Ray Rice: A Public Relations Crisis for the NFL – PART II

Ray Rice: A Public Relations Crisis for the NFL – PART II



For those of you that looked at the first post, here is part 2

Ray Rice: A Public Relations Crisis for the NFL – PART I

Ray Rice: A Public Relations Crisis for the NFL – PART I



As many of you have heard, most of this years NFL season has been drowned out by player conduct off the field. The NFL has done an awful job of handling these scandals and has completely dropped the ball when it comes to gaining integrity from a business standpoint. I found an article directed to the Ray Rice scandal and how the NFL once again had a chance to come up big, but fumbled when it mattered most.

Carnival Cruise Lines - submitted by MELISSA (not Jenny)

It’s no secret that in the past few years Carnival Cruise Lines has faced a few disasters that have been detrimental to not only their ships but more importantly their image. The first event occurred and was an obvious disaster. There was no power to the ship and was called the cruise from hell. After they finally arrived back to port their disaster was just beginning. They were left with a large number of unhappy guests and a very negative image. Just as they began to recover from that catastrophe, disaster struck again just 13 months later. With this being the second major disaster in such a short period of time it left the company and public very uneasy.

Although their image was degraded they handled the public relations and crisis communication better the second time around. After the first incident they created a better PR plan to be more equipped for disaster and it paid off. For example they ensured the safety of the guests was their number one concern and made sure everyone knew it. Carnival reimbursed all passengers, gave them credit to use toward future cruises, provided each passenger with $500, and compensated them for losses at the ship’s casino tables. Instead of avoiding social media like they did the first time, they embraced it in order to keep everyone updated and show they weren’t hiding anything. Carnival Cruise Lines is a great example of what to do and what not to do. They are a solid organization but they have made a few mistakes that everyone can learn from. All of these are important skills we have learned throughout the semester. What an organization can do better, how to fix PR nightmares and how to use social media to benefit your organization.

1. Castro, Nicole. Friday Five: Brands Go the Extra Mile to Remain in the Public’s Good Graces.  http://prsay.prsa.org/index.php/2013/05/31/friday-five-brands-go-the-extra-mile-to-remain-in-the-publics-good-graces. 31 May 2013.
2. Morgenstein, Mark. Mungin, Lateef. Carnival cruise line in more troubled waters. http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/15/travel/carnival-problems/. 16 March 2013. 

Hewlett-Packard spying scandal

In HP's company culture, "trust and respect the individual, respect for employees" is a very important one, HP just made a fatal mistake, to spy out the employee's private. At the same time, we also see, HP "Pretexting" exposes many of enterprise need face that crisis of leakage of information. Along with the development of informatization, network popularization, the leak of enterprise become more than before.

According to Business Ethics NOW, “corporate governance is the process by which organizations are directed and controlled.”(P105) Ethical corporate governance is an important part to running the enterprise. Private information only belong to the individual, others have no right to interfere. If a President of the company often monitor other directors by call records, who will take this job? In order to improve the work efficiency, the board of directors must be mutual trust between each other. After a few years downturn, HP had just come up, and “Pretexting” let Hp a step back again.

It also a model for other enterprises, and at the same time remind all enterprises pay attention to the protection of commercial secrets, also need pay attention to avoid the violation of the enterprise ethics or invasion of privacy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/08/technology/08hp.html?_r=0 

Sony executive apologizes after internal emails are leaked (Minji Jung)

Sony executive apologizes after internal emails are leaked By Beki Winchel

 

Sony, as we know, is a famous brand. Recently, a group of hackers, calling themselves Guardians of the Peace, attacked Sony. Since then, five of the studio’s unreleased films, including the new remake of “Annie,” have appeared online for downloading purposes. Sensitive employee information, including salaries and Social Security numbers, have been made available as well. In addition to these, a series of internal emails was also made public, including a nasty fight between film producer Scott Rudin and Sony Entertainment Chairman Amy Pascal. A thread referencing movies President Obama might like to watch (they were all racially themed, with “12 Years a Slave” and “Django: Unchained” specifically named) drew particular criticism. I think this is truly a PR “nightmare.” First, they failed in their protection of the privacy and security of their employees; secondly, their executives were also humiliated. “Sony Pictures needs to figure out a way to stop the bleeding, before it can get to healing,” according to Edgar Alvarez.

            Sony’s response was to write a PR statement to the public, from each affected executive, apologizing for the inappropriate comments that had been made in private emails. They also chose to “fight fire with fire,” in that they are releasing corrupted data in combination with the already downloaded material. This, in turn, will corrupt any true data that is downloaded, helping to stop the spread of these unreleased films. Some directors and writers that have worked with Sony, also spoke on social media in defense of Sony. Their tweets help the public understand what has occurred and garners sympathy for Sony.

            Some of the strategies Sony utilized, including public apologies, are following the best course of action to recoup their losses. Hacking into the downloading stream would not have been a strategy I would have thought of, but is overall, effective. Using other directors and writers to garner sympathy is useful, but may not really help the situation. The main issue is to ensure the privacy and safety of worker’s pay and private information. Once this has been completed, a policy should be implemented to prevent these types of emails being allowed at work. Nothing should be permitted that wouldn’t be acceptable for all to read. They must have some internal process to follow this through, and a PR statement should be made, following the public apology, to let the general public know this has been implemented.

 

 

References

Beki Winchel (2014, 12.12). Sony executive apologizes after internal emails are leaked. Retrieved from http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/Sony_executive_apologizes_after_internal_emails_ar_17778.aspx

Drugs & Concussions in the NFL - submitted by PAURIC (not Jenny)

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2014/12/01/the-nfl-has-to-pay-up-for-concussion-and-drug-problems

This topic involving the NFL with drugs and concussions has been floating around the media for quite some time now and although some action has been taken resulting in many lawsuits some may still say it is a problem for the face of the NFL.

Many retired players today are struggling immensely with both physical and mental health issues that will probably end up haunting them for the rest of their lives, but, what are the NFL doing to help these players who used to be the faces that made the league what it is today, a billion dollar industry? The answer is little or nothing. In an article I read in the US News involving a former Buffalo Bills star Darryl Talley wrote that he has been struggling ever since retirement with health and financial issues. Darryl stated that he considered suicide because of the physical pain he endured daily and with little help from the NFL, his previous employer who states they had nothing to do with his injuries, he has no choice but to think that way. He has taken hits, beatings and torment to the head and the body because of the work he put in daily for his team and the NFL.

The NFL needs to be more sensitive to this topic and look after those players who served in the league from past years. According to US News “NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in 2010 should be making in the neighborhood of $25 billion in revenues a year by 2027. And Goodell, like the owners, doesn’t have to mark notches on pigskin to keep count of how many concussions he’s suffered for the money he’s making.” If the league is making that much revenue then surely they can give the NFL a better name by serving these former players what they deserve for making the NFL a prestige league that it is today.

The NFL must make the field a war of attrition but it must also be safe for the players so that they can live a long healthy life and not just 15 years of glory while being a pro footballer. The NFL’s priority must be health and safety over money that way the reputation of the NFL is good and not always down in the mouth in the media. 

Bill Cosby Scandal - submitted by ANDIE (not Jenny)

I’m sure by now that everyone has heard that more than one woman has now come forward with claims that they were molested by Bill Cosby. More than a dozen women reported being drugged and sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby. This ordeal has had a massive impact on Mr. Cosby’s endorsement deals and fundraising campaigns. For example, Bill was on the board of trustees at Temple University and has recently resigned due to allegations that he molested a woman that worked for the University’s basketball team. “He had been the school's public face, appearing in advertisements, fundraising campaigns and delivering commencement speeches” (McCartney, 2014). According to PR guru and crisis specialist, Howard Bragman, Cosby has little options to rectify the situation and none of them are that great. Here’s what Bragman says Cosby’s options are:

1.    "You can not talk."

2.      "You can go on record and deny it, which he has done and more people keep coming out of the woodwork."

3.      "Or you can say, 'Yes, I did it and I'm going to get help for it,' but that would open up all sorts of litigation and I don't think that's something you can advise him to do."

(Weisman, 2014)

Maybe these sorts of options actually make things easier for a PR professional. Rather than trying to fight it Cosby’s best choice is to slide out of the spotlight and let people forget this ever happened. I would think that keeping the public’s attention away from Cosby would be easier than trying to restore his image.

According to an article from Business Insider,” Netflix and NBC are indefinitely postponing their projects with Cosby” (Weisman, 2014). Two of Cosby’s tour dates have been postponed as well. Unfortunately along with his fall from grace will come a great loss in regards to comedy tours, endorsements and advertisements.

McCartney, Arthur. (2014). Woman claims Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her when she was 15. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/02/woman-bill-cosby-sexual-assault_n_6258594.html

Weisman, Aly. (2014). PR Guru's Advice To Bill Cosby: 'Shut Up And Disappear' Retrieved from: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-cosby-response-2014-11