Online Public Relations Thoughts

Russia is adept in sending mixed messages to the West.  It has based 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border but says it doesn't want war.  US and European governments are skeptical and are sending defensive weapons to the country.  Russian diplomats dismiss proposals put before them as inadequate and demand that Ukraine never be allowed into NATO.  It might be that Russia is playing a game of brinksmanship and will use an excuse to invade when it claims its hand has been forced by the intransigent West.  "We didn't want war but you made us do it."  In any event, victory should be swift for Russia should it go in.  Its manpower and weaponry far outclass Ukraine's.  That would call the bluff of Europe and the US regarding sanctions. We're in dangerous times where any unwanted communication might tip the balance. 

A company is in a poor position when it pleads with creditors for more time to repay them.  Such is the case with Evergrande, the Chinese property developer with $300 billion in defaulted bonds.  It has been reduced to telling international holders that legal action could result in a "destructive outcome."  The company has fallen far from its pinnacle over the builders of China.  Today, it is a beggar pleading for mercy.  The only message creditors want to hear is their funds plus interest is coming to them on a date certain. Should Evergrande declare bankruptcy, the best they can expect is pennies on the dollar.  One can ask, however, is how creditors believed the company's messages in the first place.  Wasn't there any skepticism about the story they were told?  Or, did their greed overcome business instincts?  Was Evergrande lying to them?  Or, was the CEO naïve?  There is still time, not much of it, for Evergrande to turn around but trust has been broken irrevocably.  

Peloton is in an unhappy position as of late -- stock crushed, inventory building up, sales flat to falling. Now it has a TV show to worry about -- Billions.  An episode of the drama has one of its lead characters suffer a heart attack on one of its stationary bikes.  The company put out a statement that tried to make a lemon into lemonade but there is a question whether it worked.  The show chose Peloton because it is a well recognized name in exercycles -- a peril of successful publicity.  There is little the CEO can do except to forge ahead and get the business on track again if possible and hope no other TV show decides to use its machines negatively.  

 Peloton's CEO has a crisis on his hands.  CNBC reported the company was halting production of its exercycles and other products for two months because demand for its products had dropped.  The CEO denied it, but the credibility issue is in play.  Who do you believe?  CNBC can disavow its reporting or stand by it.  If it stands by its story, it is the medium's word against that of the CEO.  This has made investors nervous if not customers.  The quickest way for the CEO to disprove the story would be to allow reporters to tour its plants and watch workers assembling its gear.  If the company doesn't want to do that, the credibility issue will remain and the company's stock will continue to be pummeled as a result.  The shares have already taken a beating.  Transparency is needed and only the CEO can provide it. 

Starbucks has rescinded its mandate that all of its employees get vaccinated against COVID.  The decision is curious because infected workers can pass the virus on to customers as well as colleagues.  From a public relations perspective, it is a dumb decision.  Granted that Starbucks might risk losing thousands of baristas who don't want the jab and would quit rather than getting it.  Even so, the company is demonstrating a tin ear for the health of its employees and customers.  With the highly contagious omicron variant, the company is entering a danger zone.  One would think the CEO knows better, but apparently he doesn't.  

President Biden is holding a formal press conference, only the second in months since his inauguration. Members of the press corps are already opining on what he will talk about.  There is an expectation he will feature what the administration has accomplished while acknowledging challenges it faces, notably inflation and COVID.  Journalists won't go easy on him.  The question is how he will respond to tough questions.  Will he be testy?  Will he rise above?  Will he be clear?  Will he obfuscate?  This is an important public relations moment for the White House and not just for citizens who will listen in.  It will be notable for how he will treat the media in the room.  He can't afford for the press to turn against him.  His predecessor lost journalists early on and was painted in dark tones.  Biden can't handle the same outcome and expect re-election.  

The Australian government has made an example of Novak Djokovic, the tennis player, by sending him home for violating COVID protocols.  Djokovic was cavalier in his treatment of the disease and expected to get a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open.  The government was under pressure from its citizens to prevent Djokovic from playing.  This was a successful public relations action by Australia's politicians and courts.  No individual should be so important that he can flout rules that apply to everyone else.  Australians have a keen sense of fairness and equality.  Anyone who tries to stand out is looked down upon.  Djokovic should have known that before he took a plane to the country.  He does now.  

Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema have dug into their opposition to changing the filibuster rule so voting reform bills can pass.  President Biden left a meeting with them empty-handed yesterday.  There is no possibility of getting laws enacted given the narrow margin in the Senate with a 50-50 split and Republicans united in opposition.  The only thing left for the President to do is to get tough and to use persuasive techniques bordering on strong-arming.  Even that might not be enough.  Once again, the situation is an example of the limits of communication and persuasion.  If listeners refuse to be open-minded, there is no chance of convincing them.  Both senators are in opposition on the basis of principle.  Little can change that.  Biden will be without voting reform as a result.   

Former president Trump abruptly ended a phone call with NPR news when the host pressed him on his election lies.  Trump repeated his falsehoods during the nine minutes he was on air and rejected the host's statements that Trump's beliefs were false.  It is hard at this point, more than a year after the election and also after a number of ballot audits, that Trump can be making the same case.  Not only that, but Trump is still condemning any Republican who dares say Trump lost the election.  He is either brazen or so far lost in self-regard that he cannot accept his fate.  Either way, he is afraid of the truth.  That he carries the majority of Republicans in the Congress and Senate with him in his falsehoods is a testimony to his power in the party.  The more politicians side with him, the worse it gets for Republicans and the country.  It is the worst kind of messaging.

A coalition of voting rights groups won't attend President Biden's scheduled speech in Atlanta on voting rights. They are telling the President to stay home and to get legislation passed defending the right to vote.  It is an odd sort of PR message.  "We want action and not your visit."  What the coalition is forgetting is that the President needs to use his bully pulpit to spur movement.  The President's hands are tied by Congress and with the Senate so closely divided, Biden needs every vote on the Democratic side to get a bill passed.  Republicans won't help.  Biden's appeal to the nation is a way to put pressure on the Senate.  The coalition's boycott of Biden's speech doesn't help his efforts.  It looks bad and sends a message that can be easily misinterpreted -- and will be.  

A Chinese moon rover spied a "cube-shaped" object on the back side of the satellite and speculation started as to what it might be.  A hut? An alien symbol? A sign of life elsewhere in the universe?  Now that the rover is closer to the object, it turns out to be a rock, and it is not cube-shaped.  It has been resting on the edge of a crater for millions or billions of years.  A lesson from this episode of space exploration is that people see what they want to view.  Those looking for signs of life will interpret imagery that way until proven wrong, but they won't give up their observation bias.  The rational approach is to hold conclusions in abeyance until more is known.  But, that is hard for those who jump to explanations.  It is a failure that infects all humans from conspiracy theorists to scientists.  It is difficult to live with an unknown.  Humans demand explanations and will invent them as needed. The message that should be given is "we don't know, but we will find out."  There is no failure in pleading ignorance.   

CNN has selected what it considers to be the most quotable line from President Biden's speech yesterday on the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. 

"You can't love your country only when you win."

Trump has failed to understand that and he continues to whine that the election was stolen from him.  By contrast, the CNN commentator quotes Al Gore at length when Gore lost on a Supreme Court decision for how to count Florida votes.  Gore was gracious in defeat and pledged to support George W. Bush for the good of the country.  He could have thrown a tantrum and refused to concede, but he didn't.  From any perspective, Gore was a patriot at that hour.  Trump has given patriotism a bad name by calling on the public to support his contention that he won instead of Biden.  Trump is a sore loser and should never have entered politics.  It is sad that even now Republicans continue to support him.  

The world's largest technology show -- CES -- is underway in Las Vegas.  Fifty to 75 thousand people are estimated to be there in spite of the omicron variant surge across the nation.   The organizer of the show, the Computer Technology Association (CTA) maintains that it is important for manufacturers, distributors, vendors and media to have face time rather than communicating via email and Zoom.  In coming days, the CTA will find out whether its stance is the right one.  Normally, face-to-face meetings are best, but these are not normal times.  CTA has taken a risk opening the show in spite of several manufacturers declining to attend.  From a PR perspective, it was not a smart decision, but with vaccine protocols in place and testing, there is an outside chance CTA can pull it off.  If not, its reputation will take a major hit and well it should.

Twitter has banned a politician's account for spreading misinformation about COVID.  Marjorie Taylor Greene,  a Georgia Republican, has persistently spread falsehoods about the disease and refused to back off when the company warned her.  So, her personal account is gone after five strikes.  Has she learned from the move?  No.  She accuses Twitter and Democrats of stopping the truth. She is beyond persuasion and fixed in her lies.  There is nothing else to be done other than to take away her megaphone. It was a responsible act by Twitter to stop the spread of falsehoods and the company should be commended for it.  Unfortunately, Greene's followers will bray, "Foul."  Let them shout.  Sometimes it is better to be right rather than loved.   

The year is starting on a down note with the surge of corona virus victims, fierce fires in Colorado, pending invasion of Ukraine and a meltdown of the airlines that can't get enough crews to fly passengers home.  One hopes the rest of the year will be an upward trend and we can master finally the disease, which has infected hundreds of millions and killed 5.44 million worldwide.  Signs are hopeful that the omicron variant doesn't attack the lungs and is relatively mild.  We don't need another 12 months of social distancing, masks and working from home.  Those who have not been vaccinated are still resisting the jab and will continue their rebellion in 2022.  They are beyond the reach of persuasion and communications and proof that messages don't work if  receivers refuse to listen.  2021 was a year of frustration.  May 2022 be better.