Comments on: Slaughterhouse 5W: PR Firms Ethics Are Anything but Kosher

By: five mistakes

five mistakes — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 21:20:48 +0000

Your site is pretty interesting to me and your subject matter is very relevant. I was browsing around and came across something you might find interesting. I was guilty of 3 of them with my sites. “99% of blog owners are committing these five BIG mistakes”. http://bit.ly/tJJczA You will be suprised how easy they are to fix.

By: top mistakes

top mistakes — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:34:35 +0000

Your site is pretty cool to me and your topics are very relevant. I was browsing around and came across something you might find interesting. I was guilty of 3 of them with my sites. “99% of website managers are doing these 5 mistakes”. http://tinyurl.com/blwxft4 You will be suprised how easy they are to fix.

By: Antonia :)

Antonia :) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:53:15 +0000

I am a Public Relations major, and I am using this article for a paper I have to write on Mass Media Ethics concerning my field. What a perfect example. Thank you.

By: Erin Baldwin

Erin Baldwin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:42:00 +0000

On May 5, 2008, I sent out an inquiry for one of my clients to what I thought were the top PR firms, 5W being one of them. At first Ron Torossian, replied as follows:

Thanks so much for the note. We are very interested and have tremendous food & beverage experience http://www.5wpr.com/practice/consumer-FOOD.cfm. Your brand looks great and there’s a ton we can do. Can we ask how many PR firms you are speaking/meeting with?
Thanks and best,
Ronn D. Torossian
President & CEO
5W Public Relations (www.5wpr.com)
1120 Avenue of Americas, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10036

Then, when I sent out the RFP, he took a hateful, nasty tone and replied as follows:

Insulting? We (I personally) found your RFP insulting… You want 5 firms to give you their best ideas… not tell them what strategically they are looking for until the end? and budget’s open?
Someone else will do a better song & dance… We are much different than other agencies out there… After the 1st 1 or 2 you choose burn you, come back and speak with us.

Ronn D. Torossian
President & CEO
5W Public Relations (www.5wpr.com)
1120 Avenue of Americas, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10036

I just knew it was only a matter of time before he would crash and burn. Karma is a funny thing. You can’t be a nasty, arrogant, unprincipled business person for long without getting what is coming to you.

I love it when I see this kind of thing happen. It just made my day. Good luck, Ronn, you’re going to need it!

Erin Baldwin
The Baldwin Companies
http://www.thebaldwincompanies.com

By: Michael L. Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA

Michael L. Herman, APR, Fellow PRSA — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:26:23 +0000

This is not simply a matter of “oops, we goofed up”. On its face, and in fact, this appears to be a fairly blatant effort to mislead the public and regardless of “growing pains” excuse, its obvious that employee orientation at 5W doesn’t include any efforts to educate employees with regard to the importance of ethics and ethical conduct within the agency.

Michael L. Herman, APR,S.A.G.E., Fellow PRSA

By: Bob Frause, APR Fellow PRSA, Chairman PRSA Board of Ethics and Professional Standards

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:51:18 +0000

While the author references the PRSA New York chapter, PRSA National has already addressed the allegations against 5W in comments I made in “PR Week” – July 11 – UPDATE: 5W Acknowledges Blog Misconduct and the “Jewish Daily Forward” – July 24 – Public Relations Firm Criticized. Additionally, the Board of Ethics and Professional Standards is working this week on a new Practice Standards Advisory that will cover ethical protocols and practice standards for online communications including blogging, commenting on blogs, deceptive online practices, etc. A draft of the new PSA is expected next week and PRSA will publicly issue the standard as soon as it is approved by PRSA National’s Board of Directors. We welcome all input. ust send your thoughts to me at bfrause@frause.com .

Bob Frause, APR Fellow PRSA and Chairman PRSA Board of Ethics and Standards

By: Esther Buchsbaum

Esther Buchsbaum — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:43:27 +0000

Shame on 5W, shame on Agriprocessors and shame on PRSA for not coming down hard on these guys (Jewish Mother’s guilt – doesn’t get worse than that!) But apart from the obvious we seem to be overlooking the victims – the interns, the A/Es, the guys that often have to take the hit for this unscrupulous,simply stupid behaviour. What messages are we sending them – future PR leaders!?

By: Mark Firmani

Mark Firmani — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:10:54 +0000

Boy, what happened to the good old days when PRSA would take an active role in policing its own (I know – I am dating myself). Now it appears the clowns are running the circus. Makes me wonder why I remain a member.

By: Ann Higgins

Ann Higgins — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:59:32 +0000

Thanks for bringing the story to light. As you pointed out, 5W is not the first firm to cross the ethical line when blogging. We, as an industry, need to pay more attention to training our people on how to use new media, or any media, credibly and transparently, to convey our messages.