Crisis Management

The internet is fuming with criticism over Diddy’s recent apology for physically abusing his ex-girlfriend. The apology, awkwardly timed after video evidence surfaced, reads more like a self-help infomercial than a genuine expression of remorse.

This week’s PR Roundup looks at KC Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker going viral for conservative speech, e.l.f. Beauty’s commitment to DEI with a blatant campaign and the reigning social media snack champion. 

What compounds the problem and leads to the worst kind of viral media coverage is company leadership shirking accountability by saying sales dropped due to impatient Starbucks customers.

This week’s PR Roundup looks at Higher Education’s current commencement and communication crisis, the rebranding of the Boy Scouts and a new survey on media consumption habits of Washington, D.C. policy insiders.

There are many lessons that brand sponsors of this year’s Summer Olympics should have learned from the previous Games. And just because it’s a celebrated global event, brands should not let their guard down in regards to reputation and bad press.

In some ways, the breaches at Roku are unremarkable. These types of incidents happen so frequently, we’ve become immune to their scale. But that doesn’t mean companies can be complacent in their communication with customers, employees, partners, media and regulators.

LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey held a presser on March 23 where she upbraided a soon-to-be-published Washington Post profile, calling it a “hit piece” and threatening to sue. Our author takes an unpopular POV about its effects—one that considers stakeholders.

While many in PR see AI as the answer to navigating crisis, recent findings from Harvard Business School show that AI is good at tasks like automating, creating insights and aiding creativity, but falls short in judgment and adjusting to ever-changing human context and interactions.

This week’s PR Roundup explores how not to interview Caitlin Clark, The Plank Center’s North American Communication Monitor results, and how NPR can regain public trust after a rollercoaster week. 

Everything that is internal is external; everything that is external is internal. NBC learned this the hard way when it hired former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel as an on-air contributor back in March.… Continued