A Holiday List You Want to Avoid

Imagine your big, embarrassing secret is being broadcast on YouTube for the world to see. Or maybe you’re facing a messy company fiasco or simply a classic foot-in-mouth move. Any one of them can damage a company’s or person's reputation, sometimes beyond recovery. On that note, here is Shelton & Caudle's annual Top Ten Public Relations Nightmares List for 2007:

#10 The Toy Recall: What took so long for the toy industry to make an official statement-- and start testing toys?

#9 JetBlue: From PR 101: Never say never. After leaving passengers stranded in a plane for hours and saying it would ”never” happen again, it happened two weeks later.

#8 Duane "Dog" Chapman: He forgot the age-old adage: The microphone is always on. And so, apparently, is your son’s recorder.

#7 San Francisco Oil Spill: “It’s only 140 gallons,” said the shipping company. It was actually 58,000 gallons.

#6 Senator Larry Craig: I did it, but it wasn’t that. I’m not gay. I didn’t do it. I’m not gay. Well, I didn’t mean to do it. I’m still not gay.

#5 Britney Spears: Pick a week and your own favorite embarrassment.

#4 Michael Vick: $20 million or a black and white suit. Which would you prefer?

#3 Hillary Clinton/John McCain: A planted question and overlooking a little name calling. Neither of these cases involved an “excellent question.”

#2 Los Angeles County Jail System/Paris Hilton: “I don’t feel so good.” “Well, okay, then, you’d better go home.” Huh?

#1 FEMA Fakes a Press Conference: Was it good for you?

Even after 20+ years in crisis communication training and crisis counsel, it still stuns me that we can easily come up with a list of 10 lulus at the end of each year. In fact, there are many more that didn’t make the list. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Each one makes you shake your head and say, “What were they thinking?”

So, as we close out 2007 and wait to see what can possibly happen in 2008, ask yourself these questions:

• Could these nightmares have been contained or fixed?


• If it is an individual who commits the blunder, should he/she or a representative make a statement?


• Should I or my company have a crisis-communication plan?

All it takes is a little planning ahead and some "what-if" training. Otherwise, we might find YOU on next year’s list!