Each year San Francisco'sFineman PR compiles a list of the passingyear's biggest PR missteps. This year's"honorees":
- Philip Morris' report on the "positive"effects of smoking in the Czech Republic:smoking deaths save the country $147 million annually. The company's belated apology only
compounded the gross insensitivity of the study - Philip Morris gets another nod for its name change. The company garnered bad press worldwide by its transparent attempt to whitewash its image with its new Altria identity.
- Berkeley, Calif.'s mayor evidently needs a lesson in PR - and diplomacy. The city official canceled a meeting with visiting Japanese Boy and Girl Scouts when City Council members
got bogged down in a debate over the Boy Scouts' anti-gay policies. - Johnny Hart, an evangelical Christian and creator of comic strip "BC" outraged Jews and Christians nationwide when his Easter Sunday strip showed the candles of a menorah being
extinguished to form across. - Democrats in Massachusetts messed with the wrong mom when they suggested Acting Governor Jane Swift (a Republican), hospitalized while expecting twins, could no longer fulfill the
duties of her office. Women's rights groups and media alike were outraged. - Yahoo's decision to move its adult content into the same area as more family oriented content prompted boos from consumers, media and advertisers alike.
- Cracker Barrel was nailed for the second time for discriminating against blacks. Employees sued in 1999, and this time black customers alleged they were denied service. Did we
learn nothing from the Denny's debacle? - The messy details behind the Enron collapse will keep the media interested for months to come.
- Bill Clinton has had more than his share of PR blunders, and he
predictably went out with a bang. The pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich (following Rich's wife's major donation to Hilary Clinton's Senate campaign and another to the Clinton
Presidential Library) raised a firestorm of criticism to equal the Lewinsky liaison. - No one could beat Gary Condit in 2001. Condit's situation is a textbook example of how not to conduct PR in a crisis. (Barry Shiller, Fineman, 415/392-1000,ext. 22)