AC Experts: 2014 Top Five PR Crises
Posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2014
Algonquin College Public Relations program Coordinator Stephen Heckbert names top five public relations crises in 2014.
(Ottawa, December 18, 2014) From political washouts such as Alison Redford’s travel spending scandal, to international crises like the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 debacle, 2014 has had a fair share of PR slip-ups and mishandlings.
Stephen Heckbert, who is also a communications consultant, names the following scandals as having the most buzz in Canada this past year
5. Rob Ford getting cancer and being replaced by his brother, Doug, in the Toronto mayoral election. “Mayor Ford provided many moments before this one, but the speed of this, and the shock factor, made Doug Ford’s entrance into the Toronto mayoralty race such a shock — had it been handled properly, Doug Ford would be mayor today, but his anger came through right away.
4. Alberta Premier Alison Redford’s travel spending scandal. “Premiers travel – and they have to fly places to see other leaders and attend events. But the lesson out of this is make sure it always passes the test of whether you would want your mother to know this is what you’re doing with taxpayers’ money. Stories like this are simply too tantalizing to ignore.”
3. The Harper government’ and veterans affairs. “If your government’s reputation is predicated on being strong on national security, you make a covenant that you will also defend veterans and their rights. When you get it wrong, it harms your reputation and your brand — we’ll have to see if the damage is fixable, but they really need to step up their commitment to veterans soon, or they risk alienating their base supporters.”
2. Tim Hudak and the math miscalculations on the Ontario PC party’s “Million Jobs Plan. “This one was simply unbelievable — the PCs in Ontario should have run a campaign that said, basically, we aren’t the Liberals. Instead, Tim Hudak’s ability to govern was the defining question of the campaign. So Kathleen Wynne did what you always do — when your opponent is shooting themselves in the foot, let them.
1. Jian Ghomeshi’s sexual assault allegations and the CBC’s handling of the issue. “The Jian Ghomeshi scandal had everyone talking. The positive is that it, and the Ray Rice scandal, is forcing progress in the conversation around sexual harassment and domestic abuse. The conversation was magnified when Parliament Hill had its own uncovering of workplace harassment. And then Rolling Stone’s bungling of ‘Jackie’s’ furthers the discussion as well.”
Algonquin College’s teachers aim to incorporate real world scenarios such as these into the classroom in the public relations program. 2014 has been a lively year that has kept both public relations professionals and students on their toes.
“We like to have a discussion surrounding current events, and how things could’ve been handled more positively,” Stephen said. “We want to keep our students thinking critically about the news, and how they would react to situations like this in their own careers.”
“Some organizations, of course, handled their situations appropriately and didn’t make things worse for themselves,” Heckbert added. “But no one remembers those. This list, on the other hand, could have been longer – it was tough to reduce it to only five”
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