The Worst PR Debacle in History
What Can Be Learned from China
August 2007 By Denny Hatch
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In the News
As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly ExtremesBEIJING, Aug. 25 — No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo. But just as the speed and scale of China’s rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents. Environmental degradation is now so severe, with such stark domestic and international repercussions, that pollution poses not only a major long-term burden on the Chinese public but also an acute political challenge to the ruling Communist Party. And it is not clear that China can rein in its own economic juggernaut.
—Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley, The New York Times, August 26, 2007
These pale to the gross mishandling of national public relations by the government and the private sector of China.
In 50 years of being a news junkie, I cannot recall a tectonic success—the roaring Chinese economy—being so badly trashed by greed, incompetence and appalling PR.
With a 1.3 billion population, China is governed by an iron-fisted Communist regime. But with millions of individual entrepreneurs “doing their own thing,” its laws are unenforceable.
When laws are unenforceable, a society is ungovernable.
The key takeaway point in this story: Whether you are a nation, a corporation, a small business or an individual, do not get into a pissing match with your critics, do not stonewall and do not try to muzzle the media.
This is not good PR.
Backgrounder
The June 21 story in this e-zine was titled, “IS IT TIME TO STOP DOING BUSINESS WITH CHINA?
I created a laundry list of unacceptable Chinese behavior: theft of intellectual property, piracy, counterfeiting, exporting poisonous foods for humans and pets, the export of chemical-laden toys and products, plundering the oceans, cruelty to animals and gendercide—the state-approved murder and abandonment of girl babies.
I assumed that the story would gradually fade away, and I could go on to other things. But during the past month, the media have reveled in recalls of more toys, tires, formaldehyde-infested blankets and pajamas as well as a scathing report on working conditions in Chinese toy factories.
The only light at the end of the tunnel for China appears to be the headlamp of an onrushing locomotive.
China’s Pollution Crisis
This past Sunday’s front-page exposé in The New York Times on pollution in China was huge—four columns with an illustration of a coal mining shantytown above the fold. A good 40% of the front page was devoted to this 4,300-word story. It has worldwide implications and serious troubles for China.
Last Saturday at the Osaka, Japan, track and field championships, one-third of the marathoners were unable to finish because of the polluted air. Juliet Macur reported in Sunday’s New York Times that with the 2008 summer Olympics scheduled to be held in Beijing, American marathoner Deena Kastor is considering wearing a surgical mask.
Takeaway Points to Consider:
* China is a textbook case of how not handle a PR crisis.* In the PR world, what China is trying to deal with is known as “reputation management.” Its aggressive, uncoordinated lashing out and placing the blame on its customers and the media are doing more harm than good.
* American PR professionals are trained to do their damnedest to smooth things over and get a bad story out of the public eye. The object is to contain it until something more dramatic captures the attention of news editors.
* Crisis management is not taught in MBA courses at business schools. In 2005, Orbitz president Michael Sands told The Wall Street Journal’s Ronald Alsop that “crisis communication is critical for business students as is understanding how corporate communications gets integrated into the marketing plan.” A graduate of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Sands said that he learned corporate communications skills on the job, “sort of like an apprenticeship.”
* You never know when a PR crisis might strike. Who can forget that day when a Wendy’s customer found a human finger in her bowl of chili?
* It is imperative for every business to have in place a plan for PR crisis management—a team ready to assemble on a moment’s notice, lines of predetermined responsibilities with one person in charge and one calming, reasoned voice that speaks for the company.
* If a crisis hits with no plan in place, the situation will be exacerbated and everybody concerned will look like chumps.
* When a crisis hits, immediately inform your employees and keep them in the loop. If your associates learn about the problem from an outside source and the company is silent, morale will tank.
* No employee should be allowed to speak to the media or answer questions from anybody. All inquiries must be directed to the department handling the crisis. Otherwise, if employees are accessible, the media will gleefully exploit inconsistencies and make mincemeat of your efforts.
* Whether you are a nation, a corporation, a small business or an individual, do not get into a pissing match with your critics, do not stonewall and do not try to muzzle the media.
* “PR is the business of letting people in on what you are doing.”
—Evelyn Lawson, my first mentor and publicity director at the Ivoryton, Conn. Playhouse, 1951
Web Sites Related to Today's Edition:
“China’s Deadly Pollution,” The New York Times, August 26, 2007http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html
“Beijing Air Imperils Olympics,” The New York Times, August 26, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/sports/othersports/26runners.html
Investigations on Toy Suppliers in China, China Labor Watch
http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/20070821eighttoy.htm
Wendy’s Finger in the Chili: A Case History
http://mgppr.com/20050422_wendys.htm
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