It’s enough to send shivers down a CEO’s spine.

This story about Circuit City, following closely on the heels of the unidentified Exxon Mobil Twitterer tells us all we need to know about the futility of command and control tactics in corporate and marketing communications.

As MAD magazine sketches go, the details in the fake Circuit City ad are hilarious. Especially if it’s not your organization. (There’s a slight nod to the iPhone –in the copy about dropped price.)

With the maturity of social media, PR and reputation issues are gathering steam.

• Last year, there was a spoof blog in the U.K.
• In May this year, Burger King fired two employees for conduct unbecoming -engaging in “unauthorized activity on public Web sites.” Blogs were involved
• Nike got ridiculed for a ‘do not try this at home” YouTube video featuring Kobe Bryant
• Sony got outed on a fake PSP blog created by a marketing company

The list goes on…

There was a happy ending for Circuit City, where it came back fast, joining the conversation to retake the story. On the MAD magazine site, someone posted a comment about Circuit City’s lack of humor. In about two hours, someone else (Hmm! I wonder who?) posted a comment and a link to the story how Circuit City had apologized.