as so harsh, but we are getting some nasty attacks on our managers, who she says she respects.

I just want any chance to answer any questions, answer anything on Skype or on phone.

I am not spitting nastiness at Marina, but in her 9 months with us we sent her to Hong Kong twice, to Thailand for a media conference, and she just came back a month ago from two weeks in LA and NYC where she was pitching animation stories. She logged 170 hours the last 3 months in creative time working up ideas to pitch. She is a hard worker, but I cannot foresee results or always give her the best story of the day.

We let her talk to all the press she wanted, we encouraged her stand-up, and frankly my folks in Taiwan are a bunch of granola's... They are nice folks. We have 600 employees and I have not one outstanding case in labor tribunal. That is no small feat in Taiwan.

I though Gawker played this fair and so if anyone wants anything we are open.

Thanks

Mark

Employees also posted a video in response:

Discussion Starters:

• What are the potential risks and rewards for Shifrin? Consider her position and industry?
• How do you assess Simon's response? 
• Correct Simon's many typographical and punctuation errors.

Bertolli Capitalizes on Barilla's Anti-Gay Comments

Competitor Bertolli is taking full advantage of the CEO of Barilla pasta's anti-gay comments.

After saying that he'll never make ads featuring gay people, CEO Guido Barilla is facing a new foe: Bertolli. Promising "Love and pasta for all!" the company posted this image to its Facebook timeline:

Given its history, Bertolli seems to be a supporter from way back. AdWeek discovered this commercial from a "couple of years" ago:

Discussion Starters:

• What are the potential risks of Bertolli's advertising strategy?
• If you were Guido Barilla, what, if anything, would you do in response?

Hobby Lobby Apologizes for Potential Anti-Semitic Comments

Hobby Lobby is on the defense for an alleged comment by an employee and for not stocking Jewish holiday items. Someone relayed this story in a blog post titled, "Why I Will Never Ever Patronize at Hobby Lobby":

One of our friends entered the store, asked where the Chanukah goods were, was told there wouldn't be any, and asked why.  According to her, the answer was:

"We don't cater to you people." 

Understandably irate, she called the home office, and was told, indifferently, that hobby lobby doesn't have Chanukah on its list of holidays. 

Since I did not hear this ugly exchange with my own ears, I was not personally certain it was the case.  And that's not good enough for this blog.  So I just called the Marlboro hobby lobby and asked whether it would be stocking any Chanukah merchandise.  I was told it would not.  When I asked why, the answer - verbatim - was: 

"Because Mr. Green is the owner of the company, he's a Christian, and those are his values." 

The company's mission is connected to religious beliefs. Here are two references on the "Our Company" page of its website: 

At Hobby Lobby, we value our customers and employees and are committed to:

• Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles.
• Offering our customers exceptional selection and value in the crafts and home decor market.
• Serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals and nurture families.
• Providing a return on the owner's investment, sharing the Lord's blessings with our employees, and investing in our community.

------

We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, and we trust Him for our future.

Hobby Lobby responded first in a Facebook post: 

Then, Hobby Lobby gave a fuller response in a statement: 

We sincerely apologize for any employee comments that may have offended anyone, especially our Jewish customers and friends. Comments like these do not reflect the feelings of our family or Hobby Lobby.

Our family has a deep respect for the Jewish faith and those who hold its traditions dear. We're proud contributors to Yad Vashem, as well as to other museums and synagogues in Israel and the United States. 

We are investigating this matter and absolutely do not tolerate discrimination at our company or our stores. We do not have any policies that discriminate; in fact, we have policies that specifically prohibit discrimination. 

We have previously carried merchandise in our stores related to Jewish holidays. We select the items we sell in our stores based on customer demand. We are working with our buyers to re-evaluate our holiday items and what we will carry in the future. 

 Discussion Starters: 

• Assess Hobby Lobby's two responses. How do they differ? Which do you find more effective, and why? 
• A Hobby Lobby is opening in Ithaca this year (no joke!). If one were opening near you, and you wanted what they sell, would you shop there? Why or why not? 

Should Jamie Dimon Resign? CNBC Says No.

CNBC is accused of being less than objective in assessing whether JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon should resign. In a pointed blog post, Reuters reporter Felix Salmon refers to CNBC producers and hosts as Dimon's "biggest cheerleaders" and criticizes them of not considering the whole story. Titled, "The JP Morgan apologists of CNBC," the post includes a clip from CNBC showing hosts asking leading questions. 

Readers may recall that JP Morgan Chase lost a risky trading hedge that could amount to to $20 billion in fines.

 Salmon highlights this excerpt from the video as an example of CNBC's tone:

Maria Bartiromo: Alex, to you first. Legal problems aside, JP Morgan remains one of the best, if not the best performing major bank in the world today. You believe the leader of that bank should step down?

Alex Pareene: I think that any time you're looking at the greatest fine in the history of Wall Street regulation, it's really worth asking should this guy stay in his job. In any other industry - I can't think of another industry. If you managed a restaurant, and it got the biggest health department fine in the history of restaurants, no one would say "Yeah, but the restaurant's making a lot of money. There's only a little bit of poison in the food."

The arguments on both sides use several reasoning types we discuss in class: criteria, analogy, dissocation, and others.

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess the interview? Is CNBC biased in its view?
• How are principles of persuasion used in the arguments? What examples do you see of reasoning types, fallacies, and evidence?

Barilla Won't Use Gays in Advertising

The CEO of Barilla Italian pasta company sounded anti-gay on a radio show. Although the interview was in Italian, blogger John Aravosis translated Guido Barillo's comments into English:

"We won't include gays in our ads, because we like the traditional family. If gays don't like it, they can always eat another brand of pasta. Everyone is free to do what they want, provided it doesn't bother anyone else."

Re-thinking his comments the next day, Barillo said,

"With reference to statements made yesterday, I apologize if my words have generated controversy or misunderstanding, or if they have hurt the sensibilities of some people. In the interview, I simply wanted to highlight the central role of the woman in the family."

Here's the audio, which is useful if you speak Italian.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Some are calling for a boycott of Barilla products. Would you follow along if you typically bought the pasta? Why or why not?
• Assess the CEO's follow-up message. How, if at all, does it affect your view of the company?

McDonald's Offers Healthier Menu Items

After much criticism of its unhealthy food and advertising targeted towards children, McDonald's is offering more options for people looking for healthy food.

In 20 of its major markets, accounting for 85% of its total sales, McDonald's will revamp the menu. Costing $35 million through 2020, the move may pave the way for other fast-food chains. This is Bill Clinton's hope, as he said in a press release about the initiative, which is part of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York:

"If we want to curb the catastrophic economic and health implications of obesity across the world, we need more companies to follow McDonald's lead and step up to the plate and make meaningful changes."

CEO Don Thompson explained the opportunity:

"This is a particular opportunity to partner with the Clinton Foundation and the alliance to leverage our scale and size and marketing prowess to be able to influence more purchases of fruits and vegetables."

On the "Nutrition Choices" page of McDonald's website, the company posted a progress report showing its "National Nutritional Commitments." For each, the report describes the company's "journey."

Discussion Starters:

• Read McDonald's progress report. Who are the primary and secondary audiences? What are the company's objectives? How is it organized? How does the company use graphics to highlight main points?
• Analyze how data is presented in the report. How does the company use quantitative information to prove its points? In what ways is the presentation successful, and where does it fall short?

AIG: Bonus Criticism "Just as Bad" as Lynchings

AIG's CEO has apologized for comparing criticism of employee bonuses to lynching.

In a Wall Street Journal article, Chief Executive Bob Benmosche was quoted as saying that anger about bonuses "was intended to stir public anger, to get everybody out there with their pitch forks and their hangman nooses, and all that -- sort of like what we did in the Deep South <decades ago>. And I think it was just as bad and just as wrong."

The criticism of bonuses began around 2009 during the financial meltdown when, in the midst of bailouts from the government, financial sector employees were collecting large bonuses. The banks' defense was that these employees were contractually due the bonuses, that the bonuses were essential to retain talent, and that only a few employees were responsible for bad decisions that caused the collapse. (I'm paraphrasing here.)

Reuters explains the lynchings in this way: "Thousands of people, mainly African-Americans and primarily in the South, were beaten, hanged and killed in the 19th and 20th centuries by racist mobs."

Do you see the analogy?

In a statement, Benmoshce later said, "It was a poor choice of words. I never meant to offend anyone by it."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Several news sources (Al Jazeera, Reuters, and others) called Benmoshe's statement an "apology." Is it? What does a apology typically include?
• Read an article in Rolling Stone discussing the comment and other perceived failings of Wall Street. Analyze the author's arguments. How does he use logical arguments, emotional appeals, and credibility to make his points? Which are strongest and which are weakest?

Coke Explains "You Retard" on Cap

Imagine looking at the bottom of a bottle cap and seeing "YOU RETARD." That's what a Canadian girl saw when she opened a bottle of Coke's Vitaminwater.

Unfortunately for Coke, the expression was particularly hurtful because the girl's younger sister has celebral palsy and autism. Their father wrote a letter to Coke explaining the family's view of the "R" word:

"You see, the "R" word is considered a swear word in out [sic] family. We don't use it. We don't tolerate others using it around us. We are over-sensitive, but you would be too if you have Fiona for a daughter."

The Coca-Cola Company responded to ABC News:

"We have spoken to the family to offer our sincerest apologies and to explain the production process to them," Shannon Denny, director of brand communications for Coca-Cola Refreshment Canada, told ABC News. "This is certainly not an excuse in any way for what has occurred. We wanted them to know that this was in no way intentional and was a mistake on our part during the review process. We also wanted to share that the promotion has since been cancelled and we are no longer producing bottles with those caps."

How did the mistake happen? Apparently, the caps were part of a promotion that randomly paired an English word with a French word. "Retard" translated to mean "late" or "delayed" in French. According to a company spokesperson, "The word's English connotation was missed during the review process." 

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess Coke's apology and explanation?
• Read the father's letter. How it is organized? What works well, and what could be improved?

Cornell Lacrosse Team Suspended

From right here in cloudy Ithaca, the Cornell Lacrosse Team has made national news. As the team faces hazing allegations-coerced consumption of alcohol by underage freshman-Andrew Noel, Cornell's director of athletics, is front and center.

Noel responded in an interview with The Ithaca Journal:

"I would say that it's disappointing and unacceptable behavior that has to stop immediately. And having met with the lacrosse players last Sunday morning, we discussed the situation for quite a while, and I was heartened by their attitude and by the fact that I believe they understood what they put in jeopardy, for themselves as individuals, for the team, and for the (athletic) department and university."

Noel also gave this official statement:

"On Sept. 13, the Cornell men's lacrosse team was placed on temporary suspension pending appropriate sanctions for a team hazing incident. Following investigation into the incident, Coach (Ben) DeLuca and his team were notified that all fall competitions are canceled."

However, Ben DeLuca has been asked for comment from USA Today and other sources, but he has been unavailable. According to The Ithaca Journal,

"Noel said he has talked with the fourth-year coach and that they are 'both on the same page' as far as the penalty is concerned.'A lot of discussion was not necessary,' Noel said. 'He understands, like I do, that we can't have this. He doesn't want it to happen, and I don't want it to happen. Neither of us are going to allow it to happen without serious repercussions, which have happened. It was a pretty stern penalty here, which is pretty tough on the athletes and on the coaching staff. We are together in how we feel about it.'"

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Assess Noel's response. What are his objections, and how well did he meet them?
• What do you make of DeLuca's absence of comment?

"Reverse Showrooming" from Pinterest and Other Sites

People are looking at product images online and buying in the store. Proving a concept called "reverse showrooming," a survey reported that 41% of social media users look online and buy in person, while only 26% practice "showrooming," which is browsing in the store but ordering online. Twenty-one percent of Pinterest users reported purchasing a product in-store after pinning, repinning, or liking an item.

This survey is significant because it could alleviate concerns that people increasingly browse in brick-and-mortar stores but order online, a claim used to explain declining store sales, such as Best Buy's.

In a nifty interactive, a Harvard Business Review article described five typical paths that Pinterest users follow to consume products: 

• The Deal Seeker
• The Nonseeker
• The Category Seeker
• The Inspiration Seeker
• The Social-Proof Seeker

 Discussion Starters:

• What is your own experience with online and in-store shopping? How do you explain differences or similarities between your behavior and that reported in this survey?
• What implications of this survey do you see for Pinterest? Amazon? Best Buy?

Microsoft Pulls iPhone Parody Ads

Called "distasteful," "terrible," "harsh," "bizarre," and "cringe-worthy," Microsoft videos poking fun at the iPhone have been removed. Here is one of seven produced, as Apple introduces iPhones 5c and 5s.

Critics said the ads are not funny, and some thought that the executive's resemblance to Steve Jobs was in poor taste.

Microsoft issued this statement about the decision: "The video was intended to be a light-hearted poke at our friends from Cupertino. But it was off the mark, and we've decided to pull it down."

Discussion Starters:

• Do you find the video funny? Why do you think it got a negative reaction?
• Assess Microsoft's decision and statement. Did the company do the right thing by removing the videos? What's effective about the statement?

Restaurant Owner Terminates Employees but Fumbles the Explanation

Two employees of Famous Dave's barbecue restaurant in North Dakota were fired for a Facebook post implying that Native Americans are bad tippers. 

The photo was posted during United Tribes International Pow Wow, a festival attended by more 20,000 people, according to event organizers. According to The Huffington Post, the employee shown in the poto "denies creating the cardboard sign, but she doesn't deny posing for the picture." Good move!

Thinking the photo would disappear, the employee's friend shared the photo via Snapchat. Snapchat describes the app on its website, but in this case, the image was shared on Facebook:

"Snapchat is a new way to share moments with friends. Snap an ugly selfie or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend (or maybe a few). They'll receive it, laugh, and then the snap disappears.

"The image might be a little grainy, and you may not look your best, but that's the point. It's about the moment, a connection between friends, and not just a pretty picture.

"The allure of fleeting messages reminds us about the beauty of friendship - we don't need a reason to stay in touch.

"Give it a try, share a moment, and enjoy the lightness of being!"

Snapchat has been criticized as an unsafe "sexting" app.

Although the owner of Famous Dave's may have done the right thing by terminating the employees, his Facebook post needs editing:

Discussion Starters:

• Assess Mike Wright's Facebook post. What works well, and what could be improved? Edit the post for accuracy.
• What's your view of Snapchat's claims? Can the site ensure that photos "disappear"? Is the company responsible for images that are shared in the interim, or do users hold this responsibility?