Bald and Proud?

Well, it appears our Britney Spears has made quite a name for herself over the past week or so, and although they say any publicity is good publicity in this case i am not so sure. From pop princess to sex icon to wife, mother and now strung out addict, the Spears name has made headlines covering an immensely broad range of topics. her latest but definitely not greatest move, of course, the shaving of the head. according to E! online, apparently Britney checked herself into and out of a rehab facility in the Caribbean, followed by another less than 24 hour stay at a California rehab center the same week. after leaving rehab center number 2 Britney went to a CA salon and demanded her head be shaved, when the stylist questioned her Brit took matters into her own hands and did it herself. she then continued on getting two more tattoos, fighting the paparazzi and ending up back in rehab, maybe this time for real. From a public relations stand point, i think its safe to assume this psychotic and irrational behavior could definitely be categorized as a crisis. If Brit ever hopes to re-establish any type of career she needs to realize the damage that has already been done and make sure its over. its a sad story because Britney Spears, in her pop star days, was viewed as a role model by many young girls who idolized her and her music. hopefully the transition from pop star to panty-less at the bar will not leave a lasting impact on her now maturing, young followers. it is true that many musicians in Hollywood have issues with alcohol and substance abuse, but Brit really stands out because it doesn't seem as typical, or acceptable with pop stars. Spears is clearly not at a stable place in her life right now and she needs help. she should stay in rehab until she is fully recovered and keep her issues out of the public eye. I would advise her to do some serious evaluation while she is in rehab and realize exactly what she has and where she has to go. if she can come out of this experience better for it, and prove that to the masses, then she may have a chance at redeeming herself and her career. it wont be easy, but it will be worth it, if she can somehow manage to do it.

Wise Boston

When one thinks of the Boston Red Sox, i think at this point its relatively safe to assume that potato chips and cheez doodles do not come to mind. however, as of today that may be about to change. According to a press release on Yahoo Business, Wise Foods has officially been named the potato chip and cheez doodle sponsor of the Boston Red Sox, something they've clearly been lacking. under this new three year agreement, Wise chips, kettle chips and cheez doodles will be supplied at every game at Fenway Park, not to mention there will be no shortage of the Wise logo as they now have the rights to Pesky Corner and will sponsor a new feature segment on the main Red Sox scoreboard. The company also now has rights to use the Red Sox logos and team marks on its products and in promotional efforts throughout New England, which has a possibility of doing good things for the chip firm. from a critical stand point it seems slightly ironic that one of the most popular and prominent sports teams in the world would go into sponsorship with one of the leading junk food companies, however when you re talking about marketing and targeting it seems right on. another component of the merger is the creation of the new "Wise Player" the role being filled by the notorious David Ortiz who will partner with Wise on a variety of promotions. all in all it is my opinion this move was a relatively safe one for Wise. Being tied to a hugely popular baseball team will not only gain them popularity at games, but fans will likely develop a loyalty to the brand that will carry over to their individual shopping experiences. All in all, i basically think this was a good move for Wise, and unless David Ortiz pulls an Anna Nicole and drops dead, i don't see any real problem with the sponsorship in the near future.

The Saga Continues

As i continue to comment on the Anna Nicole case, which has an aparent death grip on the media, by now i think the best measures TrimSpa could take would be to quickly acquire the correct autopsy results, as detailed as possible, and determine if their product really did play any role in the cause of death. if this proves false and the drug had nothing to do with her mysterious death then that information needs to be made public immediately. Enough damage has already been done to the company, based on their main spokes person and representative dropping dead, the soil the brand image terminally however with good crisis management TrimSpa may have a chance to redeem themselves. if further investigation proves TrimSpa had no connection to the incident then it is still possible for all the negative publicity TrimSpa is recieving to be turned into a positive, somehow. however, if evidence shows TrimSpa did contribute to the cause of death then the best thing the company can do if they ever wish to do business again is admit it, and pull the product immediately. denying the pills involvement or dismissing it as an unknown and keeping the product on the market will do nothing but fuel skepticism and enhance the negative image of the company. by immediately revoking the product, there is still hope TrimSpa might be able to find the source of the problem and eliminate it. they could then run a series of strict tests to absolutely ensure there is no longer a risk in taking the supplement and after a long period of laying low, re-emerge into the market as a totally new and redesigned company and product. it is also very important for TrimSpa to publicly acknowledge Anna and the work she did for them, along with how much they valued her and intense condolences. If your spokes person is killed from your product which millions are taking, its basically an impossible scenario to recover from, however, maybe just maybe, if you do things exactly right it is still possible to retain some glint of life.

to TrimSpa, or not to

When it comes to PR crisis control, there does not at this point seem to be a better topic of discussion than the Anna Nicole Smith/TrimSpa tragedy. As we all know, over the course of her life Anna somehow managed to achieve semi-celebrity status, although she never really did anything exceptional. she was famous for being in playboy, marrying a millionaire 4 times her age, gaining weight, being obnoxious, and thanks to her miracle drug TrimSpa, managing to lose about 70 pounds basically over night. All scandals, theories and money schemes aside, when push comes to shove who will be feeling the devastating effects of Anna's passing the most? Ultimately the weight loss supplement company, TrimSpa, whom she represented. This is in my opinion a worst case scenario for TrimSpa as original autopsy results proved foul play did not appear to be a factor, and long term drug abuse was ruled out as well. Even if her use of TrimSpa supplements had nothing at all to do with the incident, the suspense of finding out just what exactly it was that killed her is going to have an enormous negative and lasting impact on the reputation of the drug. It doesn't matter who you are or what motivates you, if the spokesperson for a supplement you're taking drops dead and no one can figure out why, my guess is that most people are going to toss whats left in the bottle and not get a refill. the next few days will be crucial to TrimSpa as more autopsy results unveil themselves, and at this point i think its primarily up to TrimSpa to get as much honest and accurate information as possible in order to somehow save themselves.

Gotta talk Boston

Considering this blog is meant to discuss PR crisis control, my purpose would be far from met if I did not touch on the recent Boston/Aqua Teen Hunger Force incident. First off, I think its definitely necessary to note the absurdness of the entire scenario. Before I had time to do any formal research on the matter myself, I heard about the events through the grapevine and initially I thought those passing me the info had sampled a few too many fermented grapes. Simply, the idea that a public is that on edge; so afraid of being attacked by terrorists that light-bright cartoon characters are automatically assumed to be terrorist bombs... for lack of sufficient adjectives, blows my mind. The argument can of course be made that many people have never seen, or even heard of the show and unknown flashing characters placed in random locations around a city could be perceived as slight to moderately suspicious. What I don't get, however, is how it takes a bomb squad, terrified people, blocked roads and backed up traffic to realize "Oh, its a light-bright. This must just be a promotion for an adult cartoon show, not a series of colorful, flashing, battery operated bombs." By now the story has clearly become nation-wide news, just type "Boston bomb scare" or "Boston terror plot" in Google and you'll find more information about it and points of view than one could ever possibly desire to know. So my word? Well, from a marketing standpoint things could not have gone better for the alleged perpetrators, although Boston Mayor Thomas Menino apparently disagrees claiming it was an "outrageous stunt" and the product of "corporate greed." So whether you choose to call it a stunt, bomb plot, hoax, or a promotional technique...it worked.