I have always been amused with Lockheed's corporate slogan: "We never forget who we're working for". Who the hell are they working for? My first guess would be their shareholders. The companies stock price is prominently displayed on the front page of their corporate web site. They are a for-profit company so they must eventually answer to their shareholders.
But we all know thats not the image that Lockheed wants to project. They want an altruistic image. They want to show us lay-people that they aren't a giant defense contractor which spends millions of dollars a year to buy our government. They want us to think that they are really here to help us out.
But their slogan doesn't make clear who they are "working for". Are they working for the soldiers? the American people? the pentagon? the president? This is just smoke-and-mirrors marketing at its best.
On the Lockheed website the slogan is displayed underneath their logo, but it isn't mentioned anywhere else. Their "Vision and Value" statement seems to put their customer (the pentagon) above all else.
I don't have a problem with companies which are motivated by their customer satisfaction, stock price, or plain old greed. If they want to serve the interests of the pentagon over the will of the American people then thats a worthy purpose, and they should explain it. However I do have a problem with idiotic slogans which are only intended to obfuscate the companies real motivation.
Update: I'm not the only one who has a problem with this slogan.
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