Digital PR?More evidence of the omniscient nature of social media and the importance of brands monitoring the social conversation: During an awful night game May 31 in what’s been a terrible season so far, the person inside the loveable, huge-baseball-headed mascot of the N.Y. Mets, Mr. Met, essentially the team’s brand ambassador, reacted to fans’ taunting by extending his middle finger in the direction of the stands. (The mascot actually has just four fingers on each of his gloved hands, so there’s no middle finger, but that’s beside the point. The gesture’s intent was unmistakable.) The moment was so brief it was easily missed. More than that, the mascot was not on the playing field but was heading into a tunnel beneath the stands, so most fans never saw it. A fan captured the brief display of digital PR on video. It went viral. Shortly after it hit the internet, the Mets reacted. “We apologize for the inappropriate action of this employee. We do not condone this type of behavior. We are dealing with this matter internally.” The next morning the team said the employee was disciplined yet remains on staff, although he will no longer don the Mr. Met costume. A few hours later, another employee was inside the mascot, greeting kids and fans for a noontime game. All seems to have been forgiven due in part to a prompt PR staff.
What Were They Thinking?The social team at Walkers Crisps had a good idea last month but its execution was poor. The U.K. potato chip maker invited fans to submit selfies on Twitter for a chance to win Champions League finals tickets. The selfies were to be inserted into a video featuring the brand’s ambassador, soccer great Gary Linekar. The problem was Walkers failed to have a human editor overseeing the incoming selfies. Pranksters sent in shots of sex offenders and murderers that apparently a bot inserted into the video. The internet went wild, poking fun at Walkers’ seeming affinity for the nefarious and sending condolences to the brand’s presumably fired social media manager. Walkers apologized and removed the offending photos.
Airplane Air: There was a lot of finger pointing last week over the recent shutdown of British Airways’ flights (PRNP, May 29). BA chief Alex Cruz insisted the IT failure that resulted in some 75,000 passengers and their bags being stranded was unrelated to the airline’s decision to outsource much of its IT work, as unions alleged. The Times of London last week said a maintenance worker mistakenly shut down power at a data center that contractor CBRE maintains for the airline. CBRE returned serve, saying, “No determination has been made yet regarding the cause of [the shutdown].” While BA is investigating the IT issue, media reports said the airline’s board is demanding an independent, third-party investigation. Meanwhile recovering United Airlines took a hit, with the Federal Aviation Administration saying the carrier flew a potentially unsafe Boeing 787 23 times in 2014. A $435,000 fine is pending, according to the NY Times. Does this story make headlines if United wasn’t under the microscope for dragging Dr. David Dao off its plane? Did BA mishandle its situation as poorly as some media and social media accounts claim? How badly was Mr. Met taunted prior to losing his cool? To communicators and brand ambassadors, it doesn’t matter. They need to perform professionally regardless.
People:When we spoke with Starbucks’ CCO/SVP, global communications Corey duBrowa a few months ago (PRNP, Mar. 6, April 3), he seemed like he’d be a lifer at the coffee brewer. Wrong. On June 1 Salesforce said the Starbucks veteran is joining its ranks as CCO/EVP, a new title. He’ll report to chairman/CEO Marc Benioff. duBrowa’s departure follows that of Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who stepped aside April 3. COO Kevin Johnson replaced Schultz. Prior to Starbucks, duBrowa was at WE Worldwide and Nike. duBrowa is one of the most talented storytellers we know. He’s also a pleasure to work with. We look forward to collaborating with him at Salesforce. – Congrats to Tara Solomon, principal of TARA, Ink, who became the first woman to receive the Excellence in Tourism Award from the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce at its 95th gala Saturday. – Congrats to our good friend Johanna Fuentes on her promotion to EVP, corporate communications, at Showtime Networks. Long the media’s chief contact at the brand, Fuentes now has the official recognition she deserves. Prior to Showtime, Fuentes was a VP at Bravo. – The digital education brand 2U named David Sutphen its first chief communications and engagement officer. He’ll report to Chip Paucek, CEO. Sutphen was a partner at Brunswick Group and headed its D.C. office. – Congrats to a great friend of PR News and a member of the PR News Measurement Hall of Fame Johna Burke, CMO, BurrellesLuce, on recently being named an AMEC Lifetime Fellow.