Reputation Fail: Any Publicity is Not Always Good Publicity

In the age of instant information, the old adage “any publicity is good publicity” may no longer ring true.  Not sure?  Just ask Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, and perhaps more recently, Sony PlayStation and Donald Trump.  We really hope that the publicists for the aforementioned had some serious reputation crisis plans in place before their clients jumped into the uh-oh spotlight.

Sony is in some major hot water with their once fiercely loyal customers right now.  Will they be able to make things right?  They’re going to have to work very hard to regain their users’ trust after a security breach that big followed by nearly a week of silence.  Sony, did you miss our advice about cover-ups often being far more damaging than the embarrassment one is attempting to cover up?  We’ve got a book you should check out…

And as for The Donald?  Well, if he even still has a publicist, we hope they’ve got some serious reputation damage control experience.  Team Donald, you may want to check out Trackur.  At least then you’ll know where to look to start putting out fires.

Can these reputations be salvaged?  It depends on how carefully these guys play their cards.  It won’t be easy, but we have it on pretty good authority that celebrities and big brands can come back from just about anything.  Unfortunately, even the best reputation management can’t fix secretive silence or the outward crazy created by an overblown ego.  Sony and Mr. Trump may want to check in with Toyota and Britney Spears for some support on this one.