Have they gone too far?

considered the likelihood that the release of the "News Letter" has served its purpose?.

They have certainly had their mileage out of it publicity wise.

I am not Lebanese but I don't think its fare to attack an entire nation based on what you perceived as an offense from some people of that country!

The only problem I see here is that both the questions and answers are not publishing material in a PR company operating in Qatar. This only speaks about those in charge of this company!

As for the silly replies, I’ve seen them all right here in QL, it’s just happens some people say these things.

I really think that giving too much importance to these issues just aggravates the problem more than it fixes it.

The only ones who can act upon, are the clients if they feel it's necessary.

And really, sense of humor, flexibility, allowance and tolerance for human failure, are features we ought to develop more in this region, I think!

Especially if the pointy bits curl upwards, as they do in obvious bad quality shoes.

Oh, and if you do not have the figure to wear tight clothes, do yourself and the rest of the world a huge favour, DON'T.

What comes around, goes around....

Nic, (not to pile on, but) these are not some off-the-cuff personal statments overheard at a cocktail party. These are part of an official, company-approved published brochure. And as such it shows moderately bad taste and extremely bad judgment. And may I inject a personal pet peeve here? Please, by all means, feel free to accessorize your wardrobe with pointy shoes. But don't be surprised if the people you subsequently meet double over laughing.

Mandi

Nic, did you read the newsletter? I'm not going to blame the individuals for this disaster. Alone, on their own , these comments could've been just ignored. But the sentiments were nearly reflected throughout the company. I found 1 person who said nothing was going to Qatar and another one who was optimistic and said it will still continue to boom. The rest of them all looked down on Qatar.

And, the kicker- It's a PR company with major clients in Qatar! I guess we know why Qatar struggles with its image now.

Nic if a PR company printed responses like those against Canada IN Canada I assure you that that company would be in about 8 layers of sh&&t.

More so their business is Public Relations and they should know the public they're serving. The answers & the newsletter itself is very unprofessional and doesn't speak well of the company.

literal people are scary, man, literal people scare me

out there trying to rid the world of its poetry while getting it wrong fundamentally down at the church of "look,it sez right here, see!" Ani Difranco

Deepb,

We have to forgive them because these were light and humorous questions probably asked in an informal environment. Maybe a company's party!

The answers are only personal reactions of a given moment.

I am sure they were not deliberately announced to target and offend.

If anyone to blame, blame the management who published casual and informal chit chat.

If it happened in Canada (and trust me it happens a lot thanks to our southern neighbors ;), Canadians couldn’t care less if people joked about them.

I think sense of humor is highly missing in this region!

People take things too serious, personal and offensive.

Relax, we are all humans and may have at any given moment naughty thoughts, this isn’t any official statement of any official identity against Qatar, its only people telling what they impulsively thought in response to silly questions.

harmagedon...don't want to go there , i told what i needed to say , usually im not blogging at all , but because i felt that i should say what i got , i did , and my post was mostly to "genesis" cause i can see that he felt insulted and i wanted to explain to him some stuff...and try to gain forgiveness on the behalf of my fellow patriots :D

for genesis :peace man

************************************

I'm Jack's complete lack of surprise

Nic, did you read the newsletter? I'm not going to say it's the Lebanese only as I saw a few other nationalities in there as well. But really, the answers are quite unprofessional and disgusting. It's not just what they think will happen, they are wishing it on Qatar. Amazing that no one in the company realized how inappropriate the comments were.

A new hater comes :)

"first , as for our clothes , well we are a diversity , and each to his own clothes"

Wrong, you are like a French placenta with MPS.

Stereo-types, they do hold truth otherwise they would not exist.

"first , as for our clothes , well we are a diversity , and each to his own clothes"

Wrong, you are like a French placenta with MPS.

Stereo-types, they do hold truth otherwise they would not exist.

sirdolly, I agree with you on everything in your comment except for the last 2-3 lines. They should learn to respect others , the ones hosting them and the answer to the question was completely unethical.

Just read the other comments and some proved to be as bad as or even worse as those who simply answered a question without too much thought.

I totally agree with Happy Happy. If any to blame, blame the management!

It’s very rude and racist to accuse an entire nation of what some perceive from certain individuals.

we can joke about it in a blog or internet forum or even in person. not in an official newsletter

Genesis,

These are personal views.

Why give so much importance to that?

I couldn’t care less if this happened in my country, as I know the exact value of these opinions!

Chill, we can ignore or joke about it. It’s the only type of reaction these insignificant personal statements merit.

;)

was wondering , it's been a while since some lebanese bashing...yalla bring it on...

first , as for our clothes , well we are a diversity , and each to his own clothes...

second to the women : we r a diversity and to each his own opinion and culture

third to being show off : well we are a diversity and some of us do feel superior to other nationalities , especially arabs...

fouth : im not understanding the racism you're talking about ... one thing i need you all to know , that despite all the differences we have as lebanese , we do have one thing on common...we LOVE the qatari people , w RESPECT the qatari people , we are Friends with qatari families and we're happy cause the qataris share these feelings with us!!!

about the PR company ...okay it could be frowned at , but nothing more , it's simply a bad joke...im not deffending them , but im not seeing any big words and especially any bad feelings towards qataris...

************************************

I'm Jack's complete lack of surprise

What does this newsletter have to do with QL?

literal people are scary, man, literal people scare me

out there trying to rid the world of its poetry while getting it wrong fundamentally down at the church of "look,it sez right here, see!" Ani Difranco

Olive, it wasn't sent around that much... And if it was, that could be bad for QL.

I know I'm going to get bashed for saying this deepb, but it seems to me that the people from a certain country can get away with anything here.

literal people are scary, man, literal people scare me

out there trying to rid the world of its poetry while getting it wrong fundamentally down at the church of "look,it sez right here, see!" Ani Difranco

How come the local population has not reacted to this incident in the same way as they reacted to PM's comments on National Day? This newsletter should be passed on to all their clients. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Disgusting. Highlights the immaturity of PR Companies in this region. Their head offices in the UK & the US think that if they just open and office and hire some smooth talking douchebags that all will go well. The people working for Grey obviously have their head too far up their own A$$e$ to know what PR really means and are an embarrassment to the industry.

literal people are scary, man, literal people scare me

out there trying to rid the world of its poetry while getting it wrong fundamentally down at the church of "look,it sez right here, see!" Ani Difranco

well, My intention was not to bash the Lebanese. But , to shed a light on the company’s poor ethics

ah the lebanese community in doha have special previliges... come on just look at their ladies ... who else could afford to get away... ;)

Dot.com hehe she passed away my friend, you have to accept the fact. But, now Miss Oryx is the new Marilyn :P

_______________________________________________

A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose! Dr. Choc

Qouted : ....Oryx said WK - LOL ...

yep but they view it as such - they see it as doing us chicks a massive favour........ ewwwwwwww

you are more than 66 years old and men are still chasing you? you should be Marilyn Monroe !

Oryx seems you are jealous :) ohh get a life you old woman

ohhhhhhhh don't tell a Lebanese they are Arab! LOL

They are European - they are Phoenician

yeh its rude to comment so about a place where u r earning ur bread n butter

but dude this company sure has some SERIOUS HOT BABEZ working for it :) wooooooooooooooooffffff!!!!!!!!!!

The question is an example of close-ended type of questions, usually used to control a conversation.

I don't think this is an internal circular, and not sure if they focus on one country in each periodical, for all I know, this is a very fishy question.

Salaam

This is how to commit suicide without a gun......

Dweller...lol...truly a classic...

I don't blame the staff for their spontaneous response. They were almost led to these answers. Some have chosen not to answer, others have been neutral, and a few have just responded.

Yet, I do condemn the PR board and their Communication Office for putting up a tricky misleading question as this one on a corporate newsletter.

Note: QLers who bash a nation, are no different to me than those on the link on the main post. You're just behind your screen names.

Salaam

As usual such thread will turn into nationality bashing :)

genesis, it is totally wrong to ask this question and another mistake was when they published them ! They should be punished.

I feel shame that some of them are lebanese.

We, as lebanese, will always be grantfull for Qatar because our qatari brothers helped us to rebuild after july war in 2006 and they always supported us against Israel.

P.S. : robert buy yourself a pointy shoes or get one in your a... !

if u r not dependent on your employee. But if u r dependent for a single cup of tea to get it inside in ur car, then u can't.

PS:My friend This community is most favored in GULF.

_______________________________________________

A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose! Dr. Choc

Nobody is ever dependent on a single employee. Everyone is replaceable contrary to what some people think.

Dot.com get over your fascination with USA, will do you good.

If my employee makes fun of me and someone else, I would be more bothered about his comments about me, no?

like the rest are getting donation?

_______________________________________________

A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose! Dr. Choc

America isn't paying them Dot.com.

no one is pointing out the same hatred for america in same newsletter?

_______________________________________________

A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose! Dr. Choc

You don't get invited for dinner and then piss on the hosts table......

If they came to my company looking for business I would meet with them with a copy of this on the table. Even forgetting about the insults to the qataris how could I expect these people to do a proffesional job?

yes they did go too far, very unprofessional. Its funny how people are opininated about other peoples countries and dont focus on their own countries problems. The world will be a better place. Qatar is not perfect but show me one country that is.

yes, they made racist comments about their clients in their official newsletter.

A respectful company would have never done that.

"Indeed, they shouldn't have done that"

Annually , Many government oil & gas companies throw a family day parties for different expatriate communities.Many Local seniors participate as a good gesture.

"For you, only being nice with fellow colleagues may be THE courteous gesture...but in general, its being nice to everyone including the people you dont know."

It's not a must you know, no one forces us to come & show respect for other cultures And yet many of us does.

I don't want to go through the whole "caste system" mentality that we inherited manly from the 1st subcontinent comers to the region. as i've written that here sometime ago.

Now, you yourself are generalizing here mate :-). I hate Caste System...and I condemn it strongly. Be it in the sub-continent or in the Gulf.

Enough has been said & written here about the discrimination so better to get over it now. I hope, time would come where there would be equality among us...just as the Prophet Mohammad (SAW) said.

PEACE...Have a nice day.

------------------------------------------------------Whenever I find the Key to Success, Someone Steals it.

I have never seen anything like it, particularly when the publishing company is engaged in PR.

Wonder if they have learned how to spell people yet?

yes, they made racist comments about their clients in their official newsletter.

A respectful company would have never done that.

Annually , Many government oil & gas companies throw a family day parties for different expatriate communities.Many Local seniors participate as a good gesture.

It's not a must you know, no one forces us to come & show respect for other cultures And yet many of us does.

I don't want to go through the whole "caste system" mentality that we inherited manly from the 1st subcontinent comers to the region. as i've written that here sometime ago.

Did they point guns on the locals or attack them in their newsletter? Bro, we all are talking here about a single & individual case...isn't it?

And yes, many locals complain about people's equal attitude towards them, something they are not used to.

------------------------------------------------------Whenever I find the Key to Success, Someone Steals it.

said and "others" would keep "theirs", by not showing "their" hatred/insult towards expatriates on the roads.

---

what hatred?be specific. Did any local pointed a gun at your face or insulted you on purpose or were you attacked by a group of local gangs?. And don't tell me the driving attitude of young qataris, Because even many locals complain about that.

And don't give me some individual cases, that can happen anywhere.

Hmm.. interesting. Never knew all THAT about the Lebanese. Thank God the few that I know personally are real gems.

*****************************************

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beerholder.

I agree to most of the comments here...they have gone beyond the limits..no doubt.

bleu...you said, "You can think whatever you want, but keep your insults in private... So will we."

Exactly what I wish it to be.....people will keep their insults in private....and "others" would keep "theirs", by not showing "their" hatred/insult towards expatriates on the roads.

One more thing, if the newsletter is offensive, then calling someone "stupid" is also offensive.

------------------------------------------------------Whenever I find the Key to Success, Someone Steals it.

yep but they view it as such - they see it as doing us chicks a massive favour........ ewwwwwwww

Just idiots, that’s all I can say about them.

Oryx seems like some of those guys tried hitting on you ;)

Yep your are right oryx but now you have to add stupidity. You may think something bad about the person that invites you to dinner but you don't spit in their face while everyone is watching.

You forget more criteria for the guys: putting loads of oil in their hair, premature balding, wearing a shirt three sizes too small, wearing shirts unbuttoned to the navel, big medallion,

actually Greeks and Lebanese are pretty similar come to think of it.

They are such wannabes and the fact that some bang on about being European shows an insecurity in their own identity

one more thing...why do they want the Americans to leave?

Yeah the Lebanese think their europeans but they'll never get close.... The only think they are good at is wearing too much make up, pointy shoes, posing and waging wars against themselves.....

I know they're promoting something about client services in Qatar...but hey! It brings out the best of them stupid answers. ;-)

"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

lol genesis, I said the same thing in a thread and it didn't go down too well with them :P

John if you think this is blowing it out of proportion then you should have been here in December to see what exactly is blowing it out of proportion

Well, the company have been here for quite sometime now. They managed to get jobs with Qatar Foundation and many other government offices. So it's not like they're new to the Country and not aware of the business etiquette in our region.

---Plus can someone please tell the Lebanese, they are not westerners Nor they'll ever be.

Yeah poor old PM what she wrote wasn't that bad just related her experience. These guys are knobs. Less Lebanese in Qatar will mean less posers in the bars!

Hopefully it will... and this is much worse that what PM said here on QL, more like the silly comments on that thread, which started a war on her.

PM - used a nic on an internet forum and was speaking personally not for a company

These numpty skulls use

a) their own names

b) publish photos

c) put it in the company newsletter

I am sure some big Wasta Qataris don't give two hoots of a dead barn owl what some silly wannabe lebbos think about their country. I think the PR company should just been thrown out for sheer and utter stupidity.

Buncha adolescents. I can't imagine doing business with a company that openly displays so much immaturity.

Mandi

LOL, are you that immature?

It seems you really liked that pdf file.

I just don't like it when people come here, live here, take our money, and then insult us... In an official brochure!

You can think whatever you want, but keep your insults in private... So will we.

Un-f@&king-believable. For a PR company to publish this and insult their own clients is not just bad business it's offensive in the extreme. Yes the qataris have lots of money but that is no reason to resort to base insults. Most people working for this conany seem to your Arab brothers the lebanese. This company should have all it's contracts cancelled. Yes they are problems with Qatar and we talk about them but we do not do it through our companies official literature. Qatar will be full of prostitutes? What were they drinking when they wrote that, review it and then published it. Stupid beyond belief.

Posting this in an internet forum or a blog is one thing, having it published in your own company's newsletter with a chance your Client might see it is plain rude & offensive.

They should have known better.

John, you're being stupid... which one of the employees are you.

Lebanon is a joke, ha, ha.

John so many countries hate USA, do you think Obama loses any sleep over it?

I think its a bit hard to ignore in this case because Qataris are the major clients for this company. You don't like to see someone paid by you make fun of you or badmouth you.

No - its not the big brother 1984 mind control thing that i think is at issue.

Its about biting the hand that feeds you.

No company slags off its clients publicly through their own newsletter.

Does McDonalds condemn meat eaters? etc etc etc its sheer stupidity.

Also do you think the Lebanese are the best nationality to tell a country how to run itself?

John,

No it doesn't.. It just makes me think that some people are jealous.

Not only poor PR but they lack business acumen too apparently, trying to offend their biggest customers.

Incompetent or not.. It seems that Lebanese PR companies are favoured in teh Gulf...

Because they are incompetent and stupid.

So ironic that its a PR company - they only thing they have a high opinion of is themselves

I was also offended by the landcruiser comment, she probably thinks she's on QL.

And most of their clients are in Qatar ... http://www.greyme.com/

(Their website is 100% flash, so no direct link, just click on CLIENTS)

The company does PR, huh? Trying to be a PR company with a difference (not being pc) but "official newsletter by a PR company doing business with Qatari Government" - that's just not on!

*****************************************

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beerholder.

regardless of their nationality, Why would the company publish those comments in their newsletter?

Did it ever cross their minds that this can be offensive to some people?

i just flicked thru the link

They have just proved they are a rubbish PR company - shot themselves really.

Daft buggers

LOL

A lot of Lebanese seem to like Qatar bashing...and a lot don't.

I actually ended up defriending a lebanese person due to constant Qatar bashing. Their country is paradise, blah de blah de blah....

Don't seem to know the saying, 'dont bite the hand that feeds you'

If I were the Qatar Gov I would kick their backsides out and next time Lebanon needs someone to step in a broker a peace treaty and take in Lebanese war refugees - just turn away.

probably, his hint was towards bahrain and dubai where this exists and the world considers it to be a requirement in promoting tourism and trade..

the opinion was personal and need not be taken seriously..

Well, you can call me an asshole. I still have the choice to ignore it.

They are plain stupid... I noticed that some didn't answer, or that their answer wasn't published.

And they include a page with calligraphy of "Ramadan Kareem"? Is this what they think is the spirit of Ramadan?

I agree with whyteknight, "This PR company need a crash course on PR."

that they lack a postive attitude.. !

This PR company need a crash course on PR.

Sour grapes....

Why do people worry about when the Oil runs out in Saudi or the Gas runs out in Qatar ?