This has the markings of a PR stunt. As a reader of the article, I'm very curious what the badges look like, as those are a legitimate cause for concern for security. Any legitimate reporting on this issue would investigate that detail.
This would be a stupid thing to do, even at the office. They could listen maybe the director of physical security, etc, but not a random employee. Especially for a company of Salesforce's size.
As noted in my other post, they were a different color and didn't have the bearer's (or any) name on them, which is a questionable decision by itself.