A Dated Controversy

The error was stunning. The results were more stunning.

On Monday morning shares of UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines, plummeted more than 75% at one point. The company’s market capitalization, or the combined value of all its outstanding shares, fell by almost $1.2 billion in a period of just 15 minutes. (Read more…)

Do This, Don’t Do That

Do Admit and Take Responsibility for Your Mistakes: National Football League Referee Ed Hochuli broke the hearts of San Diego Chargers fans two weeks when he blew a call near the end of a game against the Denver Broncos. The mistake allowed the Broncos to win on a last-second touchdown pass, and fans responded by flooding Hochuli’s inbox with nasty messages and using sports radio shows to stone the referee verbally. How did Hochuli respond? By replying personally to upset fans, admitting his mistake and apologizing. (Read more…)

A $700 Billion PR Blunder

It was politics at its worst and representative democracy at its best.

On Monday, the United States Congress voted down a plan engineered to bail out financial institutions. Investors responded by selling stocks at a record pace and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its largest single-day point decline in history. Many Congressmen and Congresswomen who voted against the bill cited opposition from their constituents. (Read more…)

The Constantly Changing World of PR

As I sat down to write this week’s column, a number of ideas popped into my head. It was, however, three events in the news that I kept coming back to – three events that I feel are worthy of examination and that we can take some lessons from. (Read more…)

Dealing With Tragedy

The business world was shocked on Monday when it was announced that McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Jim Cantalupo had died of an apparent heart attack. (Read more…)

Get It Right the First Time

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and two companies recently provided ample evidence of why, when communicating with the public, it’s important to make the right first impression. (Read more…)

Dealing With Terror, Badly

AR PR Marketing, a Los Angeles-based PR firm that has handled campaigns for Miramax Films, the Tennessee Titans football team and Foot Action, among others, has a problem. (Read more…)

Making News in 2006

Welcome to 2006: a year that will see mid-term elections, Winter Olympics, and the release of Paris Hilton’s first (and dare we hope last) album.

As is the case every year, the news cycle will be driven by known and unknown events. Being prepared for the unknown events is difficult. Being prepared for the known events can be easy. With the latter statement in mind, here are the events and emerging trends I think will dominate headlines this year. (Read more…)

George Mason Meets March Madness PR Challenge

Tony Skinn is probably one of the happiest men in America. A guard for the George Mason University basketball team, Skinn’s name and picture were all over ESPN for a couple of days in early March, but not for a good reason. (Read more…)

Martha Stuck By Her Guns

Watching the culmination of the Martha Stewart trial is something I won’t soon forget. (Read more…)