Worst Corporate Press Release Of The Day: Comverge (COMV)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published

Windmill_2_lgMost companies would never think of sending out a press release congratulating the new president. It looks too self-serving and smarmy.

Comverge (COMV) could not help making itself look foolish. The provider of clean energy solutions issued a press release congratulating Mr. Obama "on his commitment to usher in a new era in America’s energy policy — an era that calls upon comprehensive clean energy solutions to power our future. "

To make certain that the company looked like it was aligning itself with all that is right and good, it added Robert M. Chiste, Chairman, President and CEO of Comverge, said, "Comverge is uniquely positioned to support these goals and lead by example while demonstrating the benefits inherent in President-elect Obama’s commitment to a clean energy future. Our clean energy technologies for demand management and smart grid are very cost-effective now, even without government subsidies."

Comverge also believes that first degree murder should be punished by life in prison and that people should not be allowed to smoke in restaurants.

The press relations effort is working, The stock is only off 80% from its 52-week high of $35.25.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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