For companies and celebrities, their reputations mean everything. A bad reputation means less brand loyalty, fewer returning customers or job opportunities, and much less profit. No matter who you are, sooner or later, you’ll make mistakes. Some will be much bigger than others. It’s how you handle them that shows your true values and character.
PR is all about persuasion, but it can backfire immensely. We’re featuring some of the worst public relations nightmares in history that showed just how out-of-touch some corporations and public figures were. Scroll down for a crash course in what not to do.
#21
The Ratner effect. Gerald Ratner was a king in jewelry in the 80s in the UK. He made a speech effectively denigrating a few of his company's products, and overnight the company share price tanked half a billion pounds.
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26points
#22
JCPenney getting rid of coupons, and having “an every day low price”.
22points
#23
Here in the UK, the Conservative Party's post-Brexit General Election campaign.
The Tories called for the election in hopes of solidifying their significant polling majority at the time, and thereby legitimising Theresa May's position as Prime Minister. But for some reason, they decided from the start that their win was a foregone conclusion, and put next to no effort into their actual campaigning.
They did it so badly, in fact, that they actually *lost* enough Parliament seats that they no longer had the ruling majority, and had to resort to a coalition with the fundamentalist DUP to break the resulting hung Parliament and retain power.
The Tories called for the election in hopes of solidifying their significant polling majority at the time, and thereby legitimising Theresa May's position as Prime Minister. But for some reason, they decided from the start that their win was a foregone conclusion, and put next to no effort into their actual campaigning.
They did it so badly, in fact, that they actually *lost* enough Parliament seats that they no longer had the ruling majority, and had to resort to a coalition with the fundamentalist DUP to break the resulting hung Parliament and retain power.
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21points
#24
LeBron James's "The Decision" was a pretty big PR disaster at the time.
For those who are unaware, LeBron James, one of the best basketball players ever, was born in Akron, OH and ended up being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, so he was seen as a "hometown hero."
After playing for the team for several years, his contract expired and he entered a free agency period. There was a ton of speculation about whether he would re-sign with the Cavaliers or leave town to play for another team. He decided to host a televised one-hour special where he would announce his decision at the end.
Most people assumed he'd be re-signing with the Cavs, since it would be totally crazy to go on live TV just to tell his hometown fans he was done playing for them, right? Well, that's actually exactly what he did. At the end of the hour he declared he'd be "taking his talents to South Beach" to play for the Miami Heat.
It drew a huge amount of blowback; some Cleveland fans infamously set their LeBron James jerseys on fire in the streets, while many fans around the league chastised him for what they saw as such a tacky boneheaded, self-centered move. It also drew criticism because the Miami Heat made some moves the same offseason, so it meant three of the best players in the league would now be on the same team and it seemed like a foregone conclusion that they would win the championship.
A lot of basketball fans hated him for years after that incident, and some still do to this day.
For those who are unaware, LeBron James, one of the best basketball players ever, was born in Akron, OH and ended up being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, so he was seen as a "hometown hero."
After playing for the team for several years, his contract expired and he entered a free agency period. There was a ton of speculation about whether he would re-sign with the Cavaliers or leave town to play for another team. He decided to host a televised one-hour special where he would announce his decision at the end.
Most people assumed he'd be re-signing with the Cavs, since it would be totally crazy to go on live TV just to tell his hometown fans he was done playing for them, right? Well, that's actually exactly what he did. At the end of the hour he declared he'd be "taking his talents to South Beach" to play for the Miami Heat.
It drew a huge amount of blowback; some Cleveland fans infamously set their LeBron James jerseys on fire in the streets, while many fans around the league chastised him for what they saw as such a tacky boneheaded, self-centered move. It also drew criticism because the Miami Heat made some moves the same offseason, so it meant three of the best players in the league would now be on the same team and it seemed like a foregone conclusion that they would win the championship.
A lot of basketball fans hated him for years after that incident, and some still do to this day.
18points
#25
Mexican Avocados. Company advertises they are organic from Mexico, customers in the US realize they are from Mexico and associate that with lower quality, buy different Avocados.
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18points
#26
The Xbox One announcement was pretty horrendous. Not the worst in history perhaps but it led them to fall behind PlayStation sales instantly and even now with a console that's just as good if not better than the PS4 the damage still shows.
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-2points
#27
Calling half the country "Irredeemable deplorables" cost the democrats the election and their clumsy attempts to walk it back only made the matter worse.
Rather than shaming people into not voting for Trump it became a badge of honor and an anthem that attracted even more people to Trump's camp.
Rather than shaming people into not voting for Trump it became a badge of honor and an anthem that attracted even more people to Trump's camp.
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-5points
#28
About 6 years ago, ocean marketing I believe was the name of the company. They marketed some madcatz type Xbox controller accessory, some guy wanted to return it or something like that and the guy that ran the marketing firm started mocking him and acting like a jerk. At one point he is bragging about all his friends in high places and mentions the company penny arcade, and their convention PAX. the guy that wanted the refund emailed one of the main guys at penny arcade and CCs him into the email chain. Subsequently the company were kicked out of pax, fired from the marketing contact and were mocked and berated by gaming news sites. If I remember the guy went full on damage control and claimed it wasn't him blah blah blah, deleted the social media accounts of his company and personal one, and I think rebranded a few times to throw off the stink surrounding him.
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-12points
#29
In Spanish, "No va" means "It doesn't go."
So imagine Chevrolet's luck when they marketed the Chevy Nova in Latin America.
So imagine Chevrolet's luck when they marketed the Chevy Nova in Latin America.
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-15points
