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1.  

   Lawyers need to do something

   

   Paul, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 8:59am

   
   

   Im sure they have lawyers who only get paid when there doing something, thus even when it hurts the companys the lawyers are proactive in doing things to get there numbers up so thay can charge more.

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2.  

   Any publicity is good publicity

   

   Freedom, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 9:04am

   
   

   To me, the fact that De Beers has had plenty of bad publicity already and that people still actually buy this over-priced and over-hyped shiny stones indicates that just being in the news isn't a bad thing.
   
   Besides, this isn't like DRM in Spore or similar, the actions by De Beers has little to no direct effect on actually buyers of their product. As such, it just gets their name in the news and draws more attention to them and the ad as you noted. The real question is, is that a bad thing and for their market I would say no.
   
   For the few people that it would negatively effect, they probably weren't going to buy the silly rocks in the first place. For the others, it gets them thinking about shiny rocks again which might actually lead to increased sales.
   
   Freedom

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3.  

   Ha ha!

   

   Nate, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 9:24am

   
   

   You're wrong! I'm never buying another diamond again! Satire like this and the attention the diamond industry has been getting over the last 5-10 years has started to make a real dent in people's perceptions of diamonds -- my wife told me she feels guilty wearing them, and, she adds, "Zirconia are just as good, cheaper, and nobody has to die for them."
   
   Picking the scab, DeBeers, picking the scab...

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4.  

   Re: Any publicity is good publicity

   

   The infamous Joe, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 9:30am

   
   

   I think the more distressing fact is that these lawyers, whose job is to know the ins and outs of the law are threating people who have no fault on the matter.
   
   
   Assuming that they do, in fact, know the law-- that means they are diliberately misusing the law, which should be punishable, if it isn't, and enforced if it is.
   
   
   note: IANAL

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5.  

   

   Lucretious, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 9:47am

   
   

   This family of vile scumbags who exploit destitute 3rd world workers for their worldwide monopoly should be happy that this is the worst they're getting. The whole lot of them should be lined up against a concrete wall and summarily executed.

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6.  

   The Onion

   

   Greg, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 9:48am

   
   

   Apparently De Beers has never heard of The Onion, either. I'm just waiting for a parody of De Beers on theonion.com.
   
   But, they'll probaby sic their lawyers on them, too.

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7.  

   You think THAT matters ?

   

   Shohat, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 10:06am

   
   

   Da Beers don't give two shits about such micro-bad publicity. Seriously.
   It's like that joke about Hitler killer 6 million jews and a clown.

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8.  

   Re: You think THAT matters ?

   

   Anonymous Coward, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 10:24am

   
   

   *decides to participate in this known and hilarious joke*
   What? Why a clown?

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9.  

   

   Anonymous Coward, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 10:39am

   
   

   Never saw this fake ad before. Thanks De Beers!

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10.  

    fine line between insanity and genius

    

    another mike, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 10:41am

    
    

    Every time one of these stories comes up, I always have to wonder, have they never heard of the Streisand Effect? Or are they marketing geniuses who know exactly what they're doing?
    I mean, you've got to know by now that if you don't like something online, ignore it so it doesn't gain traction.

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11.  

    Amen Brother!

    

    slimcat (profile), Nov 26th, 2008 @ 11:45am

    
    

    For all the sorrow, pain, death, social and physical destruction they have caused, they certainly deserve it. But,as my homicide detective sister points out to me, it is still illegal to eradicate scumbags. I would, at least, like to see their company crushed by social pressure.

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12.  

    Diamonds Are Forever

    

    Christopher L. Jorgensen, Nov 26th, 2008 @ 11:50am

    
    

    Yep, I would have entirely missed the ad if they hadn't brought it to my attention. Must be nice to be sued.
    
    Oh, wait.
    
    That's probably their real intention. Perhaps the registrar will kill the domain because they don't want to stand up to the diamond cartels. It could happen. Depends on how much protecting one customer matters to them.

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13.  

    Re: Diamonds Are Forever

    

    Allen (profile), Nov 26th, 2008 @ 5:39pm

    
    

    "That's probably their real intention"
    
    That's what I was going to go with. Even bad publicity is publicity.

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14.  

    Ice Road Truckers

    

    Kev, Feb 7th, 2010 @ 6:54pm

    
    

    Stick to Canadian diamonds. De Beers don't get their ugly faces in so far as I know, and with the exception of a few frostbitten truckers, no-one gets hurt. Canadian diamonds are the clean end of the market. The kind of excesses, and human rights abuses, routinely practiced in Africa are unknown here.

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