It was a well executed publicity stunt -- in the sense that they used it to focus attention on their version of events and blunt the impact of the Globe report.
Ownership had been excoriated for its performance during the WEEI appearance, with considerable criticism for Lucchino answering for Henry. So the Red Sox carefully orchestrated the "storming" of the radio station to get a well-prepared and well-rehearsed Henry to challenge two reporters,and to do it with the "enemy" station. No, the radio station was not a co-conspirator; in fact they fell for it.
Rule #1 of PR involving sports reporters is they wilt when challenged -- just watch a Belichik news conference, or remember back to Parcells news conferences. A coach willing to stare down the media can utter any nonsense they want and if the media makes even a feeble attempt at a follow-up question, they repeat the same idiocy and glare the sports reporters into submission. Happens after every Patriots loss. The Sox also well-remembered the "Curt in the car" calls, and how much credibility Schilling had for taking matters into his own hands to directly rebut stuff being said.
As a PR move, the Sox had a)the element of being aggressive with sports reporters who are generally spectacularly unable to respond when an interviewee comes at them from a position of strength and b) the preexisting predilection of the media to grant instant credibility to sports figures who seek them out to make public statements.
Remember, John Henry deals in commodities futures for a living. Nobody who deals in commodities futures does ANYTHING on impulse (well, anything not involving the former Miss Pizzuti); to act on impulse in the world of commodities trading is to die. The idea that he was listening to the radio and had a sudden impulse to "storm" a radio is nonsense. It was well-planned, probably well-rehearsed and very well-executed.
But don't believe it was the least bit spontaneous.
