Should PR and Corp Comm People Have Liablity Insurance

There is an old joke about a doctor who saw a patient and told him that in order to stay healthy he needed to quit drinking, quit smoking and quit eating fatty foods and exercise more. The next time the doctor saw the patient, not only was it obvious he hadn't done any of what he said but had actually gotten worse at it. The doctor, fuming and exasperated asked why the patient hadn't done what he asked. The patient looked at the doctor puzzled and said, "oh were you being serious.?"

Sometimes, when you work in Corp Comm or PR you can see situations like this. If the patient in the case dies from a heart attack most people would say that he had lived an unhealthy life. If you are a PR person, you or your organization has committed a public relations gaffe. Recently, when BP CEO Tony Hayward went sailing while oil surged into the Gulf of Mexico, it was referred to as a PR disaster. OK, first of all, I Mr. Hayward told his PR person what he had planned and then had it approved before he went sailing. Granted, BP has committed more than its share of PR errors which can be attributed to PR but this was not one of them.

Keep in mind that in general when an organization does something stupid or just flat out wrong and then mishandles the response it is often called a PR gaffe. The usual problem is that we're seeing an organization trying to "spin" its way out of trouble. That is they are trying to set the agenda and decide what is, and what isn't, relevant to the discussion.

So what is the solution to this issue? Well there is actually an easy one. It's called telling the truth. Well it's a bit more complex than that. My parents used to call being punished "taking your medicine." A throwback to the days before Nyquil when medicine actually tasted poorly and you had to brace yourself before taking it.

McDonald's is the sign of an organization who took their medicine earlier this year and very quickly the problem was gone. It's amazing how quickly stories enter and exit our news cycle but you may recall that when the most recent Shrek movie was released, McDonald's had some glasses it released as a product tie in to the movie. Of course it turned out that the glasses were tainted with lead. McDonald's quickly issued a recall and about 4 to 6 weeks later the issue has been almost forgotten. They didn't spin, they told the truth, took their medicine and as a result will move forward with little interruption.

So I come back to the issue that made me write this little tome. Should PR and Corp Comm people have liability insurance. Well of course I was being somewhat factitious when I said that, the truth is we don't. What we need to do is remember that our first goal and highest calling is to tell the truth. While lawyers and bean counters think we should "spin" the news the fact remains when an organization listens to them, or has a culture that encourages that, you have a situation like BP. If you encourage the truth and "taking your medicine," you are like McDonald's where only a minor hit disrupts your path to ongoing business success.