It seems KPMG needed some publicity very badly. So they decided to put themselves in a mess. Or soup or trouble or any thing you like to call it.
It all started when a Chris Raettig happened to put a link to KPMG's website from his personal website. When KPMG found out this from their webserver logs, they shot off a letter to Raettig about their internet strategy. The letter stated that he must remove the link to their website as Raettig had no "Web Link Agreement" with KPMG, and hence, according to company's internet policy, he is not allowed to link to KPMG's webiste!!! Apparently guys at KPMG did not know how ridiculous this was. When Raetting published this letter form KPMG in his website, all the hell broke loose. First thing, every one who heard the story started laughing, aloud. And thousands of webloggers published the story on their weblogs to make things worse for the company. To add some fun to the issue, Raettig shot back a letter to KPMG saying that his own organization's web link policy does not require any such formal agreement. :-) From the weblogs, read the most enjoyable article from Madhu Menon. Read the news from Wired.
How is KPMG trying to defend it's deeds? They are saying "our brand is an asset that deserves protection". Apparently they have a weak brand that gets hurt when someone links up to their website. ;-)
As for me, the best way to to respond to all this is to add a link to KPMG from here. ;-)
