Saying the wrong thing during a crisis can make your organization look foolish
Filled with quotes wherein “the speaker causes the listener to believe exactly the opposite of what was said,” Merrie Spaeth’s “Bimbo Awards” are a who’s who of bad crisis management. With the recent release of the “Bimbo of the Year” awards, we would like to share some choice selections, to include Spaeth commentary on each:
WORST LAWYER COMMENT
“Several troubled, troubled people,” was how Novartis’ lawyer, Richard Schnadig, described the women bringing a class action suit against the pharmaceutical company. Schnadig attacked the women’s claims that the company had an environment hostile to women, saying the women were “lie telling,” that the case wasn’t “about mommy time” and the company wasn’t obligated to “make their lives special.” He referred to one of the plaintiffs as “that little blonde.” (The jury returned a verdict of $250 million for discriminating against women in pay and promotion. Schnadig also claimed it takes time for society to change. All we have are the press reports of this case, but it’s instructive to look at how the jury “heard” the company’s defense and realized they didn’t like the company. We’ve made this point repeatedly: likeability may not be enshrined in the law but it’s a very real component.)
Bloomberg, “I’d like some sex with that Drug Order,” May 21, 2010
WORDS WITH IMPACT
“While ‘earmark’ has become a dirty word in the eyes of many, it is, put simply, an explicit direction from Congress as to how certain funds should be spent,” Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, tried to insist in an OpEd. (Sorry, Danny boy, micromanaging public funds to direct them toward pet projects is a bad idea. Deceased House member John Murtha earmarked $112 million to for-profit companies that were clients of a lobbying firm that arranged $350,000 to go to seven pals in Congress. The House at least passed legislation prohibiting earmarks to for-profit companies, but Senator Inouye’s chamber promptly rejected the measure. Note how ‘earmark’ appears in the headline.)
USA Today, “‘Earmark’ isn’t a dirty word,” March 26, 2010
DOUBLESPEAK OR JARGON
Boeing’s Stephen Oswald described the problems of the $1.1 billion “virtual fence” on the border as a “nontrivial systems-integration problem,” The translation: “It’s not working.” (Apparently the efforts failed to secure the 53 miles of border the fence covers).
The Washington Times, “Official concedes ‘virtual’ border fence has been a failure,” July 5, 2010
This stunningly common mistake is one of the most dangerous known to crisis management. With a single slip of the tongue, public perception of your organization can go down the drain. Don’t be a BIMBO!
If you’d like to see the winners and more honorable mentions from this year’s awards, check out BCM President Jonathan Bernstein’s HuffPost blog!
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/