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Following a long line of public figures who have deployed kids to try and win the sympathy vote in public opinion - think UK’s John ‘Mad Cow’ Gummer and Aussies Matt Brown, Andrew Bartlett and John Hewson - thugby player Greg Bird recently arrived at court dragging his little brother (maybe about 5yrs old?) through a media scrum. His sister also ported their other baby brother to try keeping media snappers at bay. Accused of ‘glassing’ his American girlfriend’s face with a wine glass, Bird’s media advisers (lawyers or PR people we wonder?) clearly felt he needed to soften his image as this sports PR disaster unfolds. Bird’s girlfriend suffered cuts and a fractured eye socket after allegedly being hit in the face with a glass wielded by Bird himself. He denies the assault and blamed a pro-golfer mate.

Ever fond of hoary old sayings this weather, I’ll bastardise another; “character isn’t revealed when things are going well, but how you behave when things are going badly”. Greg from an older PR pro; ditch the entourage and the media manipulation. Face these allegations directly, with integrity and, if appropriate, with contrition. That’s the only way to bring this unseemly PR disaster to a close, and rebuild your much tarnished reputation. 

 

There’s an old saying that runs along the lines of “…behaviour is not the main thing that influences reputation…it’s the only thing.” In trying to create “a siege mentality” within a beleagured English soccer club, Newcastle United, new manager Joe Kinnear swore 52 times at a media conference often directly attacking journalists. What does this do for the club’s reputation, Kinnear’s or those who appointed him? More, how will the prospective new owners feel about Kinnear’s custody of their brand reputation? PR disaster or what?

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BKdETq7ZGgQ

Pies President Eddie Maguire.

A PR disaster all about employee trust, and how individuals control the collective reputation. AFL club Collingwood today faces not just an embarrassing PR disaster, but surely a serious HR issue too. After the club CEO Ed Maguire publicly flamed one young player (Heath Shaw) for involvement in a drink driving car crash, then dismissed claims that another player (Alan Didak) was involved, it’s been revealed Didak fled the DUI car!! Before a media conference, both players insisted to the club and leadership group that Didak was not involved, despite eye-witness reports saying otherwise. This goes to the heart of organisational and HR culture. In a toe-curlingly embarrassing moment, club President Maguire threw out Didak’s poss involvement, inferring the player would be implicated in the Kennedy assasination next! Didak is no stranger to dodgy drink related car escapades, either. And the club previously lost a sponsor over another drunken player episode. So how does Collingwood regain the reputational lost ground now? By letting the players ‘play on’ - the club laughably spins this as a punishment - or by showing its public(s), that it’s HR policy is really intolerant of behaviour - drunkenness, feeing the scene of an accident and lying within the ‘company’ - and metes out a credible deterrent?

The club’s decision has just been announced: Collingwood has suspended Alan Didak and Heath Shaw for the remainder of the 2008 season, including finals, for lying about a drink-drive accident.

Europe has come over all funny over a rash (geddit) of outraged editorials revealing that Formula One honcho Max Mosley was filmed cavorting with five (YEP 5) fleshy prostitutes while allegedly fulfilling some Neo-Nazi fetish. The only relieved person must be Elliot Spitzer whose solicitation of just one hooker now pales by comparison. This personal pastime may cost Mosley his high-paying (we presume if he can afford 5 at a time it don’t pay peanuts) job, a lot of the furore is down to the fact that his ancestry features the prominent UK Nazi sympathiser Oswald Mosley (his pop!) Most blogging F1 fans want him gone, tho with no little arrogant chutzpah, Mosley is contemplating suing the tabloid News of the World, which broke the scandal. How can Mosley continue in a senior office bearing role for F1?

Chung (left) and Chen -
(Ta to asianfanatics forum for loan of pic).

Next time your computer goes in for repairs, just be very careful about the images you leave stored in files, OK??
Hundreds of celebrity sex photos featuring what appears to be at least five of Hong Kong’s best-known entertainers have been uploaded to the internet after being copied from the laptop of Edison Chen, 27, a singer and actor. The files were copied from the customised pink MacBook belonging to Chen when he took his computer in for repairs. Hong Kong police have now arrested nine people for uploading the images, which are being constantly posted and then deleted from message-boards across the region. The pictures have also been posted to file-sharing networks with new images being uploaded daily. The photo scandal has been front-page news across Hong Kong tabloids for weeks and has led to users almost overwhelming various Hong Kong discussion forums. A single discussion thread has attracted 25.8 million page views, with posters sharing tips on where to download the images. The dozens of photos show Chen in separate scenes, some featuring sex, with at least six women, including two major, Disney-affiliated Canto-pop singers Gillian Chung and Cecilia Cheung.
Hat tip to The Age for the story.

One time Oz footy legend Wayne Carey is no stranger to this blog; controversy is his almost constant companion. However, the now largely idle idol’s recent bust-ups with police in Aus and the US has immediately resulted in a loss of two media commentary gigs, useful income and further damage to his somewhat suspect repute. Media pundits are speculating on jail time for Carey; move over Michael Vick, your new bunkmate’s a big lump of an Aussie boy. In hiding, Carey’s said to be drafting a public apology - I hope his legal and PR advisors aren’t the usual bunch of media enablers who’re prepared to let him go thru the motions - someone strong has to tell him straight (Arsenal’s ex-captain Tony Adams, anyone) that his behaviour just isn’t sustainable.
Here’s how Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper summarises Carey’s predicament: Read more

SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS TODAY!!

It’s coming to another year’s end, so we’re now accepting media, blogger and public nominations for our annual Top 10 PR Disaster Awards. The scheme highlights the worst examples of bad PR jobs as well as corporate scandals and celebrity gaffes. ‘PR Disasters’ will collate entries right up until midnight on 31 December 2007, and announce the winner early in 2008. Nominations can be submitted by blogging in or emailing your suggestions.
As suggested in my PR disasters book (a great Xmas stocking filler) to qualify as a PR disaster, any incident must have catalysed sustained, negative media coverage.
And as any PR-disaster watcher will tell you, 2007 has been another sterling year for botched PR jobs on the corporate and celebrity fronts. Please send in your favourites, and to jog your memory, you might recall…
The Cartoon Network’s bomb scare marketing stunt;
British Airways’ fuel surcharge fiasco;
Johnson & Johnson’s decision to sue the Red Cross;
Movie pin-up Ralph Fiennes’ Qantas toilet tryst;
US radio broadcaster Don Imus and the ‘nappy-headed ho’s’ slur
Aussie AFL footballer Ben Cousins’ sorry drug-related escapades
Heather Mills McCartney’s sometimes bizarre conduct under stress

There was also:
Fleishman Hillard – the PR specialists saw two of its ex-execs jailed for overbilling
Dr Pepper – a product promotion almost caused the exhumation of an historic graveyard
Ribena – had its vitamin C product claims debunked by two teenage science students
Whole Foods – their blogging CEO praised himself using a fake online identity
BBC – revelations that the UK broadcaster faked results of viewer phone-in competitions
FEMA – had its staff pretend to be news reporters at a badly attended press conference

NEW: Lahndan PR face Mark Borkowski summarises the fallout: http://www.borkowski.co.uk/archives/mark/004759.html

The fur is flying around the soon to be ex-Mrs McCartney.

It’s the outburst interview no PR ever wants to see their client deliver and not using any media interview technique I’d'a coached her on; resultantly her PR has resigned the doubtless lucrative Heather Mills account, for fear of it burning his bridges with the printed media he relies on so heavily to assist his other clients. Is the PR chicken or is the client a loose cannon?<br />
Ex-tabloid editor Phil Hall has resigned from his posi as PR counselor to the much-maligned wife of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, following Heather’s frustration-fuelled live rant on GMTV this morning (UK). Brandishing over 4000 negative stories about her - depicting her as a (one-legged) “gold-digger, fantasist and liar” - Mills ambitiously launched a self-initiated campaign to lobby the Euro Parliament to have the laws relating to newspaper coverage changed.
The Guardian reports Hall saying that “Mills had become frustrated by the barrage of negative stories…her view is she can’t just sit there and have stories written about her that are untrue and not do anything about it. She feels it’s wrong that people write stuff that has no authority.”
In a move not likely to result in improved media relations, Heather Mills told TV viewers to stop buying newspapers and vowed to take action against abusive reporting by attempting to change the law in the European parliament.

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