Fleishman-Hillard’s Canada chief has apologized after the firm was criticized for a press release on behalf of a criminal background check client that tried to piggy-back a global news cycle centered on a brutal homicide in Montreal.
F-H issued the release for Backcheck via Canada Newswire, holding the killing and dismemberment of a Chinese student as an example of why tenants should use the service to check the backgrounds of prospective tenants. The tactic was widely panned in social media online like Twitter, Facebook and story comments.
“Our firm made an inappropriate decision – leveraging recent headlines in an attempt to gain coverage for a client,” said John Blyth, president and senior partner for F-H Canada. “Using such tragic events in this context was a clear mistake in judgment on the part of our firm.”
The suspect in the killing, an adult film actor Luke Magnotta, had four convictions of fraud before his arrest in the homicide, according to news reports.
BackCheck president and CEO Dave Dinesen apologized in the Ottawa Citizen, adding he “might talk to my marketing guy” about the timing of the release.
Blyth called the release an “isolated incident.” He said: “Shocking headlines and the need to break through the content clutter should never come at the sacrifice of common sense and good taste.”