Dubious dotCOMM Awards

In an October 10th press release Scientology announced it had won multiple dotCOMM awards for excellence for their Stay Well initiative.

Mike Rinder addressed this farce in his blog, pointing out the ridiculous fact that Miscavige’s attempt at becoming a TV mogul “has been a dismal failure. No shows worth watching. No audience. Not a single Emmy nomination for anything, let alone a win.”

It should be noted that according to dotCOMM’s website not only can you create your own category for an award, but for $199.00 you can buy your trophy from their online store.

Earlier this week we reached out to dotCOMM with the following letter. Thus far there has been no response but we’ll update if that changes.

November 2, 2020

dotCOMM Awards

127 Pittsburg Street

Dallas, TX 75207

To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Stefani Hutchison and I am a writer and blogger currently working on an article concerning a Press Release issued by Scientology about their multiple dotCOMM Awards.

According to your website your awards are for “honoring excellence in web creating and digital communication”. This excellence, as stated by dotCOMM, is part of digital public relations that generate customer engagement.

Does this excellence include honesty and integrity?

Surely a large part of good public relations, digital or otherwise, includes an expectation of trust from whatever brand one is engaging with?

Scientology’s Stay Well campaign has been fraught with controversy from its inception. Leader David Miscavige released a bulletin in the early days of the pandemic stating that COVID-19 was “hysteria” and “planetary bullbaiting”. Yet in spite of his dismissal of the deadly illness, the Volunteer Ministers began an overt public campaign, Stay Well, that has carried with it numerous false and misleading propaganda.

July 2, 2020 the Volunteer Ministers issued a Press Release that included a photograph of the Caribou Coffee Company accepting Stay Well booklets for distribution to their customers. Subsequently Caribou Coffee denied any affiliation with Scientology. Also in this Release was a photo of Speedway Convenience Store with a caption reading that Speedway was handing out Stay Well to it’s customers. Speedway Corporate issued an immediate request for the photo to be removed from the Volunteer Ministers’ website and stated “we do not have an arrangement with them to distribute literature.”

Details can be found here:

Another Press Release was issued containing a photograph of Supplement Superstore accepting the booklets for distribution. This too was refuted by Supplement Superstore’s Corporate office who asked Scientology to remove the photo.

Yet another issued by Scientology included a photo of Cadeaux Bakery. Again the business, when told about the press release, immediately requested the photo be removed.

Additionally, in Sydney, Australia customers and business owners were outraged over the appearance of the booklet displays.

In New Zealand, Volunteer Ministers actually misrepresented themselves as government officials and told the various business owners they encountered that they had to display the Stay Well booklets as part of the government’s initiative.

In Florida copies of Stay Well were placed, without permission, into the lunches of public school children. An action that was met with outrage that forced Scientology to issue an apology for their unethical maneuver.

One fails to see how an organization can be awarded for excellence when there is a plethora of intentionally dishonest decision making behind the websites dotCOMM has awarded. How can such actions possibly inspire trust, positive public relations or inspire confidence in Scientology’s offerings with such a foundation?

That dotCOMM has seen fit to bestow not one, but multiple public acknowledgements upon any organization capable of such deception calls into question both your requirements for, as well as the ethical validity of, your awards.

If the public looks to dotCOMM as a sign of excellence and trust in the online business world, this is an unfortunate misstep. It is my hope that I can include in my upcoming article that dotCOMM is considering correcting these awards.

I respectfully ask that you reevaluate your decision to award such actions and revoke your tacit public approval of Scientology’s Stay Well campaign websites.

Stefani Hutchison

Given that Scientology is so superior to the Wog world, one cannot help but wonder why they are seeking Wog approbation.

More importantly, why is a religion so focused upon accumulating accolades designed for business enterprises? dotCOMM is purportedly for “Interactivity, content, design, social media, video, apps, blogs and influencers are all important components of digital public relations, marketing and advertising campaigns. Together they generate branding, customer engagement and ultimately sales.”

Sounds exactly like the things a multi million dollar conglomerate would do.