It is a dubious testament to the well-greased PR machine of the corporate world that the general public tends to accept all manner of corporate malfeasance and blundering with barely a second look. But despite spending millions of dollars on PR, some companies still manage to muddy their reputations with tone-deaf responses to trouble. Let's look at some of the most egregious PR offenders of recent days.
1. BP
BP's (NYSE:BP) handling of the well explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is going to go down as a classic case of horrible corporate public relations. Even though BP tried to stop the leak as soon as physically possible, tone-deaf comments from the now-former CEO quickly led to a thundering backlash. Much as Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) never completely out-ran the legacy of the Valdez oil spill, it's likely that BP will always be stained by how it handled this accident. (For more insight on how much this type of disaster can cost, see The Most Expensive Oil Spills.)
2. Goldman Sachs
When the Blues Brothers told people they were on a mission from God, it became a classic line of cinema. When the CEO of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said words to basically the same effect, he became People's Exhibit A for the hubris of Wall Street. Later, when the public learned that Goldman was allegedly misleading some of its customers, paying huge bonuses and essentially lecturing the government on how things ought to be, the public said "enough". Truth be told, Goldman did not do anything new or anything that its peers have not done - it was just clumsy enough to do it in front of microphones at precisely the time when the public wanted contrition and modesty. (Find out more about why Goldman came under fire in The Goldman Sachs Accusation Explained.)
For the full column:
http://financialedge.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0710/The-Biggest-Corporate-Image-Catastrophes.aspx
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