Ad Creates PR Crisis

An Asheville, N.C., jewelry store created a billboard it hoped would have stones rushing out of the store rather than being thrown at them.

The billboard image was covered in gemstones and emblazoned with Spicer Greene Jewelers’ logo. It read, “Sometimes, it’s ok to throw rocks at girls…,” and trouble ensued. Some made a huge production of calling the ad misogynistic on social media, including Chelsea Clinton, which caused the controversy to spiral to epic proportions. Scrolling through the MANY mentions of @spicergreene on Twitter, it appeared most—male and female—were defending the ad as a clever play on words.

While the intended message was not misogynistic in my mind nor I’m sure the minds of those who reviewed it. Gemstones are shiny tokens of love, not violence. Still, advertisers need to be prepared for blowback from everything.

There are two ways to play it: 1) Let the hubbub die down or 2) apologize. With such widespread media attention, Spicer Greene decided to post an apology on its Twitter and Facebook accounts and took down the billboard. Many were upset with that, too.

Faced with a PR nightmare? Here’s what you do:

Before anything happens—

Be an ethical company with human leadership – The basis of success for your crisis PR is to run a principled company with decent management.

Establish a crisis PR team - Board members, CEO & other senior management, marketing and PR. The members of this team may change depending upon the crisis, for example, if it’s a technology issue IT should be involved, or finance for a money matter.

Determine procedures and roles - Notification of the crisis PR team, who has final say on what is a crisis, information gathering responsibilities regarding the crisis, writing of public statements for executives, turnaround time to go public, and identify who is authorized to talk to the press.

Develop empathy as a company - Put yourself in the public and customers’ shoes and think about what they want to know or want done.

Get ahead of the story - If you know something is coming, plan and prepare for it with 1) what’s wrong, 2) be accountable and apologize if necessary, 3) outline what’s being done to correct the problem.

During crisis—

Don’t panic.

Follow the plan - But tweak as needed. You’ll learn something new after each crisis. Use that to continue refining the plan.

Be as transparent as possible - Including responding to reporters and customers as quickly as possible once you have the necessary information.

Keep an eye on social media – Depending upon the size of the company, the industry, and whether a Chelsea Clinton-type picks upon on the crisis, you’ll need to monitor social media closely and respond as appropriate.

After crisis—

Follow through – You promised to fix something, now do it. The company and likely your integrity is at stake. Once the corrections are in place and tested, you might want to pitch the turnaround story.

Debrief – What worked in the crisis PR plan? What didn’t? What or who should be added or removed?