The Side Note

I decided to keep today’s post fun and light with a few PR lessons thrown in.

California publicist Denis Hiller recently posted five public relations disasters of 2009 from which to learn – I’m sure there are more to come, as the year isn’t over yet. I like his disaster choices, the humor that can be found in each and the lessons Hiller provides at the end. I feel it’s always best when we can laugh at ourselves (PR is in no way perfect), but it’s even better when we can learn from our mistakes.

Following are Hiller’s “5 PR Disasters You Can Learn From”:

5) Kanye West Fake Twitter Outrage

Details: Top 40 sensation, Kanye West, was furious when fake accounts in his name spread misinformation. Twitter suffered negative press coverage because of their slow response. In Kanye’s own words, “The people at Twitter know I don’t have a f—ing Twitter so for them to allow someone to pose as me and accumulate over a million names is irresponsible and deceitful to their faithful users.“

Lesson: Respond quickly.

4) PRSA’s Abuse of Lois Whitman

Details: PRSA threw one of their members under a bus when they held a seminar singling out publicist Lois Whitman for a mistake she made earlier. According to the seminar description, “Pitching a blogger is like pitching a reporter…do it wrong, and you might just end up like Lois Whitman (we’ll tell you who Lois Whitman is and what she did at the session!).”

Lesson: Don’t alienate your customers.

3) United Airlines Broken Guitar Mess

Details: In 2008, United Airlines, mishandled a musician’s [$3500] guitar. After months of trying to get reimbursed, Dave Carroll composed a catchy song and YouTube hit “United Breaks Guitars.” The video has been viewed several million times and has been featured in the mainstream press worldwide.

Lesson: Respect your customers. United Airlines should have understood how important a guitar is to a musician.

2) Habitat Iran Twitter Tag Disaster

Details: UK Retailer Habitat used Iran Twitter tags to promote a furniture sale! The company received monumentally bad press for exploiting discussion about Iran’s green revolution.

Lesson: Be tactful.

1) Golden State Warriors Fan Board Scandal

Details: The Golden State Warriors head of PR was caught making fake posts on the team’s fan board. His excuse? “I just wanted to get some positive things going.” The 30-year PR veteran further dug himself in a hole with this non-apology apology, “I’ll take 100% responsibility, if anybody thinks I did anything wrong.”

Lesson: Don’t be deceitful.