2013 Communications Disasters

Welcome back!
It's that time of year when we pay tribute to the Communications Disasters of 2013.  The purpose is to recognize the people and the organizations who defied the odds, went beyond the merely expected and tarnished their brands. But hey, at least you can say..... they did it their way!
1. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse.....it does!

 Paula Deen The cooking guru from Savannah, Georgia who managed to take an allegation of racist comments and single-handedly used it to destroy her own empire.  At first, she ducked the Today Show to respond to the accusations by citing 'exhaustion'. Then when she finally appeared several days later, the damage had already been done. She was branded a 'racist' and took a pounding in all media - especially online. She lost her credibility and watched her brand become badly tarnished. She either received very bad crisis communications counsel, or she didn't listen to it.
2. Lululemon's customers just want him wrapped in his (over) stretched leotards and thrown to the wolves. 

Lululemon founder and Chair Chip Wilson. Responding to questions on Bloomberg TV's Street Smart program, Wilson clearly was blaming women of a certain weight for causing the pilling problems about which customers had begun to complain. But the final straw was this so-called 'apology' on his website:
“I’m sad, I’m really sad, I’m sad for the repercussions of my actions, I’m sad for the people of Lululemon who I care so much about, that have really had to face the brunt of my actions.” This is an apology?! The focus of his apology should have been to his customers and to women, whom he had clearly insulted.
3. The one good thing is ... smoking crack can never again be seen as 'cool'....

Rob Ford was the clear winner of the "Disaster of the Year" Award. The long-running, slow-motion, disaster featured crack-smoking, drunken binges, insulting comments about his wife, attacks on the Police Chief, video surveillance of the Mayor exchanging packages with known criminals, stolen video of the Mayor allegedly smoking crack, massive denials and then reversals, bowling over a fellow City Councillor, allegations of groping, and a threatened lawsuit earned in a TV interview with newly minted host, Conrad Black, in which he implied that a Toronto Star reporter who had been taking photos of his backyard fence was a pedophile. Of course, becoming the number one fodder for jokes on Letterman, Leno, Kimmel and Fallon turned him into an international celebrity. Watch this clip of Rob and Doug Ford clearly enjoying the video of Jon Stewart on the first (and only) episode of Ford Nation on the Sun News Network. Defiant at all times, even while stripped of many of his powers, he seems determined to stand for re-election. However, at year's end, just when you thought he doesn't have a prayer for re-election...what does he do? He oversaw the Christmas time hydro ("it's not an emergency") blackout in Toronto to mixed reviews. For Mayor Ford, perhaps there is a Santa after all?
4. Nothing like a 'spending scandal' to boil taxpayers' blood, right?

Nigel Wright        Sen. Mike Duffy

The original story about three or four Senators, who were alleged to have claimed expenses to which they were not entitled, morphed into a full-blown crisis of credibility for the Harper Government with the revelation of the $90,000 paid personally by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright, to Senator Mike Duffy. Throw in revelations that the Conservative Party Fund paid for Sen. Duffy's legal bills and there you have it - a full-blown crisis that knocked out of the headlines the government's accomplishments, including the EU Free Trade Deal. With possible criminal charges and no end in sight for the crisis, the Harper Government needs a Plan B if they're going to emerge fully from it.
5. I promise you that you can keep your own health plan if you want. Well not keep it exactly, but visit it, you know..just sign up on the internet...d'oh!
A mere 12 months after his election victory in which 'Obama-care'
played a major role, the failed launch of the internet program triggered enormous public outrage. It didn't help that it took the Administration a couple of months to get hold of the situation and put it (mostly) back on track. All of this came on the heels of a recovering economy that the President would clearly have wanted to be lead the news. That's gotta hurt.

6. At least you have to give him 'E' for Effort! 
The Lac Mégantic Train Derailment and the bizarre news conference four days later held by MMA Chairman Ed Burquardt will be a classic 'how not to' for years to come. 




Paying Tribute and Looking Ahead
So, as we look ahead to 2014, one has to hope that those in positions of responsibility will learn from these disasters. Nah! That's not going to happen. Remember why crisis communications is an on-going business....apparently some people have to learn the same lessons over and over again!

A few disasters were exceptionally well handled - the Boston marathon bombing was well handled even as the city spent several days with the bombers on the loose. The Mayor, the police and community leaders did a terrific job of pulling the city together in a united way. That is one of the hallmarks of effective crisis communications. When the Red Sox won the World Series later that year, it brought it all together in such an emotional and positive way.

The Alberta flood was a nightmare that was well handled by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi in cooperation with Prime Minister Harper and Premier Alison Redford. The Mayor's ability to pull those communities together at a time of emotional chaos was a critical factor in the response to those crises.



The qualities of true leaders

So let's remember, finally, the two leaders who seemed to have understood what it means to be a leader:
First, Pope Francis (Time's Man of the Year) whose simple style and powerfully inclusive messages have served to change the climate, the tone and the priorities of the Church in a few short months. As a result, he has created the opportunity to be a truly transformational leader throughout the world.

The passing of Nelson Mandela in December has reminded the world of his incredible journey that has inspired the world. I just saw Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and was inspired all over again by what a true leader - even though he was an admittedly flawed human being - can do in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. The genuine worldwide sorrow at his passing underscores what he meant to the entire world.
Happy New Year!
On behalf of Laura and the entire McLoughlin Media company and family, we want to wish all of our clients, friends and suppliers a Happy, healthy and 'no crisis' New Year!

Is there any chance for Rob Ford?

Welcome back!
Who is the happiest person in Canada right now? Why, that might well be Stephen Harper, who just a week or so ago was mired in the 'Senate scandal' and now sees a media universe dominated with far greater outrage and media fixation....the Rob Ford Follies. Laura and I spent a lot of time in Toronto last week, and the mood is not one of fun and games...it's a profound sadness that has taken hold over the soap opera. It's only as one goes farther afield across Canada and the United States does a certain giddiness take hold...leading to Saturday Night Live, the Daily Show and Letterman's Top Ten. It's not something that Toronto needs - as a city, it needs to be taken seriously. In this post, we will take a look to see if there really is any chance for Rob Ford at this late date?

Coming soon to Sun News Network. I would be amazed if some creative reality TV producers haven't already inquired about the possibility of a series starring the Ford family. Given the international fame already generated by the daily feats of PR blunders by Mayor Rob and Brother Doug, it's entirely likely that they could rival Duck Dynasty or the Kardashians for viewers.
Just when you think there's been nothing new to comment on regarding the Mayor, here comes another outrage to feast upon.
I have been doing my share of media interviews - although not with any sense of glee - but to try to understand how intelligent people can violate every rule of ethical and effective crisis management - let alone common sense. Earlier in my career I had coached the late Doug Ford Sr. when he was a member of the provincial government. I found him to be a common sense, self-made, smart man who could sense political BS from a mile away. Ironically, it was those qualities of his father that made Rob Ford so appealing to the electorate back in 2010 when he ran for Toronto's mayoralty. It's exactly what seems to have left him over the past year or so. I have worked for a number of Mayors who have found themselves in trouble - some through no fault of their own - but the one common denominator that was needed to help them, was their recognition that something profound had to change in their conduct and messages. In Rob Ford's case, his political instincts seem to have left him; his ear for the 'Ford Nation' seems to have turned to tin. All the exposure on CNN's Anderson Cooper and Fox News is not going to help him. And now the only question remaining in his career is...
Is there any chance for Rob Ford?
Well, the odds are against him, but he has a slim chance. 

Many point to the comeback king of crack-smoking mayors, Washington DC's Marion Barry whose FBI sting video of his arrest while caught in mid-puff, earned him a prison sentence. His infamous comment about the woman in the video, "the bitch set me up," put him in a deeper hole of public esteem. Nevertheless, only a few short years later he was re-elected Mayor, and, in fact, still serves on City Council. Now that's not an exact comparison; and Ford has not even been charged - and likely will never be - for his admission. However, Barry didn't lie - and as his supporters endlessly repeated - "he did his time". Mayor Ford chose not to tell the truth nor did he serve any penalty. However, Ford Nation is deeply loyal and, so far, have proven (amazingly so) to the Mayor. That support can dissipate and fracture. Ultimately, when people get tired of a circus, they don't want to go back. That is the ultimate danger to Rob Ford's future - that people just get tired of it. He needs to change the channel, but he appears to be in a deep rut, and doesn't want to get out of it.
Everybody loves a redemption story, but there's been no redemption here.
His refusal to take a medical leave of absence and clean up his act has been one of the greatest failures of judgment in the entire sad spectacle. What he has failed to understand is that the public is enormously forgiving (Bill Clinton, Marion Barry, Gov. Mark Sanford etc. etc.) so long as you eat humble pie and take your punishment. If he had taken a leave for treatment last May or June when the story of the crack video first surfaced, he had a window of opportunity to get cleaned up. However, as the Toronto police surveillance tapes have shown, he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time this summer engaged in suspicious activity with at least one known criminal (even though he seemed to know he was being followed by the cops). That is a complete failure of common sense, no matter how the die-hard Ford Nation tries to paint it. 
Stop blaming the media for his troubles.
Sure, the Toronto Star has been a thorn in his side. But they turned out to be right about the crack video (the existence of which the Mayor had long denied - until confirmed by Chief Blair). The Mayor treats most of the media as the enemy - which appeals to his base - but is not going to help him in any possible recovery scenario. 
Tell the truth first - not eventually. The Mayor doesn't seem to understand that people will forgive everything except lies. So tell the truth immediately - not when all other options have been exhausted.
What is one thing he could do - even now - to give him a chance for re-election? 
Make a dignified statement admitting fully his mistakes, apologize to the Toronto Chief of Police, Bill Blair (for the demand that he resign), apologize to his Executive Committee whom he has alienated, apologize to the people of Toronto for putting them through this spectacle, and then take whatever time it takes - one to two months at the least - to get treatment. Come back sober, fresh, determined and genuinely focused on the taxpayer. And....he would have a chance (a slim one, but a chance, nonetheless). Without it, the circus will continue, and long before election day next October, the Ford Nation will have fractured, and, it will be an ignominious defeat worthy of Anthony Weiner.
Sad, sorry, and ....it didn't have to be.

Until next time.......