Don Imus - a Study in Bad Communication

In his article, Don Imus isn't the only one who ought to be ashamed, columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote how Don Imus, a prominent national radio shock-jock, lost his lucrative simulcast with MSNBC and then later his show with CBS because of his "racist and sexist insults against the Rutgers University women's basketball team."1

Leonard went on to write that part of the offending expression by Imus was his use of the word “ho” meaning whore. This word has been popularized for many years by leading rappers such as Snoop Doog who is referenced in the article. Imus may have felt that after all the years of rappers using the word “ho”, this implied it was acceptable for him to use this term during a national radio broadcast. Obviously Imus was wrong.

There are many in the media asking what people will or should take away from this incident. One lesson international business people should definitely take away from this event is the warning to be vigilant about the words they use when communicating with people in another country.

People do not have to use profanity to insult someone from a different culture or country. Speaking informally to Mexican associates without first having developed the proper relations can demonstrate at the least ignorance about the Mexican business culture or worse be viewed as an insult. There may be terms that Mexicans use when speaking with each other. This in no way implies that an outsider can or ever should use the same words without offending someone.

One of the goals for businesses is to communicate their message clearly to the customer. One should always err on the side of caution and formality rather than risk insult and embarrassment. It only takes one misspoken word to cause enormous financial loss. Just ask Don Imus even though it is likely he will be back on the air waves in one form or another. For those of us doing business internationally, however, such a mistake could destroy years of hard work and investment.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru

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1. Special acknowledgement to Leonard Pitts Jr., columnist for The Miami Herald. His article was a source of inspiration.