“When You’re In A Hole Stop Digging”
- Posted by Jim Tobin on September 21st, 2007
filed in Public Relations |
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service had the best of intentions when they sent out an e-mail to 67,000 employees with the purpose of sharing information about energy conservation. Unfortunately, the communication touted a list of fuel-efficient cars to purchase, all foreign… not one American car. Needless to say, this got the attention (in a bad way) of the American auto industry, American auto workers and a delegation of Michigan elected representatives.
On Friday Joe Ellis, assistant secretary for administration for the HHS issued an apology. “I deeply regret that our newsletter offended anyone, especially those Americans working in the automobile industry and the millions of people who make American automobile manufacturers successful,” said Ellis. Well put. And praised as the right response. “They did the right thing and I applaud them for it,” said Chrysler spokesman Jason Vines. “When you are in a hole, stop digging.” Very well said.
Mass communication is a powerful thing. And when it goes wrong it can go really wrong. In this case, the smart way to respond was clear… stop, drop and apologize.
So, what is the lesson in this for businesses and other entities? Well, obviously, be careful in your communications, have a instinct for diverse opinions, beware of “unintended results”, have professionally trained folks managing mass communication and most importantly, when something goes wrong be prepared to respond to it.
The fact that the HHS responded so quickly and so honestly and so openly, makes me sure that they had excellent, professional public relations advice. Their crisis communications response was perfect. They were in a hole. And they stopped digging.