Suspects Can't Evade Social Media's Dragnet

Still not convinced in the power of social media? Consider this. The FBI used social media on Thursday afternoon, asking people to share photos of two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. That a federal law enforcement agency turned to Facebook and Twitter to broadcast images and look to these mediums for new leads in the case is a testament itself to the power of new media. But just a few hours after releasing those images, the suspects were involved...

A Great Spokesperson at a Difficult Time

I have written many "What were they thinking?" posts over the years about various spokespeople or brand representatives who have said or done ridiculous things. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't commend a really good spokesperson's calm, clear and direct communication here in Boston this week -- Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis. If you listen to his press conference remarks following the horrific Boston Marathon bombing incident, you get information and the messages all of us in...

Tide Rolls, ESPN Folds and Twittersphere Beholds Katherine Webb

The big story from this year's college football national championship was not Alabama's demolition of Notre Dame. Instead, it was ESPN broadcaster Brent Musburger's comments about Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron's girlfriend, Katherine Webb. When the current Miss Alabama was spotted for the first time by the camera, Musburger and his color man, Kirk Herbstreit, both gushed over the beauty. And while it did go on a bit too long, nothing untoward or disrespectful was said. I would guess that most...

Fireman Ed blows his top, leaves NY Jets with another PR issue

Fireman Ed is steaming mad and a lot has to do with the New York Jets having a number of issues this season, both on and off the field. Mark Sanchez stinks at quarterback, Darelle Revis and Santonio Holmes are lost for the season due to injuries, Rex Ryan can’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag and Tim Tebow has been rendered useless after leading the Denver Broncos to the playoffs just a year ago. These issues...

You Call It "Pivot," and We Call It "Bridge"

NPR ran an interesting story this morning, in advance of tonight's first presidential debate, about a technique called "the pivot." Political debate consultant Brett O'Donnell defines a pivot as "a way of taking a question that might be on a specific subject, and moving to answer it on your own terms." When we media train executives for interviews, we teach them a technique called "bridging," which helps the speaker "bridge" from an off-topic or difficult question back to their key...

Does Silicon Valley Have a Public Relations Problem?

Silicon Valley is facing an image problem. Facebook didn’t even leave the Valley to ring the opening bell on its tragic IPO, and that was after spending $1 Billion on Instagram. Meanwhile Zuck’s sister is shooting a “reality” show in San Francisco and calling it… well, reality. Let’s not forget the Angry Birds movie, either. The land of Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Oracle, SAP, and thousands of bootstrapped and VC-backed startup admirers are facing a public relations problem in light...

"What Were They Thinking?" Awards: March 5 Edition

This week's contenders are from three very different venues: the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots GOP primary battle; the culmination of Hollywood-loves-itself fetes, the Oscars; and the war of words that is beginning as baseball spring training is winding down. The “Pushing the Envelope Too Far” Award This award goes to trailing Republican candidate, Senator Rick Santorum for saying the late President Kennedy's speech to Baptist ministers about the importance of the separation of church and state made him "want...

Oh, Gisele. You've Done It Again.

Although I think the quiet venting supermodel wife of Patriots QB Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen – who was heard responding to a Giants fan who surrounded her after the Super Bowl loss – was reported on as if it was a loud rant, Bundchen should have known better to keep her mouth shut and walk quietly to the limo. As communications expert Kevin Whalen of PunditReview wrote to me earlier today: "This breaks all kinds of PR rules, from someone...

May the People's Pledge against Attack Ads Spread and Prevail

Major kudos are in order to U.S. Senator from Massachusetts Scott Brown and his Democratic rival in the upcoming election, Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren. They recently made an agreement that Brown has dubbed a "People's Pledge" to work to limit attack ads by outside groups during their Massachusetts Senate race. As reported by the AP, "Under the terms of the deal, each campaign would agree to donate half the cost of any third-party ad to charity if that ad either...

The Best and Worst PR Moves of 2011 : Part II [#WorstPRMoves]

We've already given you the #BestPRMoves of 2011. And, as is always the case, our list of the #WorstPRMoves is always longer and, frankly, a lot more fun to compile. Let's see if our list matches your memories of the year's communications faux pas. Best in Class Individual #WorstPRMoves of 2011 This gets a split vote this year. It was a closely fought race between sitcom star cum rabble rouser cum new sitcom star Charlie Sheen, and the "what was...