Salesforce.com Campaign Stirs Holy Controversy

Salesforce.com recently produced posters that included a photo of the Tibetan Buddhist leader. The caption read: "There is no software on the path to enlightenment."

Clearly, company insiders didn't think they were taking liberties by using the imagery. Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com's chairman and CEO, has long supported Tibetan and other causes through the Salesforce.com Foundation. The company had recently purchased 500 tickets to a Dalai Lama speech in San Francisco that was sponsored by the American Himalayan Foundation. Soon after, trouble arose.

Event organizers took offense at Salesforce.com's use of the Dalai Lamai's image in promotional materials and returned Salesforce.com's $100,000 donation. Benioff issued an apology, and the company pulled out of the event and recalled the posters.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time a high-profile marketing campaign went awry at Salesforce.com. Recently, the company invited members of the press to a screening of Terminator 3 with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the star's name was misspelled on the invitation. It's unclear whether the company was threatened with a recall.