A nice and prominent real world example of the argument: When it comes to public goodwill, damage control is extremely expensive and often comes too late. Transforming users/customers from friends into foes

Google needs to change. They can’t kill the motto [Don't be evil], so they need to live up to it, permanently. They need to stop treating the outside world with disdain, and replace it with transparency and honesty. Users must always come first. Always. And they need to do it soon. Once the shift in public opinion becomes obvious, it will be way too late.

From TechCrunch