HubSpot Apologizes For Unicorn Shortage
Posted by Kara Sassone on Mon, Aug 29, 2011 @ 02:30 PM
HubSpot is issuing a statement of apology for the temporary unicorn shortage in the United States, after purchasing all available unicorns in North America as part of its marketing fact versus fantasy campaign at Dreamforce. The company is distributing several thousand stuffed unicorns wrapped in a small cape bearing a QR code, the HubSpot sprocket, and the words “HubSpot.com/freeunicorns” at the world’s largest cloud computing conference which runs August 30 through September 2, 2011 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
In a letter addressed to ‘Children and Unicorn Lovers Across the U.S.’ and signed by HubSpot’s CMO, Mike Volpe, the company expressed regret for causing the unicorn shortage and inadvertently ruining thousands of unicorn-themed birthday parties nationwide.
After apologizing, Volpe defended the company’s actions with this statement:
“Although HubSpot’s total buy-out of the entire North American unicorn population has caused some pain for children and parents across the U.S., we felt we had no choice but to take drastic measures to educate the 42,000 professionals attending Dreamforce this year about the dangers of outbound marketing.
“Too long have we stood by while marketing myths—like ‘B2B companies shouldn’t waste their time with social media,’ or ‘optimizing email and websites for mobile isn’t worth the effort,’ etc.—were perpetuated unchecked. The time has come to separate marketing fact from marketing fantasy.”
Although Volpe could not be reached for further comment, HubSpot’s Social Media Scientist, Dan Zarrella, who will present a session at Dreamforce titled The Science of Social Media: Engineering Contagious Ideas on Wednesday, August 31, expressed his full support for the unicorn buy-out. ”Some people are saying we went too far. Personally, I don’t think we went far enough. I wanted to stage a unicorn bonfire outside of Moscone Center, but the fire department wouldn’t issue us a permit. I guess they like ineffective marketing.”
Those attending Dreamforce in San Francisco can receive one of these coveted, last-remaining North American unicorns by visiting HubSpot in one of four locations at the conference: Moscone North 1416, Moscone North 305, Moscone North 131, or Moscone West, Level 2, Alcove 2.