Take satire seriously. It influences.

Imagine this was written about your store experience: customers “can find plenty of sales associates who either don’t know or don’t give a shit.“ Or, “floor staff were not adequate to fully ignore the influx of customers… cashiers to resentfully process returns.“

The Onion News has written this about Staples, the large office supply retailer.

The Onion is an incredibly clever satirical news organization who delight in alternative perspectives. Stories like these tend not to be entirely fictional and are based on an observation that is true often enough to warrant mention. Rarely is good comedy entirely made up.

Centuries ago European royalty hired jesters whose job it was to entertain and criticize their masters. Told as a joke, a painful truth can be easier to swallow. Henry the Eighth’s Will Sommers must have been a busy man.

Consider hiring a comedian or a satirist to “do a bit” about your organization. It’s their job to take a different view, spin it, and present it with just the right amount of truth and wit. It can be entertaining and insightful.

Ultimately, it’s better to hire someone early and internally, than have it done for free and in public.