Damage Control

Wired magazine Editor Chris Anderson - known in PR circles not only for his role at the magazine - but also for his infamous PR "blacklist," admitted this week to lifting many passages of his soon to be released book "Free" from Wikipedia. Virginia Quarterly Review first noticed the similarities, some of which were copied word for word.

Anderson's explanation hinged mostly on a gray area involving the citation process for Wikipedia and he admitted that several passages were not cited. "That's my screw-up and I totally take the blame for that," he told The New York Times.

Jeremy Pepper, POP! PR Jots blogger and Manager, Public Relations at Boingo Wireless said Anderson did the "stand-up PR move - even if he black lists us. He took full responsibility for his actions, and did not pass the buck to anyone else. That speaks volumes, and while I think he should have won the fight with his editor (he's write on the citations), he took the responsibility of his actions. It's a rare trait in today's world."

Not everyone completely agrees. RLM PR CEO Richard Laermer told PRNewser, "...this mistake is, in my not humble opinion, fairly colossal-and common. Found research does not make a point. And I'm sure if we went further into the points Mr. Anderson made in his book we'd find a lot of other stuff that came from sources that were, yep, cut and pasted."

We're curious to hear your take on things. From a PR perspective, did Anderson handle this in the best manner?

The oil giant is hoping the answer to that question is yes, as they created an extensive video rebuttal to a "60 Minutes" report that The New York Times' Brian Stelter calls, "potentially damaging...about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador..."

The report states a verdict on a case that would cost Chevron $27 billion, "the largest environmental lawsuit in history," is coming soon, according to correspondent Scott Pelley. The host of the video is Gene Randall, a former CNN correspondent turned corporate consultant.

According to Stelter, "The Chevron video never directly claims to be journalism. But a casual viewer could be swayed by the description - 'Gene Randall reporting' - and the journalistic devices used, including file footage of the rain forest and over-the-shoulder interviews with experts...Mitch Anderson, a campaigner for Amazon Watch, said that Chevron had resorted to 'embarrassing public relations tactics.'"

So far, the numbers tell the best story. The "60 Minutes" segment had 12 million viewers, while the Chevron video has just over 2,000 views on YouTube. View the "60 Minutes" segment below.

Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons star and dogfighting enabler is talking to PETA about doing some spokes-work for the publicity savvy organization, 19-months after the story broke.

AdAge has what little details are available, confirms with PETA that Vick's unnamed image handlers are involved. Richard Levick of Levick Strategic Communications, and Drew Kerr of Four Corners are the PR people the trade called upon to comment on the strategy.

I agree with most of it except that PETA has PR "problems". The beauty of what they do is their ability to preach loudly to their choir while keeping themselves firmly in the media. Those they upset were not going to donate to the cause anyway. Here they have a win-win, they can tout his contrition if Vick is effective, and publicly flog him if he acts out. Public sentiment of sports fans likely ranks Vick higher than any of the drugs-takers.

Another example is PETA's recent stunt targeting school kids to get the word out about the cruelty in circuses. Gothamist asked if they went too far. It worked precisely because it went too far.

This is one stunt I'd like to perversely see go awry, just to see the outcome in the mainstream media. Like all image rehab campaigns, Vick--like A-Rod et al--needs to start by getting back to playing good ball.

Related: PETA's Newest Spokesperson: Michael Vick?

Clueless no more; PETA PSA beats Playboy spread for generating publicity

Domino's Pizza found itself in damage control mode this week, when two employees posted a video of themselves on YouTube, bragging about how they roll behind the counter. If you haven't heard the details, I'll spare you. The YouTube video was viewed over a million times in the first day, prompting the company to put up a response Domino's President Patrick Doyle, and launch a Twitter feed. I general agree with the critics that this was a good move, though I though the use of the word "sacred" was overcooked when talking about a consumer's relationship with fast food.

I took this one to Eric Dezenhall, CEO of crisis shop Dezenhall Resources. Along with agency partner John Weber, he wrote "Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management Is Wrong" to find out how Domino's ranked in the annals of PR. The book takes you through the classics cited in MSM articles about crisis, including Tylenol and why that case is misunderstood, Wendy's finger-in-the-chili, and the mysterious case of the surging Audi 5000s. The pizza chain did ok, according to Dezenhall:

The challenge with the Dominos story is its visual nature and that with the internet, the original sin can last forever. It's hard to unring this bell in the short-term.

In the long-term, Dominos will be fine. The key is to punish the perpetrators with force, authority and publicity.

This is not a situation where Dominos benefits from going on a "we care" road show. Yes, the company should communicate its safety standards, but it is not served well by overkill because the fact is that these things recede quickly as the next gross-out or Britney scandal surfaces.

People intuitively understand that Dominos gains nothing from disgusting food preparation, so in a sense the company is a victim. One reporter asked me, "What did Dominos do wrong?" Answer: Nothing.

This is the kind of nightmare that could afflict the best-run businesses. This is very different from a situation where a company has a sinister motive to injure or poorly inform the public. Just like Wendy's with the finger incident (see my book), when the perpetrator is punished, the road to redemption begins.

[image cred]

It looks like as Facebook moves towards a potential IPO, or at least in a direction to prove they will become a profitable company in the long term, the company is working on polishing its spin tactics.

The tech media is digging in on the departure this week of CFO Gideon Yu, which the company backed up by saying they needed a CFO with "public company experience." Not everyone is buying that reasoning, especially since Facebook's previous CFO already had public company experience. Writes Silicon Alley Insider's Nicholas Carlson:

Bringing in Sheryl Sandberg and Elliot Schrage, Mark Zuckerberg hired two executives who are very good at PR. Since when you're holding a hammer everything looks like a nail, Facebook now focuses far more on its public image than it ever used to. Says one source, "entire meetings are about PR and what we're going to say to the public. In the old days [PR] was almost scorned."

Currently Facebook works with Outcast Communications in addition to its internal team led by Brandee Barker.

Sometimes when you get "punched" should you just take it and not punch back? That could be what Burson-Marteller executives are thinking after their feud with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow continued this week.

After a Burson leaked memo ended up in PRWeek, claiming innacuracies in Maddow's reporting, the host felt a need to respond. The debate centered around Burson's work for security contractor Blackwater, mostly known for their controversial work in Iraq.

CEO Mark Penn claimed in the memo that the firm "never took a dime" from Blackwater, however past reports dispute the statment.

Said Maddow, "Is it possible that Burson-Marsteller could have worked for Blackwater but not been paid for it... Blackwater is their charity case? ...I welcome any further opportunity to clear up the record."

PRWeek's Rose Gordon has obtained an internal memo by Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark Penn, which defends the firm in the wake of a prime time tongue lashing from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

In the memo, Penn wrote that Burson is "proud to work for AIG - work that has nothing to do with 'burnishing their image' but is all about helping this company handle the massive volume of media, government and employee interest in their situation."

Penn follows the tried and true PR practice of not identifying your adversary by name. He instead only stated, "...a segment appeared on cable television last night that attacked Burson-Marsteller and the work that we do."

Click here to read the full memo.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow tears into AIG for having a "list" of PR firms on its now government sponsored payroll. Burson-Marsteller and Kekst & Company are specifically mentioned. Says Maddow, "When evil needs public relations, evil has Burson Marsteller on speed dial." Ouch.

[a family dinner table, via The Daily Green]

Dr. Sanjay Gupta removed himself from consideration for the Surgeon General position. Why? To spend more time with family, of course. His wife is expecting.

Since writing about Drew Kerr's decoding of overused phrases in the media last summer ("How to Say Eat Sh#* Without Actually Saying It"), a lot has changed.

Tussles are turning in to brawls, and the only jobs out there seem to be highly-contentious government positions with no payoff except a damaged reputation. On the flip side, companies are trying to shed big ticket or controversial execs, who will agree to tepid quoting in exchange for buyouts. Is there a third option of saying what you mean? Will Jon Stewart's big F.U. to CNBC start a trend?

Till then, here's a look at others leaving to spend more time at home during the worst job market in decades:

D.L. Hughley Breaks News was canceled this week because Hughley wanted to be closer to his family in LA, not because viewership is down to a third of his launch numbers. The comedian caught our attention back in November when former Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan endorsed Barack Obama on that very launch show.

Puma's CFO Dieter Bock

Marianna Koval, head of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

Bay St. Louis, MS Mayor Eddie Favre, facing a crowded field of challengers, announced he would not seek a 6th term at the only press conference of his career

[Tropicana, before and after]

Tropicana recently went ahead and changed its iconic "straw in the orange" packaging, but consumers are none to happy. After a plethora of complaints, notably via social media, the company has decided to forgoe the new look (which cost Tropicana $35M) and return to their original design.

Nonetheless, PR pros were happy to sound off to the NY Times' Stuart Elliott for his story on the issue. "You used to wait to go to the water cooler or a cocktail party to talk over something. Now, every minute is a cocktail party...You write an e-mail and in an hour, you've got a fan base agreeing with you," said RLM PR CEO and Bad Pitch Blogger Richard Laermer.

Meanwhile, Help A Reporter Out founder Peter Shankman told Elliott, "There will always be people complaining, and always be people complaining about the complainers...but this [social media] makes it easier to put us together."

The real winner in all of this? Laermer, who got a link to his Bad Pitch Blog mentioned in Shankman's massive newsletter today. Agency Spy has more.