Southwest Airlines: Cancel or #Canceled?

Written by Emma Novak, Account Manager Southwest Airlines prides itself on three values – efficiency, discipline, and excellence – to fulfill its purpose: connecting people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and affordable air travel. During the 2022 holiday season, Southwest compromised its values and purpose of reliability, tarnishing the brand after […]

Trader Joe’s Calm Rebuttal

In July, Trader Joe’s found itself in a position familiar to corporate America in recent months – a viral social media campaign leveled serious accusations against the brand and demanded immediate action. In Trader Joe’s case, a viral petition called for the grocery chain to “remove racist branding and packaging from its stores,” referencing Trader […]

Biden’s Non-Apology

Earlier this year, Joe Biden reached out to Anita Hill, the young law professor who famously testified that then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had sexually harassed her. Biden presided over Thomas’s confirmation hearings, during which Hill was mocked, degraded, and humiliated. During the phone call, Biden expressed “regret for what she endured” and “admiration for everything she has done to change the culture around sexual harassment in this country.” Biden, however, failed to directly apologize for his role in how she was treated, leaving Hill “deeply unsatisfied.”

Just How Important Are CSR Activities for Companies in Crisis?

One things clients experiencing negative media attention often ask us is, what kind of CSR should we be doing to mitigate this bad publicity? Before answering that question, it is worthwhile to explore whether or not CSR actually does help limit public blowback. Corporate social responsibility, also known as CSR, while difficult to define, can be described as a form of private business self-regulation that allows a company to take responsibility for the social and/or environmental impacts of its business.

Looking for a Public Relations Firm? Hire an Advocate, Not a Publicist

One valuable asset public relations consultants can bring is their own credibility with reporters. Credibility with journalists is not easily gained, and it’s earned through honesty and transparency with reporters over sustained periods of time. But, credibility doesn’t necessarily equate to the media reporting what you want. That’s why you always want to make sure […]

Crisis Management: Revisiting Rolling Stone’s Failures

It’s been three years since Rolling Stone published its infamous and defamatory report about rape allegations at the University of Virginia, but it’s important to revisit the most piercing analysis of what the magazine did wrong. Rolling Stone’s investigation: ‘a failure that was avoidable,’ a report co-authored by the dean of the Columbia School of […]

Tech PR: No-Fear Crisis Communications

For startup and high-growth companies, learning that a reporter is sniffing around and asking hard questions can be bone-chilling. Perhaps you have heard from investors that a reporter has called. Perhaps the reporter messaged employees on LinkedIn. Typically, the client instinct in these instances is to go fetal and speculate about worst-case scenarios. We’ve seen […]