Weekly Wrap: Can PR become too aggressive?
Locally and nationally, this week’s news has been full of aggressive public relations work. While proactive strategy is the hallmark of effective PR, the strategies exhibited by multiple communicators this week have led to criticism and frustration.
Locally, health care giant UPMC has weathered criticism for organizational dysfunction, its robust financial capabilities and its battle against rival Highmark. In response to what UPMC executives considered unfavorable and unfair news stories, editorials and editorial cartoons, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will no longer be sold in some UPMC hospital gift shops. The Post-Gazette dismissed claims of imbalanced reporting and criticized UPMC management in a staff editorial.
In preparation for the upcoming auction of new airwaves, cellular phone carrier T-Mobile has launched a comprehensive, intense and sometimes grating PR blitz in Congress and in the media. T-Mobile is looking to pressure the Federal Communications Commission and lawmakers to reserve a certain number of those airwaves for smaller carriers. In the process, T-Mobile’s aggressive lobbying and controversial portrayals of rival carriers has led to criticism of their PR efforts as overzealous and abrasive.
PR firm edits client Wikipedia page
Debatably overaggressive PR tactics can also be found in PR firms themselves. This week, celebrity public relations and crisis communications firm Sunshine Sachs was implicated in editing their client’s Wikipedia pages to exclude and deemphasize unfavorable content. PR firms are barred from editing their client’s Wikipedia pages, and Sunshine Sachs has issued an apology.
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Do you think these PR strategies are overly aggressive? Let us know in the comments below!
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Seamus Roddy is a summer intern at WordWrite Communications. You can find him on Twitter @SeamusRoddy
