(This week, PR News editors Phil Hall and Aaron Jenkins hop all over a crisis communications story involving a man in a frog costume.) PHIL: This
column involves PR, HR and crisis communications. I read an article in Sports Illustrated about the arrest of Cecil McLaurin Amick III, who was employed as the loveable
frog mascot Reedy Rip'It for the Class A Greenville (SC) Drive baseball team. It appears that Amick (dressed in his frog costume) molested a woman while she was coming
down a stadium stairwell following a game in April. Using the power of hindsight, how could such a mishap been prevented?
AARON: The team did the right thing in suspending Amick, who has been charged with a misdemeanor. And in a statement, the team's general manager said the organization
requires all employees to hew to policies defined in their employee handbook, which even has a section devoted to outlining the finer points of professionalism and conduct
(perhaps Amick leapfrogged that page). But if reading an employee handbook is all there is to becoming a team's mascot, then that's a serious strike against Greenville Drive. In
a professional position such as a mascot that deals with the public so intimately and carries such litigiousness, an individual needs to pass a rigorous examination and training
process. Did the team do a background check on Amick? If not, then this PR dilemma could have been prevented.
PHIL: This column has repeatedly addressed the interconnection between the human resources department and the PR people - if HR puts the wrong people on the team, the
PR people will be doing damage control. I might suggest that any consumer promotion and event involving brand ambassadors (especially free-lancers) first get a thorough due
diligence review by the human resources department, the risk management department and the legal counsel. Worse case scenarios involving interaction with the public need to be
considered far in advance. In a case like this, such planning would've raised questions of security in the stairwell - were guards on duty or surveillance cameras taping the
scene?
AARON: And you've raised an issue that's larger than this unfortunate incident. Yes, the departments of PR, HR, risk management and legal counsel should've been in the
game from the get-go, but why not have them in the game all the time? Maintaining constant communication (reports, e-mails, weekly/monthly meetings) among the multiple
departments of a company will curb the likelihood of crisis. And in the event a crisis does occur, there will then be a uniform team managing it head-on.