Haverhill Home Staging's Public Relations Genius

There's a little company I'd never previously heard of called Haverhill Home Staging. It advertises on HGTV and is in the business of "staging" houses for sale.

Now, here's why I did hear about these folks, and am writing about them at this point in time: they're awfully upset about what has been said about them anonymously on Internet message boards, to the point of suing.

Here's a press release that talks all about how this company is getting beat up anonymously on the web:

The Haverhill Institute of Staging & Design announced today that it has filed a libel suit against an online blogger in an effort to vindicate itself and disprove the libelous statements made about it on several online blogs.

"The postings on those blogs are categorically false and unconditionally denied", said Danielle Rodriguez, Haverhill's General Operations Manager.

The company expects to file several more claims after it receives information from ISP's identifying other anonymous posters.

"We'll use all legal means at our disposal to repair any damage to our reputation. We are not a litigious group of people. This was our last resort and we regret having to pursue this avenue, but it's truly impossible to defend ourselves on un-moderated blogs."

So let's see if I understand this. People say bad things about you anonymously on the web, so you sue to ensure that..... what? That people like myself who have never heard of you are certain to find out about all those nasty things anonymously said about you on the web?

And even not anonymously. At Walletpop, Zac Bissonnette goes into detail on what a terrific company this is.

Here's a message board where you can read even more about Haverhill Home Staging.

One thing's for sure: I'm keeping an eye on this company that I'd never heard of before.

I haven't encountered such sheer genius since Solengo Capital's lawsuit against Dealbreaker a couple of years ago. You know: the one in which it sued because of publication of a "confidential" offering document, thereby bringing it even more publicity.

© 2009 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.