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Top 10 Worst PR Mistakes Made By Companies

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We all like a good rubber-necking at businesses that experience a PR pickle, but sometimes a company recovers so gracefully that it makes you go, "Bravo!" That's what we're celebrating in this post.

So, let's have a look at some of the best managed PR crises of 2018.
Want to avoid getting into your own PR pickle? Sounds like you're after the Only Crisis Communication Plan You Will Ever Need.
KFC's FCK Bucket

KFC is a loveable brand. Following them on Twitter is a treat in and of itself. So when they were faced with a truly embarrassing situation, the PR world got a schooling in how to manage a crisis.

The Situation:

They ran out of chicken in the majority of their 870 UK & Ireland restaurants after an unfortunate series of events lead to delivery delays from their warehouses.

The Recovery:

Their PR and marketing team got to work immediately.

They rolled out brilliant ads in newspapers with the KFC letters rearranged on the bucket to own their FCK up. They maintained a page on their website where customers could check the chicken status of their local restaurants. And they kept on top of the news by answering questions via social media almost daily.

They did everything transparently, swiftly, and true to their brand voice, which made everyone put their torches away and celebrate their humility.

Starbucks vs Racism

The coffee chain giant has had its own share of crises from the controversies around the Christmas cup designs it rolls out each year to their failed Race Together campaign. This time the topic of racism reared its ugly head yet again.

The Situation:

Two men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were arrested after a Starbucks staff member called the cops on them while they were waiting for a friend.

The Recovery:

A clear cut case of racial discrimination could have been brushed off by Starbucks as a problem with the one employee...an isolated incident...but they chose to do something different. In an interview, Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson, states his position on the matter:

The fact that what happened in our store last Thursday and the outcome from that incident was reprehensible. That should not have happened, it was wrong, and my role and responsibility as CEO is to learn, to understand it and fix it.
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What happened next was that Starbucks closed down 8,000 stores across the United States for Racial Bias Training. While not all the employees who participated thought it was executed to the best of its ability (especially people of color who felt it was, at times, weak), it still made a statement that Starbucks was willing to make a cultural change within their staff to combat biases that lead to the incident. It is estimated that Starbucks lost around $12 million in profit during the time the stores were shut down, but taking the hit is an important step towards mending the relationship with the public.

Starbucks still has a long way to go when it comes to talking about race and if they keep supporting initiatives within the company to chip away at prejudice, then this will be a long-term success. If they don't we might look back and say, "What an expensive band-aid."

Southwest Airlines' First In-Flight Fatality

Southwest Airlines is one of those brands that people love. Their service is good, their staff is friendly, and their flights are cheap. On top of that, they were rated as the safest airline in the world, until April 2018.

The Situation:

On April 17, 2018 Flight 1380 took off from LaGuardia airport in New York, but ended up having to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia after an engine exploded and ripped open the fuselage, killing one person. Other passengers were able to record footage of their experience, bringing the raw fear of being in trouble in the air to those on the ground.

Kelly made a heartfelt, but concise statement to the family and passengers

They pulled advertising from social media

Passengers who stayed in Philadelphia were reminded with notes slipped under their doors that support was available 24/7

All passengers received personal phone calls and emails offering support and counselling resources

Passengers were also sent $5,000 with no strings attached to help "ease the burden" of the situation

They were also sent a $1,000 Southwest travel voucher

Southwest's social media team kept extra tabs online for real-time information to find out exactly what people were saying, posting, and expressing

The Recovery:

First and foremost, further crisis was averted thanks to the crew on the airplane that landed safely without any other fatalities or serious injuries. While that was happening, CEO Gary Kelly and his team got to work.

They made sure that passengers in Philadelphia had everything they needed including travel and accommodation arrangements, trauma counselling, and other proper support to make sure investigation into the incident could get started immediately.

The Southwest staff had clear guidelines and checklists that allowed them to carry out the crisis response without anything slipping through the cracks. In the 2 days following the fatality, Southwest did some amazing work:

All in all, they did an excellent job focusing their efforts on the affected passengers while at the same time managing the media and the investigation.

As PR Daily put it so perfectly:

When The New York Times follows a disaster with the headline "Southwest pilot of Flight 1380 is Navy veteran hailed for her 'nerves of steel'", you know you got your messaging right.

Colin Kaepernick & Nike's Crisis That Never Was

If you didn't know anything about what was going on in the United States, or don't necessarily care about American football, you would watch this ad and think it was inspiring and motivating.

But that's not what happened.

But let's be clear, this isn't an unintended PR crisis, this is a decided controversy. I still believe it does well to be on this list because the reactions were so strong, yet Kaepernick and Nike both pulled through.

The Situation:

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, sat on the bench during the National Anthem (during a preseason game) to protest police brutality. From there, other players joined in and sparked a country-wide debate about race and politics in sports. Kaepernick ended up unemployed and embroiled in controversy, holding fast to his beliefs.

Two years later in 2018, Nike, one of the main clothing sponsors of the NFL, has him star in the powerful ad campaign you saw above. It was the 30th anniversary of their "Just Do It" campaign. The slogan of the new campaign? "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."

And then shit hit the intentionally placed fan.

Nike's stock fell by 3%. People apparently started cutting out the Nike logo from their clothes or burning them. People boycotted. News outlets had a field day reporting on it, and doing opinion pieces. Here are just a few of the headlines from the launch of the campaign:

The Recovery:

Kaepernick and Nike did not apologize and were steadfast in their execution of the campaign. In this case the best course of action was to ignore the haters and keep their heads high.

After the dust cleared, it was revealed that sales increased by 31% with stocks closing at an all time high. And while there were a lot of people up in arms about the ad, it did really well with young people ages 18 to 34.

In this case, it was as simple as staying strong with undoubtedly a solid crisis communication strategy that allowed Nike to weigh up the options and anticipate the drama.

Tide Pods. Yep. That Happened.

As Forbes so elegantly put it:

The Tide Pod Challenge was about as unexpected as it gets, as no one in their right mind could have predicted that teens would suddenly decide eating Tide Pods was a fun way to pass the time.

Yet, here we are.

The Situation:

Teenagers started eating Tide Pods and filming it as part of the Tide Pod Challenge.

The Recovery:

Planning for the unexpected, like the real black-sheep unexpected, is next to impossible. However, Tide's parent company, Procter & Gamble, had a crisis plan, and was able to deal with this situation as gracefully as one can expect, when your initial reaction is "Of course it's dangerous, you dumbass."

In fact, they recruited Rob Gronkowski to do that bit for them:

In fact, they didn't beat it over the head on social media. The above tweet and this one here are the only ones about the challenge on their official Twitter:

I guess they realized quickly that it is best not to tell teenagers not to do something.

They already had warnings and locks on the boxes. There wasn't much else they could do about the product itself. So they focused on getting those warnings out via earned media just to drive the point home. They also focused on getting the challenge videos removed. In an official statement they said:

Nothing is more important to us than the safety of people who use our products. We are deeply concerned about conversations related to intentional and improper use of liquid laundry pacs and have been working with leading social media networks to remove harmful content that is not consistent with their policies.

YouTube eventually started to pull the videos from the platform. And Procter & Gamble did all they could really do. Now they just have the weather the memes and the jokes for the rest of eternity.

Crockpot Burns The House Down

Good old Crockpot. How did they get themselves in a PR pickle? Well...[SPOILER ALERT]

The Situation:

The TV show "This is us" happened. The NBC series had a mysterious death captivating the audience for the first season, when it was revealed that the death was caused by a house fire sparked by a slow-cooker, Crockpot had to deal with a sudden fear of their product.

The Recovery:

First step? They made a Twitter account. In 2018. And then got to work comforting fans of the show. The Twitter handle is even @CrockPotCares just to drive home the fact that their brand isn't murderous or cold-hearted.

Their official statement included a reference to their safety record:
Want to avoid crises like these? Check out our in-depth crisis communications plan alongside a downloadable Google sheet for easy management and referencing.
For nearly 50 years with over 100 million Crock-Pots sold, we have never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed in last night's episode. In fact, the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible."

Then NBC stepped in with the assist, making an ad clearing Crockpots name before the Super Bowl, in which fans were claiming they were going to have Crockpot-free parties.

The reactions from both Crockpot and NBC proved to work, as people did not end up throwing out their Crockpots or any other out-of-hand panic situations.

Bravo!

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What you can learn from the all-time best-managed PR Crises

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We all like a good rubber-necking at businesses that experience a PR pickle, but sometimes a company recovers so gracefully that it makes you go, "Bravo!" That's what we're celebrating in this post. So, let's have a look at some of the best managed PR crises of 2018.

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They bounced back stronger than ever.

Crisis management requires more than an apologetic press release or a CEO's disingenuous appearance on CNN.

Johnson & Johnson's cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules (1982)

The crisis: Seven people died after taking extra-strength Tylenol capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide, a deadly poison. The killer was never found.

How J&J responded: The company put customer safety first. It quickly pulled 31 million bottles of Tylenol -- $100 million worth -- off the shelves and stopped all production and advertising of the product. It also got involved with the Chicago Police, FBI, and FDA in the search for the killer, and offered up a $100,000 reward.

Post-crisis, the company reintroduced Tylenol with new tamper-resistant packaging and $2.50-off coupons.

The result: A go-to case study in MBA classes worldwide, Tylenol's response to the tragic 1982 Chicago murders is regarded as one of the most successful sequences of crisis management in history.

The media appreciated the lengths J&J went to and its concern for the public interest, so the company was portrayed generally in a good light, helping the Tylenol brand to recover.
Source: Penn State University

PepsiCo's can tampering rumors (1993)

The crisis: A syringe was allegedly found in a can of Diet Pepsi in Washington state. The following week, more than 50 reports of Diet Pepsi can tampering sprung up across the country. It turned out to be a hoax.

How PepsiCo responded: Both PepsiCo and the FDA were confident that the reports were fabrications, so the company came out hard, defending itself staunchly against the accusations.

But PepsiCo didn't make vague statements telling the public to simply trust it. The company produced four videos throughout the crisis, such as a comprehensive report on its soda canning process. The most compelling was a surveillance tape of a woman in a Colorado store putting a syringe into a can of Diet Pepsi behind the store clerk's back.

PepsiCo North America CEO Craig Weatherup appeared on news stations armed not only with visual evidence of the bogus reports, but with the explicit support of the FDA. He appeared most notably on Nightline with FDA Commissioner David Kessler, and they both assured the public that Diet Pepsi was safe.

The result: The rumors fizzled out within two weeks following multiple arrests by the FDA for filing false reports. Diet Pepsi sales had fallen 2% during the crisis but recovered within a month.

The situation required an aggressive defense because PepsiCo hadn't done anything wrong. If the company remained quiet and complacent the damage could have been far worse.
Source: CorpCommCollab

Texaco's racial discrimination lawsuit (1994)

The crisis: Six of Texaco's African-American employees sued the company for racial discrimination. Damning conversations between Texaco executives that were secretly recorded seemed to confirm the issue.

How Texaco responded: CEO Peter Biljur started off with a public apology and admitted embarrassment. The executives involved were suspended (with pay but without benefits), pending the result of the investigations.

Texaco execs went on tour, visiting all branches and sites of the company in person to apologize to the employees, and the company hired African-American owned advertising agency Uniworld Group to run an ad campaign to help douse the flames.

The result: The Reverend Jesse Jackson was the most vocal opponent to the company, calling for a boycott, but softened his view after Biljur's response. This was key to the company's image recovery.

Texaco settled the suit, agreeing to pay $176 million. Additional discrimination checks for executives and managers put in place by Biljur have prevented the problem from sprouting up again.
Source: BrightHub

Odwalla Foods' apple juice E.coli outbreak (1996)

The crisis: Washington state health officials confirmed a link between a local E.coli outbreak and Odwalla's fresh, unpasteurized apple juice. One child died and more than 60 people became sick, prompting more than 20 lawsuits.

How Odwalla responded: CEO Stephen Williamson immediately recalled all Odwalla products containing apple or carrot juice, which cost the company around $6.5 million. He accepted responsibility when talking to the media and promised to pay all medical costs for those affected by the outbreak.

Daily press briefings by Odwalla were used to update the public, along with full-page newspaper ads and a website explaining the situation.

The result: The company had faced its worst-case scenario: death caused by one of its food products. Odwalla lost a third of its market value by the time everything subsided, and pled guilty to criminal charges relating to the outbreak, which resulted in a $1.5 million fine from the FDA.

But Odwalla was still standing. It focused on customer relations in the months following, attempting to rebuild trust. Odwalla fixed the contamination issue and improved its quality control and safety system.

Odwalla re-launched its apple juice two months later. In 2001, Coca-Cola bought Odwalla for $186 million.
Source: mallenbaker.net

Cadbury's worm infested candy bars (2003)

The crisis: Two Cadbury chocolate bars were found infested with worms in Mumbai, India. The Maharashtra FDA quickly seized the chocolate stock at Cadbury's closest manufacturing plant in Pune.

How Cadbury responded: The company was slow out of the gates. It released a statement claiming that the infestation was not possible at the manufacturing stage, while the FDA disagreed, prompting a tussle between the two. The media jumped on Cadbury, and the brand was under widespread assault.

Cadbury took its advertising off the air and launched an educational PR project that targeted retailers. It kept the media updated through press releases on the specific measures it was taking to correct its manufacturing and storage processes. The company also imported new machinery and changed the packaging of its Dairy Milk bars.

Four months later, Cadbury began advertising more aggressively. By then, the company's relationship with the media had improved greatly.

The result: Cadbury's sales in India plunged 30% in the wake of all the negative media coverage, and this was during a season when its sales usually increase by 15%. But over time, Cadbury began to recover.

Within eight weeks of the introduction of its new packaging and advertising campaign, sales had almost reached pre-crisis levels. The company announced eight months after the incident that its consumer confidence was back to to normal. Cadbury has maintained its position at the top of the Indian chocolate industry ever since.

But Cadbury suffered three years later when a salmonella outbreak wasn't handled nearly as well.
Sources: Rediff, Public Relations Consultants Association of India

JetBlue's week-long operational breakdown (2007)

The crisis: JetBlue's operations collapsed after an ice storm hit the East Coast of the U.S., leading to 1,000 cancelled flights in just five days.

How JetBlue responded: CEO David Neeleman never blamed the weather. He wrote a public letter of apology to JetBlue customers, introduced a customer's bill of rights, and presented a detailed list -- which included monetary compensation -- of what the company would do to help all the affected passengers.

The result: JetBlue didn't dodge the backlash completely. Throngs of enraged passengers toiled in airports for nearly a week, and they had reached their boiling point by the time Neeleman spoke up.

But in the weeks that followed, JetBlue managed to quash much of the uproar by being as public and straightforward as possible. Neeleman went on YouTube, the Today Show, Letterman, and Anderson Cooper, not pleading his case, but apologizing for his company's faults.

Though there was much reputational damage done, JetBlue's comeback allowed it to regain some of its luster. For an airline that differentiates itself so heavily on customer service, it was crucial that they did.
Sources: NYT, TheMarketplaceofLife, Time

Toyota's recall fiasco (2010)

Jalopnik

The crisis: Toyota recalled a total of 8.8 million vehicles for safety defects, including a problem where the car's accelerator would jam, which caused multiple deaths.

How Toyota responded: Toyota initially couldn't figure out the exact problem, but it sent out PR teams to try and stop the media backlash anyway. The upper management was invisible in the early stages of the crisis, skewing public perception further against the company.

Toyota's response was slow, with devastating results. But it served as a wake-up call for the company, which somehow turned it around in the months following the debacle.

The company failed miserably in its initial crisis management, but that's what makes Toyota's case so intriguing. Despite its monumental mistakes early on, Toyota still bounced back. Why?

It didn't take long for the public to remember Toyota's previously stellar reputation. The company offered extended warranties and pumped up marketing, leveraging its long-term track record and reassuring consumers about safety.

Its ads in the following months were more thoughtful and sincere, showing the company's dedication to fixing the problem. Toyota's executives -- especially in the US -- became more visible, speaking to the media and becoming active in the investigations.

The result: The Toyota brand showcased its resiliency, with its positive reputation built up over decades of good performance. The company leveraged this, focusing its marketing once again on safety and its proven track record. It had to show that this disaster -- including its own horrible mishandling of the situation -- was an aberration.

And it worked, with a little bit a of luck. NASA exonerated Toyota of the blame for most of the accidents in 2011 and the company's brand equity leapt 11% this year, according to WPP.

Sources: BrandZ, The Guardian

The Red Cross' rogue tweet (2011)

The crisis: One of the Red Cross' social media employees accidentally sent the tweet -- which was meant for her private account -- and didn't realize it. It stayed up for about an hour before the company's social media director was alerted and took it down.

How the Red Cross responded: Social media director Wendy Harman followed up with a humorous tweet from the official Twitter account and acknowledged the mistake.

It got support from Dogfish Head too, who embraced the hashtag #gettngslizzerd and encouraged its followers to donate to the Red Cross.

The result: The tweet generated a bit of buzz among bloggers and the Twitterverse, but so did the fun response by the company.

Fortunately for the Red Cross, although the nature of the tweet wasn't professional, it wasn't too controversial. Nobody was outraged, and the Red Cross had to deal with nothing more than a little embarrassment.
Source: Mashable

Taco Bell's "seasoned beef" meat filling lawsuit (2011)

The crisis: Yum! Brands, Taco Bell's parent company, was sued over the contents of its meat. The lawsuit alleged that the company's "seasoned beef" contained only 35% beef, and that Taco Bell was lying in its advertising.

How Taco Bell responded: Taco Bell explicitly declared the claims false, and shared with the public its percentages (88% beef, 12% secret recipe), along with the ingredients in the secret recipe itself.

The company quickly fired up a multi-platform PR campaign to shoot down the allegations and get the word out about its "not-so-secret" recipe. It included traditional local market newspaper ads, but focused on online marketing with a YouTube channel, Facebook page, and more.

The result: Taco Bell's existing consumer base responded overwhelming well to the campaign. The social media platforms shined, with the vast majority of commenters supporting the company's stance.

Less than four months later, the lawsuit was dropped, and Taco Bell had completely averted a potential PR disaster.
Source: WaveMetrix

Not all fiascos end so well

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9 PR Fiascos That Were Handled Brilliantly By Management

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They bounced back stronger than ever. Crisis management requires more than an apologetic press release or a CEO's disingenuous appearance on CNN. Johnson & Johnson's cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules (1982) The crisis: Seven people died after taking extra-strength Tylenol capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide, a deadly poison.

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