By Ellen Lee
There was humility on the path to enlightenment this week for San Francisco software maker Salesforce.com.
Salesforce.com landed in hot water with Bay Area supporters of the Dalai Lama after it distributed a poster that seemingly made the spiritual leader a pitch man for the business software company. The poster featured the Dalai Lama sitting with his eyes closed and hands folded in prayer under the message: “There is no software on the path to enlightenment.”
The poster was meant to promote a September event with the Dalai Lama hosted by the San Francisco-based American Himalayan Foundation. Salesforce.com, a longtime backer of Tibetan refugees, had purchased a block of tickets to the event to help celebrate the company’s milestone of 100,000 “enlightened salesforce.com subscribers.” It also planned to throw a party after the event at the Asian Art Museum with Tainted Love, a 1980s cover band.
Instead, the marketing gimmick drew the anger of the American Himalayan Foundation, which called the poster “offensive” and in “bad taste.” The foundation, which said that the poster was printed without its knowledge or permission, sent back the $75,000 check, rescinded the tickets and demanded in a “very strongly worded letter” that the dot-com “straighten the record.”
“We find this whole process offensive and certainly not Buddhist-like,” said Richard Blum, chairman of the foundation.
Salesforce.com responded Friday, promising to do what it could to correct its faux pas. The two sides are still discussing the details, but Salesforce.com’s mea culpa could include backing out of the event and canceling its party at the Asian Art Museum. The company also offered to return the $75,000 check to the Himalayan Foundation, said Erica Stone, president of the nonprofit.
“I think they understand it was inappropriate, and they’re going to take the right steps,” she said.
Salesforce.com, founded in 1999 by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff, sells services that allow businesses to automate their sales teams through the Internet. Benioff, the CEO, could not be reached for comment Friday. But in an interview last week, he underscored the contributions the Salesforce.com Foundation, created at the same time as the company, has made to the Tibetan people and organizations, including donating thousands in dollars and volunteer hours.
“We are very active in supporting Tibetan people, and we have worked very closely with the Dalai Lama since the company started,” Benioff said.
This also isn’t the first time the Salesforce.com Foundation has contributed to Tibetan causes, Benioff added.
“This is an integrated part of what we do,” he said. “We believe in compassionate capitalism. … And this is a big part of our company’s theme, for us to support the Dalai Lama coming.”
Earlier this week, Benioff sent letters of apology to the Tibet Fund and the Tibet House, which are also participating in the San Francisco event, scheduled for Sept. 5 at Davies Symphony Hall.
Rinchen Dharlo, president of the Tibet Fund in New York, said that Salesforce.com has helped with a number of projects, including a $100,000 grant to buy and install computers in schools in Nepal and India and train Tibetan refugees. The Tibet Fund, an umbrella organization that assists exiled Tibetans, received $25,000 for the event, part of Salesforce.com’s $100,000 contribution to mark its 100,000 subscribers.
“People make mistakes,” Dharlo said. “But I believe Mark has his heart in the right place.”
