What NOT to do: Lesson 18... Mix Politics with Sports

So last week soccer officials from South Africa were set to host a peace conference to discuss the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The point of the conference was to discuss separating politics and sports in next year’s World Cup, the first ever to be held in Africa..

Well, things did not go according to plan. Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was denied a visa into the country because the government believed that he would cause negative publicity for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

However, that decision backfired on the South African government. Well since the Dalai Lama was not allowed to attend the event, others who were expected to attend refused. This ultimately led to the cancellation of the event.

Instead of lying about the situation, all the South African government had to do was be honest. Many believe that the cause of his denied visa was because of the politics of another country. China is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars (due to trade) in South Africa. Tibet and China have not been seeing eye to eye for quiet a while. So South Africa had no choice but to reject his visa.

As a PR practitioner what would you have done differently?

-Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 17... Don't be a global bully

Good day everyone.

This blog is not necessarily a PR no-no. This is actually a PR yes-yes :-). President Obama has made his international debute, and he has received an 'A' from many political commentators and journalists. He's doing what President Bush refused to do: acknowledge our faults and build friendly relationships with other countries.

The PR no-no is to be a global bully. No matter how powerful your country is, you can't go into other people's country and tell them what to do. You can't tell them, "If you're not on our side, then you're evil." Who's to make that judgment? Not you, especially if you fail to acknowledge your own faults and fail to be knowledgeable about other countries' cultures. For all you know, they can view your country as evil, which has been the case for the past eight years.

Pres. Obama has done a tremendous job acknowledging that the U.S. has done its share of wrongs, but he also stated that the current global crisis is not the U.S.'s fault alone. He has demonstrated one of the biggest principals in PR: transparency and honesty. Pres. Obama has demonstrated friendly leadership and dialogue, something the Bush Administration didn't understand. Maybe they didn't care. Who knows?

I think Pres. Obama is demonstrating great PR for the U.S. What do you think? Do you think you could have done better? Do you think he made any mistakes?

By: Marlon Williams

What NOT to do: Lesson 16... Another scandal

Reported March 30, Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy School for Girls has another sex scandal within less than two years. The first scandal involved adults, this time it involves the students.

It was reported on the nydailynews.com that a 15-year-old student was expelled because she allegedly preyed on another pupil and forced other pupils to lie to investigators. A letter to the student's parents said she was found guilty of having sexual contact with a student, harassment, and bullying.

After the first scandal, Winfrey fired the headmistress for sexually molesting girls at the school. But what does Winfrey do now?

In the world of PR, you never know when a crisis may arise. For Winfrey, however, it looks like she can't run a school without sex scandals. As a PR practitioner, what would you do to improve the image of the school and make it more appealing despite the sex scandals within two years?

- Marlon Williams

What Not to Do: Lesson 15...Lose trust of Consumers

With summer approaching, those of you who are actually going on vacation should be aware. Of what you may ask? Well it seems that some major hotels are using fake user reviews to lure in potential customers.

It has been revealed that on hotel review Web sites, major hotel companies are paying people to post positive remarks about themselves and negative comments about competitors. It is also being reported that PR firms and tourist offices are actually encouraging the hotels to send in fake reviews.

Online reviews are used by consumers because they expect fair comments from fellow users, not from those paid to sound cheery and upbeat. I know we have all been on sites where product reviews sound unbelievable. For example, I was recently shopping for a new phone. So as I searched the web for what others had to say I came upon this review, “I really love my new *name omitted*. It's so easy to use and so light. There’s really no other phone out there that can compare!”

Consumers are already “ify” about the reviews they read on the internet, but providing fake reviews can easily backfire and have a company labeled as being untrustworthy.

-Travis Francis

What Not to Do: Lesson 14...Ignore the Recession

So are there any sports fans here? Well if there are, I’m pretty sure you have heard about the Manny Ramirez saga. During contract negotiations, Ramirez turned down a two-year $45 million contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Even though Ramirez recently agreed to the contract, I know many of you are wondering, “What is the PR problem here?” Well the problem is, Dodger stadium recently just had a job fair with an estimated 4,500 job seekers in attendance. With the pay rates ranging from $10.90 an hour to $11.37 an hour.

When you have 4,500 people lined up for jobs that won’t even cover most of their monthly expenses, how could $45 million not be enough?

You also have to think about the thousands of fans who use to buy Dodger tickets and sat in the “nose bleeds”. No longer will they be there to support someone who is as money hungry as Ramirez. He’s not thinking about what’s going on in America right now, he’s just thinking about how much he THINKS he’s worth.

There weren’t any idiotic comments made from Ramirez because they were not necessary, the number of times he rejected the contracts said more than enough. Through these tough economic times, Ramirez basically provided a slap to the face to many Dodger fans that fell in love him during last season’s playoffs.

-Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 13... Incompetence is NOT an option

The week of March 16 was a mess for the Obama administration. The biggest mess was the AIG executive bonuses. The country was outraged, and the Obama administration found itself answering questions about an unethical mess that some say they are at fault.

The big players of this crisis is: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd, and President Barack Obama. Most people probably understand why I'd say Tim Geithner and Chris Dodd, but Barack Obama? Yes, Barack Obama. Does anyone knows what's going on?

The citizens of this country are upset at AIG executives for receiving billions in bonuses, but I don't think they're the ones to blame. Yes, they were unethical in receiving the enormous bonuses, but it was all legal. The reason the bonuses were legit was because there was language in the stimulus plan that protected the executives right to receive those bonuses. The authors of that language: Treasury Sec. Geithner and Sen. Dodd, who, by the way, said he had no parts in constructing the language to protect the bonuses on March 18, and then said he did have some part in constructing it on March 19. His excuse was that he reluctantly agreed with the language, and he was forced by the Obama administration to do so. OK, one down, two to go.

Now we move on to the next guy in charge, Treasury Sec. Geithner who knew about the bonuses on Tuesday, March 10 and did not tell Pres. Obama until Thursday, March 12. Pres. Obama tried to take some of the heat off of Geithner by taking responsibility. However, Geithner now seems unprepared to handle such historic national crisis. Two down, one to go.

Now the question lies: what was the extent of Obama's knowledge about the protective language in the stimulus plan to give AIG executives those bonuses? Whether he knew a little or a lot, it shows incompetency on Obama's part because he's the president, and he should know what's going on. Being on top of things would decrease the "crisis management" that this administration has dealt with quite often since taking office in January. Three down, but who else is involved?

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "an organization is the lengthened shadow of a man," which means someone has to be responsible and accountable. As a PR professional, what advice would you give to any of these three officials? What kind of language would you use to shift the focus of the citizens, the administration and the media? What new media tools would you use? Would you advise for someone to take the blame and be prepared to deal with it? Talk to me people!

By: Marlon Williams

What NOT to do: Lesson 12...Allow financial greed to drive your company

In a recent class discussion, my professor pointed out some of the evils in PR. Originally brought into the light by Rachel Maddow, on MSNBC, were some of the cover-ups committed by well known PR agency Burson-Marsteller. What many PR agencies like Burson-Marsteller would call "crisis communications" or "reputation management," I call cover-ups because of their immoral nature.

Far too often do I see media outlets abuse their responsibilities of agenda setting, gate keeping and framing, to turn a profit. Scandals and scams that should be brought into the light to protect the American and global public are covered up and made out to be something that they are not. Like Maddow and my professor pointed out; when members of Blackwater slaughtered 17 Iraqi civilians, or toy company, Spin Master, was found producing toys with harmful chemicals, Burson-Marsteller was there to "save the day."

A responsible PR agency and/or professional should be there to communicate the truth, whatever that truth may be, to the public. Not to spin scandal into profit.

If you ran your own PR firm, how hard do you think it would be to say "no" to immoral public relations. It may be easy to say it now, but imagine thousands to millions of dollars being offered. Is it still that easy?

-Gearey McLeod

What NOT to do: Lesson 11...Bash former Client

So I’m pretty sure that everyone has heard of the infamous “Octomom.” You know, the lady who recently had eight kids to add on to the six she already had. Well her real name is Nadya Suleman. And it seems like she’s having a difficult time keeping a publicist. For the second time in less than a month Suleman is down a publicist.

The first PR firm stepped down after receiving threats of violence and even death. Now less than a month later, Suleman’s second publicist, Victor Munoz says he’s done. “This woman is nuts," he told Usmagazine.com. "This I can say: What ultimately destroyed the business arrangement was personal reasons."

With the release of this statement, Munoz is not doing himself any favors professionally by publicly bashing a former client. Who would want to hire him after criticizing someone he used to represent? As a publicist, Munoz should have known better.

What do you think about Munoz’s statement about “Octomom?”

-Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 10... Disclose Information

When Amazon's new wireless reading device, the Kindle 2, was released last week, it was the first time many publishers heard about the feature. Amazon chose to keep the text-to-speech feature built into the Kindle 2 a secret from much of the publishing sector.

Following the debut of the Kindle 2, the 9,000-member Authors Guild claimed text-to-speech created a derivative work and violated copyright. Paul Aiken, the guild's president, said many publishers were also angered over the speech function, adding that Amazon never consulted beforehand with either of those groups. Amazon responded on Friday by giving publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech feature on any title they choose.

What Amazon should have done was discuss the feature ahead of time. If that would have taken place, none of this would have happened. Instead it appears Amazon was basically saying, “We’re Amazon, we can do what we want!”

My question is, as a PR professional for Amazon, what do you think they should have done?

- Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 9...No Communication

Since last Tuesday, there has been uproar among Facebook members. Out of the blue, Facebook secretly changed its terms of services. The new rules of Facebook basically says that they would own the content people posted on the site, even personal information after the person closed out their account.

And by the next morning, users who logged into their account receivied a posting that said that the site was going back to its previous terms of use policies while it resolves the issues.

Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, then created a group called "Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities." The group’s main focus was to inform users that Facebook "doesn't claim rights to any of your photos or other content. We need a license in order to help you share information with your friends, but we don't claim to own your information."

What should Facebook have done? If I were a member of Facebook’s PR department, I’d make sure that a public statement was issued about the changes to the terms of services. If they were going to change things, why do it in secrecy?

-Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 8... Be racist

Before I even begin, I want everyone to know that this post is less of a "What NOT to do in PR" and more of a "I'm completely outraged."

On Wednesday, February 18, 2009, I was on my way back to work. I had the radio up, listening to the Michael Baisden show on 96.1 JAMZ. The major subject of the show (the reason Baisden showed up to work, even though he was ill) was the editorial cartoon that appeared in the New York Post on the same day. If you're unfamiliar with the cartoon I am referring to, simply Google "NY Post cartoon" and the image will be the first result.

The cartoon is of two police officers standing over a monkey who has been shot to death. The officer's gun is smoking and the monkey is lying in a pool of its own blood, with two visible bullet holes . The cartoon reads "They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill."

Really? It's 2009, we have a black president and one of the world's leading newspapers allows its editorial cartoonist to publish racist material. What's worse is that the New York Post is defending the cartoon, saying "the cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event," (referring to the Connecticut woman who was recently mauled by a Chimpanzee).

Talk about bad publicity. The New York Post should have IMMEDIATELY issued an apology and the cartoonist should go draw somewhere else. I expect so much more from such a prominent newspaper.

-Gearey McLeod

What NOT to do: Lesson 7... Be creative, but don't cross the line

Last week I was surfing the Internet and came across a headline on Yahoo! that said Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, opened a jar and unleashed a swarm of mosquitoes on the audience at the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference.

Gates released the mosquitoes to make a demonstration about malaria, a disease carried in mosquitoes. When I first read it, I thought Bill Gates had lost his mind. I thought to myself, "it's just cruel to release mosquitoes on people."

In the article on Yahoo! News, it was reported that Gates began to open a the jar full of mosquitoes and said, "Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected."

Luckily for him and the audience, the mosquitoes were malaria-free. Gates has been known for his philanthropy, one of the latest is finding a cure for malaria. I understand what he was attempting to do, but mosquitoes are still pests. If they get a chance to suck your blood like the flying vampires they are, you'll get an itch and a bump wherever the mosquito decided to drink blood from your body.

As a PR professional, I'd definitely tell Bill to not do that. There are ways to make a demonstration without putting people's lives in danger. I don't care how much money one has, it is absolutely cruel to release mosquitoes, or any bug, on an audience. That demonstration has now gone overboard. What would you advise Gates to do?

-Marlon Williams

What NOT to do: Lesson 6…Spin the Truth

When reports came in that Chris Brown would not be attending the last Sunday’s Grammy’s because of a LAPD investigation for felony battery, the media automatically zoned in on his girlfriend Rihanna. Members of the media then contacted Rihanna’s publicist, Amanda Silverman, to gain information on the explosive accusations that Brown laid hands on Rihanna.

Silverman stated that her client was involved in a traffic accident and was "fine." She then released another statement stating that the R&B singer was "well. Thank you for your concern and support." It was later reported that Rihanna was being tended to at Los Angeles’ Cedar-Sinai Medical Center with injuries that reflected a domestic abuse assault.

Fabricating stories isn’t new to Silverman, she’s been caught by the media before. Creating stories about high-profile clients Daman Dash and Naomi Campbell has given her a bad name with the press. As Page Six puts it, “If Silverman says the sun is shining, bring an umbrella.”

The media is known for calling out publicists for lying, that’s the last thing you want to do because then you’ll become the story and be crucified for it. What Silverman should have done was think before she spoke. No matter what, don't lie about the situation. If anything, a simple “No Comment” would have done the job. Lying is the one sin the media will neither tolerate nor forgive.

- Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 5...Deny the Holocaust

British Bishop Richard Williamson is at the center of controversy after being brought back into the Catholic Church. The reason for the rift….? Williamson said he did not believe any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust. He insulted the memory of the 6 million Jews murdered in Nazi death camps by stating that only 200,000 were killed.

Jewish groups and Roman Catholic bishops in Pope Benedict XVI native Germany demanded that Williamson apologize for his statements before he could be admitted as a bishop into the Roman Catholic Church. But instead, Williamson said that he needed “proof” that the Holocaust actually happened. What more proof does he need?

The Vatican practically did nothing to ease the PR damage done by the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to bring Williamson back to the church. Williamson has never apologized for his ridiculous views about the extent of Jewish suffering under the Nazis. If Williamson has yet to retract his outrageous statements regarding the treatment of the Jewish people during the days of Adolf Hitler, he should not be a registered member of the Church, much less a Bishop. As the PR Practitioner for the Vatican, I would not only excommunicate Williamson from the church but also issue an apology to the Jewish community.

-Travis Francis

What NOT to do: Lesson 4... Pay your Taxes.

On Tuesday former Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services. If you haven't kept up with the latest "What's Obama gonna do next" news, Daschle withdrew his nomination because he didn't pay his taxes.

According to news sources like CNN and others, Daschle knew about his tax problems way back in June of last year, and he didn't pay them back until after he was nominated. Now come on, how in the world did he think he was going to pull that off? Clearly, Al Capone was caught on taxes when the authorities couldn't catch him on anything else. Also the Obama team should have known better, but we all make mistakes, right?

One could argue that, but in the world of public relations, it seemed as if they were trying to get over on the system. It seemed as if Sen. Daschle had no intentions whatsoever to pay back his taxes. This breaks one of the codes of ethics: honesty. I guess it's like in the movie Frost/Nixon when Pres. Nixon said, "When the president does it, it's not illegal." WRONG! And it's illegal for senators too. Sorry, Tom.

All though this is a PR no-no, President Obama did the right thing by taking responsibility of the appointees to his administration. Really he had no choice, this was the second person to step down due to unpaid taxes. The first was Nancy Killefer, who was appointed as the chief of performance officer, a new post in administration. The right thing would have been to get that cleared up immediately before it's discovered by anyone else. The moral of the story is you can hide, but you can't run. Whenever one is not honest upfront, the dog will come back to bite you in the behind.As a PR practitioner, what would you have done in order to keep this issue from blowing up in the media.

-Marlon Williams

What NOT to Do: Lesson Three...The Era of Social Media Has Arrived -- DON'T IGNORE IT!

The first and best example that comes to mind, of how powerful social media is, is the case of record company Sony BMG.

Back in 2005 the record company installed certain security measures on their CDs, to prevent copying. Sounds harmless, however, Sony BMG forgot to mention to its publics, that the security measures installed were spyware and rootkits (widely described as malware or malicious spyware) which allowed viruses to break into the users computer.One user discovered the malware on his computer.

Unfortunately for Sony BMG, the user was an influential member of the blogosphere. He asked his fellow bloggers and Sony CD consumers, if they were experiencing similar problems with their computer and CDs. Of course they were, and immediately Sony BMG was under heavy fire. Not from the law, or any power players in the music business, but from regular everyday users of social media.

So why is this story important to anyone interested in PR? Whether you're a prominent figure or celebrity, you run a local business, or head a global conglomerate, people are going to talk about you. You're going to face scrutiny. Because we're in an era of social media, it's now easier than ever for people to communicate. Web sites like Blogger, Facebook and Twitter, make it so easy for people to share ideas and information. Within minutes (literally) news of PR disaster can spread from one friend to another. From a PR standpoint the best thing you can do is get out and participate. By participate I don't mean make excuses or be defensive, but get your side of the story out there. Clarify any miscommunication between you and your publics and it's guaranteed to have a positive effect on image and reputation.

-Gearey McLeod

What NOT to Do: Lesson Two... Blaming the Victim

Nearly nine months after Rachel Hoffman was killed, state lawmakers are proposing the Rachel Hoffman Law. The law will require confidential informants to seek legal advice before consenting to undercover work.

In May 2008, Tallahassee police caught Hoffman with marijuana and pills not prescribed to her. After being threatened with prison time, Hoffman agreed to work as an informant and set up a deal with her dealer. Police gave her $13,000 to buy 1,500 ecstasy pills, two ounces of cocaine and a handgun.
With a deal running well over $10,000, Hoffman’s dealers were on to her. During the investigation, police lost contact with her and her body was discovered two days later.

After finding Hoffman's body, the Tallahassee Police Department called a press conference where they basically blamed Hoffman for her own death. They made sure that they publicly announced her criminal charges and boldly implied that her death was the result of her breaking protocol during the sting operation.

As a PR student, we’re taught to never blame the victim. TPD not only blamed Hoffman but they displayed a lack of sincerity in the tone of their response.

If I were part of the PR department, I’d make sure that these five steps were completed.
1. Take Responsibility
2. Clearly communicate what went wrong
3. Explain what action you're going to take
4. Describe what steps are being taken so a situation like this doesn’t happen again and
5. Most importantly apologize!

As a PR Professional, what would you have done differently? What should TPD have done?

-Travis Francis

What NOT to Do: Lesson One... Get Indicted for Selling Senate Seats

On Monday, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich thought he’d hit the media circuits to clear his name, not to mention Monday was also his trial in the Senate. On Monday alone, he appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “The View” followed by a night appearance on CNN’s “Larry King Live.” Well, this can be a wonderful PR tool, but come on the guy was caught red-handed on the phone cursing and talking about who could be the highest bidder for Barack Obama’s seat. He claims he has done nothing wrong, but yet he’s recorded naming off people who’d pay a high enough price for President Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat.

As PR students we are taught to be honest and transparent, but with some of Blagojevich’s claims, can we really say that he and whoever is his PR agent are being honest and transparent? Well, I can’t say for sure, but there is definitely some fishiness about how he’s counter attacking the Illinois legislature. I mean, come on, the man’s head defense attorney quit stating that he can’t make a client do anything, but he does require them to listen to his advice. Regardless of whether he’s innocent or not, it looks bad for your lawyer to quit on you in the heat of things.

Now the second term governor has hired a PR firm to help him. He hired The Publicity Firm, which did PR for Drew Peterson who was suspected in the disappearance of his fourth wife. According to a chicagobreakingnews.com article, the firm specializes in crisis management. From what I remember, they didn’t do that great of a job for his image. Do you think he’s getting good help? I don’t think I can answer yes to that question. I understand they’re attempting a counter attack on the Illinois legislature by doing a media blitz and claiming his innocence, but seriously, what PR firm do you know would let their client go everywhere saying whatever he pleases. Maybe their advising him to do so; I don’t know, but I can’t say I’d advise him to do the same. Successful PR does not include any of this.

I’d definitely tell him to keep a low profile and only say stuff that makes sense because right now he seems like a mad man. And when he speaks, I would tell him to change his tone. Tone has a lot to do with how your public may perceive you. Right now he shouts angrily, and he looks guilty. Oh yeah, I’d also advise him to do something with that hair. Big hair went out in the ‘80s dude!

As a PR professional, what would you advise Blagojevich to do?

- Marlon Williams

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting prnonos.blogspot.com. This is the place to find out what you SHOULDN'T be doing, if you're seeking a successful career in public relations. Post to post we will highlight PR mishaps and missteps from around the globe. Enjoy!