Being an asshole as a business strategy?

[Ms Naughty]

Yesterday I had a fabulous run in via another board with **** from E******* (yes, I searched here, I've seen the rules LOL)

As he was insulting and obnoxious, I banned him from the board in question, which was a very satisfying experience.

In the meantime, however, I saw posted elsewhere the theory that being insulting and obnoxious is part of his business strategy - that he deliberately does it in order to gain publicity for his program, and then turns around and says it's all a persona, and that he's really nice underneath.

At first I thought, bollocks, but then I considered how many stupid people there are in this world (and on a certain webmaster board), and how many seem to think that trail-of-destruction insults and viciousness means that you're a go-getter.

And, I guess since his business strategy seems to involve cancelling accounts and keeping the money, attracting affiliates this way may seem like a reasonable proposition.

So... do you think being a professional asshole would really work as a business strategy?