First published May 31, 2025
You have to scroll back to 2013 – a decade ago, a different internet – to find the last time Cummins even tweeted the word blog. One single mention. One corporate echo into the void. And then, radio silence.
Now, suddenly, two blog posts within a month. Like they just remembered what a keyboard is. Like they’ve suddenly grown a conscience.
But this isn’t curiosity, or candour. It’s crisis management dressed up in casual tone. The company that spent twelve years not blogging is now trying to soft-launch a personality, hoping no one notices the timing. Hoping no one asks why now?
Let’s be clear – this is not storytelling. It’s corporate damage control with a login screen. This is what you do when the old playbook stops working. When internal comms teams start scheduling “culture” posts not because they have something to say, but because they’ve lost control of the story.
This is about TCAP, and the heat that comes with public accountability. They see the blog. They see the traction. They see the metrics their own PR team won’t admit they track.
And now? They’re trying to match tone. Awkwardly, belatedly, and without conviction.
They talk about “listening to employees.” Where was that energy in the boardroom, when workers were being discarded with a shrug and a shift report? Where was it when whistleblowers stood up and were told to sit down?
This isn’t a change of heart. It’s a pivot under pressure.
The truth is, they’re not blogging for their workforce. They’re blogging for us. The audience they never planned for. The one that doesn’t fit their stakeholder PowerPoints. The one that keeps asking uncomfortable questions and doesn’t go away when ignored.
So yes, blog away. Hire the ghostwriters. Add the alt text. Pretend you’ve been doing this all along. Attempt to drown out the criticism. The truth.
But understand – the people paying attention now. They’ve seen what silence costs. And no amount of rebranding will unwrite the record.
We’re blogging too. And we’re not on your payroll.
Lee Thompson
Founder – The Cummins Accountability Project