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To: Mr. David J. Lesar
Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer
Halliburton Oil Houston, TX 77010
Dear Mr. Lesar:
Congratulations on leading Halliburton through another banner season.
Oil makes America great - and Halliburton is American Oil!
I realize that although Halliburton is doing well in the ledgers, it
has taken much flak in the media lately for having received multi-billion
dollar no-bid contracts and for selling gasoline to American forces in
Iraq at prices two and three times greater than what local importers charge.
Combine that with Vice-President Dick Cheney - a champion of both Halliburton
and the invasion of Iraq - being a former Halliburton official and clearly
you've got a P.R. battle on your hands which even the U.S. government
couldn't invade its way out of.
I would therefore like to make a suggestion that could give you guys
a tremendous public relations boos
t while at the same time spreading good will to some of those who need
it most: Why not give ten shares of Halliburton stock to the family of
every soldier who has died in Iraq?
I know you're thinking what any responsible CEO would be thinking - "How
much is that going to cost me?" Well, I've done the calculations for you
- so relax.
At the end of the trading day today, a share of Halliburton stock sold
for just under $25 (seven dollars more than the same share sold in February
- well-done!) Ten shares to each family would set you back less than $250
- and that's stock, not cash. (To paraphrase the Doritos people by way
of the U.S. Government: "Don't worry - we'll print more!")
Fewer than five-hundred Americans have died so far, so you'd be on the
hook for less than $125,000 worth of stock, total. Even if Americans continue
to die at the rate of two a day, after a year you'd still be talking way
less than it costs to run a single thirty-second spot during the Super
Bowl - and that's AFTER you produce the commercial (which can run you
north of a million dollars - even without a Jeff Goldblum or a Lindsay
Wagner.)
A Halliburton employee (preferably one of your more photogenic ones)
could show up at the home of the deceased soldier's family with a camera
crew and a giant stock certificate. (These are called "mock-ups" and they
do them at Kinko's for about fifty bucks). Publisher's Clearing House
does this a few times a year to huge acclaim. You could do this two times
EVERY DAY - and even more often if things get more desperate over there.
(This is what they call a lose-win situation - with YOU on the winning
side!)
I understand that one of Halliburton's subsidiaries is fighting several
lawsuits charging racial discrimination - so what if the photogenic employee
presenting the stock is African-American? There goes another bird!
I give you this idea for free because as an American, I know that what's
good for Halliburton is good for you (first) but then good for everybody
else somewhere down the line.
Yours,
Adam Belanoff
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