Biggest PR disasters of 2010
As 2010 draws to a close I thought it might be time to remember those who’ve made our time at the hairdressers reading trashy mags just that little bit more exciting. So I started to do a little searching and came across this article on Mumbrella about the top 10 PR disasters of the year. Quite amusing…
The worst media disaster of 2010 was the Qantas A380 emergency, public relations blog PR Disasters has said.
According to the list, compiled by blogger and PR Gerry McCusker, the near-catastrophe and its aftermath was a bigger PR disaster than CommBank’s controversial interest rate hikes, Labor’s bodged mining tax and the Melbourne Storm salary cap rort.
The ten PR disasters:
1. Qantas – A380 fleet consecutive engine issues and passenger delays
2. Commonwealth Bank – premium interest rate hikes
3. Labor Party – corporate backlash against the proposed ‘super tax’
4. Melbourne Storm – salary cap scandal
5. Stephanie Rice – homophobic comments posted via Twitter
6. Canberra Raiders – Joel Monaghan ‘dog sex’ photo
7. Virgin Blue – reservations and check-in system crash
8. Matthew Newton – after alleged assault of then partner Rachel Taylor in Italy
9. David Leees – CEO sexual assault scandal
10. Lara Bingle – media relations following split with Michael Clark
McCusker worked with online and social media monitoring agency Cyber Chatter to analyse the blunders.
McCusker said: “We’re seeing that social media is increasing influence in determining the impact and duration of PR disasters. As citizen media clearly aids commentary and sharing of bad news stories. It’s essential to have strategies to cope with online sniping and gossip.”
Source: Mumbrella
What do you think was the biggest PR disaster this year?
Yours in Schadenfreude,
Janet
