4 Companies That PR Didn’t Save

I’ve mainly addressed the good results of what PR can do in recovering from a bad situation, but it would be good to show some examples of what not to do. As we now know, PR is a bumpy ride that could lead you to crash at any time if you’re not careful.

Pepsi and Kendall Jenner Save the Day – Pepsi’s End Protest Add

Pepsi’s 2017 “protest ad” will go down in history as something NOT to do. What exactly did they do? They tried making a feel-good, world-peace moment where Kendall Jenner ends a protest by giving a cop a Pepsi. The public’s reaction was united in a very different way than Pepsi thought. Social media went crazy with accusations that Pepsi was trying to capitalize on the drama by trivializing it. And how did Pepsi respond to this negativity? They gave a generic, vague apology that looked like chatGPT could have put more feeling to its writing. The lesson we can take away from this is that if you’re going to do something, make sure you do it with meaning and not just as a robotic response.

No One Will Make a Big Deal About ONE Customer, Right?- United Airlines Drags off A Passenger

In 2017, a video went viral showing a passenger being removed from a United Airlines flight that they overbooked. The public was furious that a passenger was dragged off the plane that they paid to fly in. At the same time, United’s apology was hollow, with them using words like “re-accommodate” the customer. After the public’s anger grew, United finally tried to backtrack by apologizing sincerely and settling with the customer. The damage was done, though, and the lesson here, for one, is don’t be an ass to your customer, and secondly, don’t play in a situation where you’re obviously in the wrong.

It Was Just a Little Bit of Data – Facebook’s Data leak.

Another company that tried to downplay their own overwhelmingly to blame for the mistake is Facebook. Facebook’s data was being sold without consent, and their response was murky and very insincere. This gave the public even more reason not to trust the company, and when the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, tried to help the PR situation, it was too little too late; the trust was gone. One of the best things we’ve seen in how companies recover through PR is their transparency, and that’s what Facebook was lacking here. They downplayed a situation too big for any big company to downplay. 

The “We’ll Just Ignore This” Plan – BP’s Oil Spill “Apology”

Now it’s time for BP. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident, BP apologized apathetically, saying, “We’ll handle it.” This apology got even worse when their infamous CEO was quoted saying, “I’d like my life back.” What a terrible response when your leading company just dumped a few million gallons of oil into the ocean. The lesson we can take away from this is you need to be upfront about your accountability with the situation and worry more about the massive eco-hazard that’s happening rather than your personal life.

Recap

Everyone messes up, and companies aren’t excused from that, but when you do, be nice to your customers, show transparency, and, for heaven’s sake, be sincere.