I don’t know about you but boy have I been apologized to a lot lately. The latest obviously came last night when Lance Armstrong admitted what most have known for a long time and apologized for single-handedly destroying a sport and the majority of the people involved in it. It got me thinking of who’s really to blame for all these public apologies. I didn’t have to look far. The public relations industry has pretty much nailed the formula for the perfect public apology. It is (mistake)…
Read MoreAs millions up and down the East Coast and inland states continue to recover from Superstorm Sandy, an iconic brand is under the microscope. The New York City Marathon is scheduled for Sunday, one week to the day when Sandy proved an unruly guest that took lives, knocked out power to millions and changed communities forever. Two days before the race, the decision whether or not to cancel the NYC Marathon is as heated as Obama v. Romney. On one hand, there’s the economic development…
Read MoreRecently a Chick-fil-A executive made a statement that caused a bit of a stir in the media and, especially, online. Yesterday, Gizmodo reported that Chick-fil-A (or someone representing them) created fake Facebook accounts (complete with stock photo profile photos) just to defend the company online. Chick-fil-A denies this charge, but it brings up a very important piece of advice for companies trying to navigate the digital landscape: Do not make fake accounts. It’s awfully tempting for companies that see criticism online to want to jump…
Read MoreSome quick hitters for a Tuesday: We (Britt Farrah @saidlikefarrah) and I started our second semester teaching social media at VCU yesterday some interesting observations from questions we asked our predominantly PR majors… Most of them preferred Twitter over Facebook and other social media platforms. In the couple of years that I've been asking college students this question, this is the first time ever that they selected Twitter. In fact, this is the first time that most of the class even was "on" Twitter. Maybe…
Read MoreGiven the number of super-hero movies out there, I'm reminded about the line heard in many of them that usually goes something like this, "You can use your power for good or evil." The same goes for the power of social media as exhibited by the latest PR issue faced by McDonald's. This very realistic looking online hoax fueled by a TwitPic on Twitter is making things very difficult for the folks at the Golden Arches. If you were advising them, how would you help…
Read MoreYes, charge the returning soldiers for their bags in which they carry equipment to defend your honor. And wait till they make a YouTube video about it to reverse your baggage policy. Link to story Try defending that. UPDATED: Seems like Delta might be getting a bit of a raw deal on this. Link to Consumerist story Delta quickly reverses the policy but does it act quickly enough to defend its own honor? Thoughts?
Read MoreOkay, crisis communications 101, or really even media relations 101, the first rules we teach students or clients is….create your key messages and whatever you do stay on message. Unless of course, the act of staying on message makes you look like a schmuck. Case in point, New York congressman Rep. Anthony Weiner, who for two days now has taken the art of staying on message and is riding it into his own political grave. The background story is someone tweeted a picture of a…
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