A lot of people have asked me what I think about Tiger Woods and the apology he gave on Friday. I’m never one to react with a knee jerk. I like to let it all soak in, discuss opposing sides, and then tell you what I think. But this one is a little bit different…mostly because the incident happened three months ago (so I’ve had plenty of time to let it sink in) and my opinion of how he should have handled this is no different just because he read a scripted apology on Friday.

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Throughout my career, I’ve had opportunity to work on some pretty big crisis. My stance has always been, if a crisis develops from a PR perspective, someone should get fired (think Tiger Woods). Either the PR firm for not counseling correctly or the client for not listening. And you’d be surprised how often the client doesn’t listen. Continue Reading »

Recently, like most Americans I have been watching the flurry of media regarding the swine flu also known as the H1N1 virus and the reference to its being a pandemic.  Fox Business recently reported http://bit.ly/gRyfQ  that officials led by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack are waging a battle against bad public relations targeting the pig.  Continue Reading »

With all of today’s news, it was hard to decide on just one topic for today… address the latest on how Domino’s reacted to those gross videos posted online? Overdone by now. Comment on Pizza Hut’s latest announcement looking for a summer intern to run their Twitter? Yawn. Ponder how Freddie Mac will react publicly to their CEO’s suicide?  Too distressing.

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In today’s Washington Post, current AIG CEO Edward M. Libby has written an opinion column with an eloquent explanation about the very-much-in-the-news bonuses given to those AIG executives.  Be clear, he is not calling them performance bonuses, but rather, retention bonuses.  Continue Reading »

 Yelp! exploded into the Chicago social scene a few years ago and became quite popular with reviewers and viewers alike, claiming, ”Real People.  Real Reviews.”  Similar to the other social review sites, Metromix.com and City Search.com, consumers and patrons review and possibly reccommend restaurants, nightlife, shops, and entertainment.

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It may not be national news but for some allergy sufferers, it’s huge news.  Last November, the Chicago Tribune did another investigative report similar to one from several years ago during the height of the stories about lead paint on children’s toys. This time, the testing and subsequent report was on various food products labeled “gluten-free” that are on the shelves of several Chicagoland grocery stores. 

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What a shame that Lehman Brothers employees found out the bankruptcy protection filing through the media.  The New York Times earlier this week reported that, while Dick Fuld tried to the very last minute to save the company, he ended up issuing a news release at 12:30 on Monday morning announcing the filing.

Where is his PR team?  Do they not have a seat at the table?  Is the internal communication run by their HR department?  Where is their senior HR person?  Not at the table?

The Times reported, “Some Lehman employees wondered whether Fuld, who many inside the bank now view with deep anger, would address workers and explain what they could expect.”

In today’s age, how is it that employees still receive devastating news via the media?  I thought the days of going to work and finding the doors padlocked or receiving a voicemail at work saying the company was bankrupt were over.  Am I being naive to think they know better?  I don’t get how a 158-year-old company doesn’t talk to 25,000 employees AT ALL.

As I entered into my first year in college, the 2004 political debate was at its peak. Students living on my floor gathered in the hallways at night to discuss candidates, issues, and who was right or wrong until their faces beat red. But I never got it. I never understood how people could tolerate the endless, and seemingly meaningless, banter that inevitably resulted in an “agree to disagree” solution anyhow…until this past January.

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So apparently providing $40 million to build a 50-acre school for disadvantaged South African girls will get you a lot of bad publicity.  Just recently, about a dozen girls at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa came forward with a list of complaints which included sexual abuse and harassment.  Although Oprah isn’t entirely to blame for this, she still has to take the heat considering her name is on the building. 

Well, because Oprah is basically the next Mother Teresa, she has gone above and beyond to try and make up for the unfortunate series of abuse and harassment reports at the school.  Oprah has stepped it up and traveled to South Africa to personally apologize to the victims and restore the dignity of the school.  Not only that, but Oprah hasn’t hired her spokesperson to handle all of the negative questioning from the press, she has taken matters into her own hands to show that she is indeed concerned about the victims and the school. 

We talk about how spin sucks here, but this is a great example of how everyone should live their lives through the eyes of the media.  Throw another point up on the board for Oprah! — Lindsay Brown