As the start date of the London Olympics approached in July, the big story was not one of sport but one of corporate ineptitude.
For once, it was not a bank in the firing line of the mass media. Rather it was security company G4S, which had a contract to supply about 10,000 support staff to aid with logistics and security during the Games.
Unfortunately, just a couple of weeks before the Games started, G4S revealed it was several thousand short of the number of security guards it had contracted to provide. That necessitated the UK army being drafted in at the last minute to plug the gap in numbers.
It was also revealed that G4S had a corporate song. This prompted much derision. The sub-Bon Jovi-style track included such lyrical nuggets as: "Our mission is to maintain the peace/But make no mistake we’ll face the beats/We’ll back him down and make him run/We’ll never leave our post till our job is done." That, of course, assumes they were in their post in the first place.
Companies and songs simply don’t mix, as many banks have found out to their cost, and others’ amusement, in the past.
At Euromoney, we can unfortunately never forget the reworking of U2 hit ‘One’ by employees of Bank of America and MBNA following their merger in 2006.
The version by two Manhattan staffers begins: "It is even better/Now that we’re the same/Two great companies come together/MBNA is BoA..."
If you want to cringe and laugh at the same time, watch it now: