Optus Finds Unlikely Friend In Billionaire Gerry Harvey

Optus Finds Unlikely Friend In Billionaire Gerry Harvey



The boss of Australia’s biggest ad spender, Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman fame, has used radio time on the Nine-owned 2GB and 3AW to oddly defend Optus’ latest stuff-up.

The telco, of course, suffered a 16-hour outage last Wednesday that infuriated long-time customers. Yesterday, Optus chiefs blamed the incident on “routing information” following a software upgrade at the telco.

However, Harvey, the 84-year-old billionaire retailer, used ad time to defend the maligned telco.

In a voiceover in the ad, Harvey declared: “Optus, Optus. Kick them when they’re down – really? I thought Australians were better than that. It could happen to any company; it could be your turn next time.”

He goes on to say that Optus, which is a commercial partner, will continue to receive support at its stores.

“Yes, we will support Optus,” Harvey said.

“If you think Optus is getting a raw deal, then you think like us. Need a new phone? It’s an Optus deal at Harvey Norman. Tell them Gerry sent you.”

Defending the ad, Harvey later told 6PR Perth: “You get a situation where you’re the CEO of a public company, and it could happen to any public company, the CEO doesn’t run the IT department.”

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