By Arthur Solomon
Sarah Palin denounced journalists and pundits who commented that inflammatory political talk contributed to the attempted assassination of Rep. Giffords as committing "blood libel."
Result: Her comments, including the phrase “blood libel,” drew rebuke from both liberals and conservatives (except for the most extreme far-right hate talkers), and reinforced her image as the fastest and most incendiary talker north of Michelle Bachmann; exposed her thin skin and distain for any media that criticizes her, and raised questions about her having the prudence needed for someone who may one day want to be a presidential candidate.
CBS, responding to an Associated Press question about Charlie Sheen's anti-social behavior (long before his show was cancelled), said essentially that his off-screen behavior has nothing to do with his TV show.
Result: It reinforced what everyone should know by now: As long as a TV star's program, in this case Sheen's Two and a Half Men, keeps making money, anything goes.
HomeAway ran a Super Bowl commercial depicting a "test baby" being smashed into a glass wall.
Result: Criticism from viewers and children's advocate groups resulted in a corporate apology, and HomeAway also pulled the ad from its website. Another Super Bowl commercial, from Groupon, making light of the China/Tibet situation, also garnered negative comments, but the HomeAway commercial grabbed the insensitive award.
New York Mets ownership initially insisted that dealings with Bernie Madoff would have no financial effect on the team and then rushed to round up minority ownership partners.
Result: Telling reporters one thing and then doing another left a believability cloud over future Met management statements with both the media and fans.
President Obama appointed GE CEO Jeff Immelt chair of his White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and emphasized the use of Warren Buffett as an economic advisor.
Result: The choice of advisors raised eyebrows as the overwhelming number of GE employees are in foreign countries, and GE did not pay any corporate taxes. Buffett has been criticized for his defense of Wall Street dealings, even during the economic meltdown caused by the Masters of The Universe.
Penn State’s hierarchy lined up in punt formation and then hesitated instead of immediately sacking everyone connected with The Program who knew about the alleged sexual abuse of children by a former coach and did not notify child welfare organizations and the off-campus police.
Result: The delay in acting since 1998, until the grand jury report was issued, resulted in extensive critical media coverage that positioned Penn State as a morally-deficient incestuous university that put its reputation above preventing the abuse of children.
DISHONORABLE MENTIONS
1) Shared among the corporations whose exploitation TV commercials or promotions reduced returning GIs to marketing tools: American Airlines, Budweiser, and especially Miller High Life, for its Give a Veteran a Piece of the High Life promotion, which matches 10 cents for each cap or tab returned. What a contrived display of honoring our GIs, when compared to PBS's annual, dignified National Memorial Day Concert TV salute, which praises our military without using GIs as creative props to sell products, or the New York Philharmonic’s yearly July 4th concert, which honors GI’s by inviting a military band to be a full partner in the concert.
2) To sports leagues, especially the National Football League, which year-after-year uses patriotic themes, including servicemen, “to honor America” and didn’t have the good taste to let Americans commemorate the grief of 9/11 without turning it into just one more show biz patriotic gesture.
3) To Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Syracuse University, who said in a USA TODAY “opposing view” article about sexual abuse allegations, “Do I believe that we could have potentially done some things differently? Absolutely.”
4) Tie between Herman Cain, for explaining the difference between the words “settlement” and “agreement” and Newt Gingrich for teaching us the meaning of “lobbying.”
5) To Philip Morris International CEO Louis Camilleri for saying cigarettes are harmful and addictive but it is not that hard to quit.
6) To Sen. Mike Lee for saying on national television, shortly after the horrific assassination attempt of a U.S. congresswoman and the killing of a federal judge and others in Arizona, that “the shooter wins if we, who've been elected, change what we do just because of what he did.”
7) To Rep. Bachmann for saying that she introduced the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act so people could buy the light bulb of their choice,” when she was accused of having no Congressional legislative initiative.
8) To former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber for comparing hiding out at his agent’s house to Holocaust victim Anne Frank seeking refuge from the Nazis.
9) To Joan Rivers for tweeting, “Oh come on people—this is just outrageous! That’s what comedians do!!! We react to tragedy by making jokes to help people in tough times feel better through laughter,” when defending Gilbert Gottfried, who was fired from Aflac for making jokes about the tsunami in Japan.
10) To Sen. Jon Kyl for saying that 90 percent of Planned Parenthood’s money is used for abortions, when the actual expenditures on abortions is three percent. Then his office issued a statement saying that Kyl was not trying to be factual.
And my prediction for the biggest P.R. agency bloopers of 2012: When a crisis occurs to clients, many crises specialists will revert to using hackneyed playbooks instead of employing original thinking relevant to each of the many new crises that will certainly occur.
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Arthur Solomon is a former senior VP at Burson-Marsteller, where handled national and international accounts. He is available at [email protected]. |