As communications professionals we have situations where we must manage a crisis that affects the organization publicly. Crisis communication can range from things that are extreme incidents to even minor hiccups. While circumstances can vary, we should do our best to be prepared with a plan to manage a crisis. It’s important for us to have crisis communications systems in place (Hagerty, 2017), whether internally or with an external PR firm.
At a previous company I managed the marketing and communications for the manufacturing division. We had plans for managing crisis based on what was for obvious manufacturing facilities of aircraft parts. I had a game plan for workplace safety issues, aviation investigations, or catastrophic equipment accidents at one of our facilities. Unfortunately, the crisis communications incident we had to manage wasn’t about anything we anticipated, it was about something a senior executive did and we were blindsided. Lesson learned.
Crisis communications can prove to be very challenging for companies and public safety agencies, but this past week I was following something in the news that wasn’t as serious, but certainly had its own complexities based on the entertainment industry. Last week Pete Davidson performed a comedy sketch on Saturday Night Live, and the result was negative publicity due to the subject matter.
While the sketch was intended to be about political candidates before the election, many perceived it as missing its mark and even crossing a line. This became a crisis communications issue for Pete Davidson and NBC. At issue was the depiction of a congressional candidate, Dan Crenshaw, and his war injury was presented as a visual joke.
The reaction on Twitter was swift (HuffPost, 11/4/18), with many questioning the appropriateness of mocking a wounded military veteran. A television network likely has an army of PR staff in place, since they regularly deal with public sentiment, particularly since SNL has comedy sketches or guests that cause a stir. Crenshaw, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, lost his eye in an IED attack while serving in Afghanistan, and now wears an eye patch, shared this: “I want us to get away from this culture where we demand apologies every time someone misspeaks,” he said. “I think that would be very healthy for our nation, to go in that direction. We don’t need to be outwardly outraged. I don’t need to demand apologies from them. They can do whatever they want. They’re feeling the heat from around the country right now, and that’s fine.” The resolution of this issue could’ve gone a number of ways.
Today is Veterans Day, so it was appropriate that SNL invited Dan Crenshaw to appear on the show last night, and their sketch together was a home run in my view.
Hopefully, this example shows that while it’s important to have a crisis communications plan, there are a variety of ways that something can go wrong, and we’ll have to advise on the best path forward.
References:
Hagerty, James F. (Feb 2017). Bank News. Crisis Communications; Guard reputation with the right plan and right technology. (117, 2) pp. 16-18.
Huffington Post. Twitter Erupts After Pete Davidson Jokes About Veteran’s War Wound. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/pete-davidson-slammed-for-joke-about-navy-veterans-war-wound_us_5bdf9607e4b01ffb1d037567
Kevin Gonzalez
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