by Matthew Burris
For my ethics book discussion, I read “Public Relations Disasters: Talespin – Inside Stories and Lessons Learnt” by Gerry McCusker.
According to McCusker's website, "With a 20-plus year PR career that includes stints as an advertising copywriter and senior creative, Gerry is a senior creative and PR counsel." [Emphasis: original]
McCusker takes a look at some of the most memorable Public Relations disasters of recent memory and tries to boil them down to something that is understandable. The result is an easy to read, if sometimes hokey, narrative of a series of foibles from the industry and the morals we should all take from them as we move into our professional lives.
The book talks ethics both subtly and overtly.
Occasionally the “disaster” is a major ethical breach, such as the creation of the National Smoker’s Alliance. Designed as a front group for the big tobacco companies, the NSA was championed as a “smokers rights” group.
When the public caught wind of the deception, the NSA was dragged through the mud, and took the entire field of PR with it.
The moral, according to McCusker, is that, “transparency is one of the fundamental tenets of most of the world’s professional PR associations.”
This is just one of the many well chosen case studies covered in the book. Many others go into great detail and illustrate the need for solid ethical conduct by PR practitioners.
Anything less may well lead to major issues.
2 comments:
This sounds like a book I would love to read! I am fascinated by how companies respond to adversity and controversy. Right now I think it is very interesting in reading all of the media "hoopla" surrounding Miss California USA and her answer in the Miss USA pageant. It is interesting that the pageant directors for the state of California are not standing behind their representative and I think that it in itself is a PR disaster. I am not saying that I agree with what Miss California said (by ANY means), but it is interesting to see the distension between the two.
Thanks for taking a look at my book and for your review of it, Matt. Best, Gerry
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