The offshore outsourcing trend -- if you can't really beat it and don't want to join it, then what do you do?
Spin it.
MPC Computers LLC, a PC maker based in Nampa, Idaho, has turned the offshore outsourcing controversy into an ad campaign: "Buy MPC, Support America."
The company claims that it will not take the offshore bait to save money like its larger rivals, such as Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM have done. MPC promises to keep all its 1,000 jobs in the United States.
MPC has even accessorized its patriotic slogan by dressing up its Web site in red, white and blue and adding a picture of Lady Liberty. All it lacks is some audio of "God Bless the U.S.A." for the complete effect.
"At a time when most companies are choosing to outsource to other countries, we're keeping our staff right here," says MPC's
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Web site. "We think it's an important way to show our commitment to you -- by providing world-class PC products, by gaining an understanding of your business, and by valuing your time through efficient, U.S.-based service and support.
"Because at MPC, we're behind you -- 100%."
Of course, most of the PC parts are made in Taiwan and South Korea, but why split hairs?
The company was featured on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" and may be the only PC maker that didn't make Dobbs' "Exporting America" list of firms that have sent jobs overseas.