In Defense of Public Relations

There’s no one else out there today besides President Obama who can command the media’s attention the way Tiger Woods does. Known for breaking almost all the records in golf, Tiger is now breaking all the rules in PR.

When his agent, Mark Steinberg, came out with a statement yesterday that Tiger will finally going to address the public and apologize for his no longer recent troubles with MRS. WOODS and the skanky ladies who look like Jersey Shore rejects, as a PR pro and Tiger fan, I pretty much said, “dude, it’s about time.”

Kissed, Made Up and Making Out

I wonder what other celebrity, public figure, brand that can keep quiet for more than three months before addressing the media and the public. I mean Toyota is getting grilled daily for taking a week to respond about its recall and here’s Tiger who’ll be strolling in this Friday at PGA Tour headquarters months later.  And it turns out, the public statement he will be making is simply that–a statement. He won’t be taking any questions from the press. Seriously, who does that? It boggles my PR mind.

What Tiger is doing reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where George Costanza (played by Jason Alexander) decides to do the complete opposite of every decision that he instinctively makes.  In the end, Costanza gets a job with the New York Yankees.

Will Tiger’s strategy of doing the opposite of what we in PR are accustomed to work out for him in the end like Costanza? I guess we’ll have to wait. If Tiger gets a job with the Yankees, then we’ll know his PR strategy was a_________________.

In an episode of Mad Men last season, a former client comes to Sterling Cooper because its dog food product made with horse meat became public. It became a public relations nightmare for the company. Even though all dog food products including those made by its competitors was made with horse meat, it no longer mattered. The public had formed its opinion and it wouldn’t be swayed.  Don Draper and Roger Sterling put it bluntly to the client that the name was done. It’s been poisoned.

That was fiction. Toyota’s crisis is all too real. Is the Toyota name done? After decades of developing a carefully crafted message that Toyota vehicles were safe and superior to American cars, this recall can destroy all that.

Suzy Welch put it best in a tweet below:

Do you think the Toyota name is poisoned like the fictional company in Mad Men? Share what you think.