> "Lightbox will transform the lab-grown diamond sector by offering consumers a lab-grown product they have told us they want but aren't getting: affordable fashion jewelry that may not be forever, but is perfect for right now," said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver. I'm simply speechless at the stupidity of this statement. A contender for one of the outright dumbest CEO-speak lies of the decade.
It may be a lie, it may be marketing speak, but it's not dumb - they are sitting on a huge stockpile of natural stones, admitting that lab grown diamonds are the same (or even better due to the lack of flaws) than natural diamonds would lose a lot of money. So he has to say something that preserves the value in natural diamonds.
Yes, I understand the strategic value of his words. My speechless stems from my inability to find a profound way to express my dismay that we live in a world where such farcically untrue statements are standard operating procedure. The statement is nonsensical; he knows it, we know it, he knows that we know it, and we know that he knows that we know it. And yet despite the utter transparency of the lie, no CEO would ever dream of not telling it. I suppose I'm just sad that we live in a world that has so completely disincentivized corporate honesty.