PR is all about representing a company during both the good and the bad times. It can be used to connect the regular population to a company yet also act as damage control when things take a negative turn. New media forms (like blogging) have allowed PR to contact consumers directly and also see what the public is talking about. That's the beauty of blogs, everyone can have one!
But, it's not always that great. When PR professionals fall, they can fall HARD. Here's an example for you. A blog was made in 2006 promoting the shopping center we all know and maybe love - Wal-Mart. It was a blog sponsored by a group created by a Wal-Mart PR firm called "Working Families for Wal-Mart." Two people, Jim Thresher and Laura St. Claire traveled the country staying overnight in an RV outside various Wal-Marts. They would interview employees, and snap photos and stuff.
Sounds all fine and good right? No. No it's actually not like that at all.
These two individuals unknowingly broke a few rules. You see, regulations are in place for just about everything in this fantastic lil' world we live in - including PR blogging. A lack of transparency about the sponsor that funded this excursion and about the PR firm behind that very sponsor got them all into a pretty large amount of trouble.
What happened? Well, the blog was more or less a "fake" blog. It was funded by Wal-Mart to promote Wal-Mart. Don't get me wrong - there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this. There is however, something wrong with failing to tell anyone that it's fake. Needless to say, people got pretty mad once they found out about it.
What made matters worse? Well, the president of the PR firm which forgot to make the information transparent took way too long to respond to this outcry from the public. When he did, it came across as damage control instead of an actual apology. At any rate, he took the fall for this mishap and it took a pretty heavy toll on his company.
The man has been criticized ever since.
PR can be a pretty sweet tool for making your company look good, but make darn sure all your bases are covered beforehand.
