By now you’ll be more than familiar with the name Walter Palmer, the American dentist who killed Zimbabwe’s beloved lion, Cecil, last month.
As the world erupted with anger and sadness at the news of Cecil’s death, Palmer’s dental practice in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, abruptly closed with just a lonely sign left directing all phone calls to a PR firm based in Minneapolis.
PR Week reported that when they asked agencies if they would consider representing the dentist, 90 per cent said they’d turn him down. Even publications that Palmer used to advertise his dental practice in have been running for the hills following his actions. When people won’t take your money, you know you’re in trouble!
One thing’s for sure, his appointed PR agency have definitely got a tough job on their hands.
So far there has been little word from Palmer’s camp. Walter has gone into hiding and his dental practice’s website is no longer available. Online reviews are destroying his business and the hashtag #WalterPalmer is being used to pepper him with insults and threats. So where can a PR agency go from here?
Reputation management helps individuals and businesses who are suffering from a badly tarnished image to clean up the bad reputation that has been portrayed in front of their target audience. This requires fast and thorough thinking with just one single wrong move leading to damaging results.
While it’s unlikely that Palmer and his business will ever be able to fully recover from the global furore he has caused, there’s plenty of examples from the celebrity world of scandal that illustrate the best ways to handle bad PR.
Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Kate Moss (or Cocaine Kate circa 2005), Tiger Woods and most recently Hulk Hogan have all had their fair share of bad publicity. While some have managed to bounce back, others have forever been banished to one of those ‘moments that rocked showbiz’ countdowns on Channel 5.
Take Tiger Woods for instance. When news of his numerous extra marital affairs broke in 2009, he immediately lost $22m in endorsement deals.
Woods responded by holding a press conference admitting his infidelities. In a 13 minute long live statement, he read from a prepared speech saying: “What I did was not acceptable, I have a lot to atone for,” heaping praise on his wife who he described as handling the ordeal with “enormous grace and poise.”
Woods’ PR team knew he had to act quickly if he was to keep a successful career in golf. Six years later, while he is still shaking off his reputation as a serial cheater and continuing to struggle on the golf course, he amazingly still managed to rake in $55m in 2014.
(image: https://www.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/PR-blog-Collage-1024×498.jpg alt: PR )
Someone who didn’t fare as well is disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong. His spectacular fall from prime position on the podium is an example of how not to handle a scandal. When news of his alleged doping broke in 2012, Armstrong strongly denied the allegations.
It wasn’t until a year later during an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he eventually admitted that he had indeed taken performance enhancing drugs and was immediately stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. He showed little remorse in the interview with his main defence being a variation of “everyone else is doing it.” We were left feeling that his entire brand was built on a lie.
So can reputations be resurrected? It’s important to be honest and admit your mistakes by addressing the situation quickly and facing the problem head on. Show that your actions were based on poor judgement, the public wants to see that you are human and feel remorse.
The key is to show people how you have used the experience to change and grow as an individual because after all doesn’t everybody love a comeback story?