MMS: Sorry About That 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Cake

Humor in the workplace can be fun. But this morning, when The New York Times reported that a reception in Alaska at the regional office of the Minerals Management Service—the agency responsible for regulating offshore drilling—included a cake with the words "Drill, Baby, Drill," not many people were laughing. Feeling the heat, John Goll, the director of MMS's Alaska office, sent around this apology, obtained by NEWSWEEK, to all agency staff:

From: Goll, John
To: MMS Employees Nationwide
Subject: Apology to MMS

As the manager in charge of the Alaska Region, I apologize to everyone in the Minerals Management Service with regard to the cake at a recent Alaska Region All Hands meeting, as reported in a New York Times article today. The cake had the words "Drill, Baby, Drill', plus other words which were meant to take light of the words. This was simply wrong to have. I failed in preventing this from happening in my office.

jg

John Goll
Regional Director, Alaska
U.S. Minerals Management Service

Short and to the point. Enough to forgive and forget?