Jeff Bezos has said he is happy to lose customers who criticize Amazon for supporting Black Lives Matter. He said their position is racist and he doesn’t want his company to have anything to do with them. This is positive PR for Amazon, which is still suffering from negative comments over how it has handled […]
Posted on June 11th, 2020 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 123 Comments »
This is an old story but it is a reminder of what can go wrong even in publicity stunts. After six months of planning and anchoring a giant net over a downtown block, the United Way of Cleveland had thousands of volunteers fill 1.5 million balloons with helium and launch them to the underside of […]
Posted on October 17th, 2019 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 146 Comments »
What happens when one places investment, R&D and manufacturing on the wrong technology? German automakers are about to find out. They are all-in for diesel engines at a time when the rest of the world is looking into electric. They have staked their reputations on diesel and come up short. Now they are facing […]
Posted on August 3rd, 2017 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 48 Comments »
Sometimes, though rarely, a reporter will fess up and admit that a story was wrong. Here is a spectacular case. It took an impartial investigation to determine that Rolling Stone’s writer was duped and the publication with it. One should not expect this to happen often. A reporter will fight tenaciously to vet and protect […]
Posted on April 6th, 2015 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 221 Comments »
There isn’t much recourse when a reporter gets a story wrong. One can protest to the journalist and hope he makes a correction. But, if the reporter insists that he has multiple sources for his article, one is at a disadvantage in arguing. In a case we’re handling now, we don’t know the facts beyond […]
Posted on March 30th, 2015 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 182 Comments »
Sometimes creative media ideas go wrong. When they do, you get an incident like this. The publicist for a computer gaming company went to great time and expense to assemble a package that could pass for a safe — or a bomb. How was a newsroom to know? After the building had been evacuated, the […]
Posted on May 29th, 2014 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 172 Comments »
Increasingly it looks like Newsweek’s outing of the creator of Bitcoin was wrong. The fingered person, Dorian Nakamoto, has hired a lawyer to clear his name. Newsweek has explaining to do. Nakamoto is upset that the media have invaded his life. The publication is standing by its story, but it looks shaky as the days progress. […]
Posted on March 18th, 2014 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 195 Comments »
JPMorgan Chase & Co dipped its toe into social media and got burned. As this commentator says, the bank ought to have known better. What seemed like a good idea was tried when the bank is under attack from regulators and activists for its actions during the economic meltdown. The communications practitioners at the […]
Posted on November 15th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 212 Comments »
According to a new book, PR staff for Fox news used dummy accounts to counter negative postings about the company. Was that unethical? It was not transparent, and it was dishonest. Should PR be doing this kind of sub rosa defense work? Some say yes, others no. My inclination is to say it is out of […]
Posted on October 22nd, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 181 Comments »
One wonders what the message of the just-completed Davos forum really is. The elite of the world get together to talk, play and sup. At a time when the rest of the world is struggling with austerity? The perception is that the wealthy are untouched by the miseries of others and maybe, uncaring. On the […]
Posted on January 30th, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 187 Comments »
