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Magic Leap’s vice president of public relations, Andy Fouche, has departed the company a week after a high-profile article took a closer look at some of the company’s aims.
The article is behind a paywall on The Information, but got quite a lot of traction as it used several insiders’ testimonies to investigate the gap between how Magic Leap’s technology is being marketed and how close this is to the real life examples. The article has put Magic Leap under a bit of pressure, and this second departure less than six weeks after Brian Wallace, who ran Magic Leap’s marketing efforts. Left the company to join a start-up ran by Andy Rubin, who’s best known for his work with Google’s Android mobile platform.
Fouche is departing for the same start-up, and has changed his LinkedIn to reflect this by setting his new role as "head of communications" at "Andy Rubin stealth startup".
Magic Leap are now under increased pressure to perform, both after the claims in the article that the technology of the company wasn’t up to scratch, but also due to a general feeling of unease around a lot of VR/AR technology as forecasted sales are revised and many consumers are now starting to question the industry.
In their statement — given to Recode — about the departure of Fouche, Magic Leap has announced its new chief marketing officer is Brenda Freeman, who brings with her experience from DreamWorks Animation, MTV and many others high profile businesses.
"As we sprint full steam ahead toward the launch of Magic Leap One, we are excited to have Brenda Freeman on board as our Chief Marketing Officer. We are creatively aligned, she has already brought fresh energy, excitement, unbounded joy and opportunity to those who choose to play on our team.”
