There were accusations of
special privileges, and the accusations were true. Peter nursed,
stroked, and dined his people in the Joey building. A giant
refrigerator was stocked with exotic foods and beverages,
portable Walkman CD players were free, and in-office massages
were provided by professional masseuses and masseurs.
Dismissing Locke's consolidation concept as impossible at a place
like Wallaby, and therefore an inappropriate measure of the man's
abilities, Peter skimmed more articles. He read interviews with
people who had worked for Locke over the past several years. Most
of them reflected on his no-nonsense business attitude and keen
marketing abilities. One marketing analyst who had worked with
Locke on International's now highly successful line of diet
beverages said that Locke often had several secret projects going
at any given time, and as different market opportunities arose,
he called upon the brewing projects to launch major new products.
The analysts and business community, and the most important group
of all, the consumers, perceived the new products as brilliant
and timely. Most of them, however, had been waiting in the wings,
in some instances, a few years, until the right moment arrived to
move them out of the marketing group and into the supermarket.
One spiteful IF manager revealed anonymously that Locke had never
actually invented any of the products himself.
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