Bank Of America and “One”: The Exegesis Continues

By now, everyone’s had their fill of the infamous “One”/Bank Of America video, which has been the subject of screeds, satires, and cease-and-desists. But today’s Wall Street Journal hints that there might be more office-gathering rockstars who’ve yet to get their due:

When Steve Santagati worked at a TV company, he watched one colleague paste sticky notes with lyrics onto the microphone stand. The man also began gyrating and, mostly bald, he ran his fingers through his nonhair. “We’re hoping and praying they’re kidding,” says Mr. Santagati of collegial crooners, “and then there’s that moment when you realize they really think they’re like this — a sexy rock star.”

And they don’t have to bomb to embarrass. Ken Keller, who manages business advisory boards, was recently at an annual recognition banquet on the chairman’s birthday. One colleague took the microphone and sang Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” to him. There was no accompanying band — or irony — just her voice, which was good. Mr. Keller averted his eyes. “I wanted to crawl under the table,” he said.

Any other corporate-retreat musical terror tales? We recall attending a GQ party headlined by Sugar Ray–and this was in 2004, mind you–but we’ve never had a colleague earnestly try to strut their stuff at an office gathering. Then again, we work from home, so our “office gatherings” consist of ourselves and our cat–and that cat can’t sing for shit. So maybe we’re not the ones to ask.

When ‘Cringe-Worthy’ Corporate Culture Shows Up on YouTube [WSJ]