In a phone call today, an AMD spokesperson stated emphatically and categorically that the company was not engaged in a guerrilla marketing campaign or unsolicited stickering of their hotspot signs: In another twist to the story we reported on earlier this week about AMD's new hotspot directory and promotional campaign, a spokesperson for the company responded to that story by stating unequivocally that the company was not responsible for unsolicited window stickers.
Jo Albers, who was unable to comment when I contacted her last week, called this morning to provide additional detail. Albers said that "there's no rogue effort that we're aware of" and "We are not posting stickers without permission." She said that the program was entirely driven by calling locations, obtaining their permission, and sending them packets, which included the stickers.
"We send the materials to the business and it's entirely up to them whether they want to display the materials," she said. "We do not know of any sort of rogue effort, and we do not endorse the placing of stickers on business without permission, obviously."
Albers comments make the reports from Austin even odder. If the company is unaware of any internal efforts, who is stickering shops? And why would a company the scale of AMD bother to deceive on a subject like this? There's no profit but ill will.