Five ways to bury bad news
100 million years ago I worked as an executive at a publicly held tech firm. We knew that in order to bury bad news (ie a poor quarter) we would send the release out at 4 pm on Friday. By the time Monday rolled around there would be two to three more days of news covering ours. Now more companies have become much more ingenious ways at burying their bad news – rather than addressing it properly. (For more on that, read my post on “Crisis Communications in a 2.0 World“)
Wondering how they do it? Here are just a few methods I’ve seen. Comment with more examples, please!
1) Flood the Internet with alternative messaging. Piling on the social media releases, blogs and Twitter posts can help bury a negative opinion or story quickly by using SEO. Studies show about 60% of Internet users click on a result in the first page. Keeping that page inundated with positive information – particularly if it appears to come from sources that are not your own – can easily bury negative opinions. I agree with the Online Marketing Blog, though, that using this to address a real crisis is not a long-term fix.
2) Bury it on a holiday. At the end of 2009, a story came out about Goldman Sachs selling mortgaged-based CDO’s to clients and at the same time selling the securities short themselves. Goldman Sachs supposedly made it quite hard for reporters to reach executives for comment and further blocked the story so that it came out Christmas Eve in the New York Times. Thereafter it’s received little press.
3) Make it impossible to fact-check the article. Although bloggers can write pretty much whatever they want, traditional media still needs to check facts in order to run with a story. Keeping CBS or as in Goldman Sachs “allegedly” keeping the New York Times from verifying aspects of a story can bury it too.
4) Divert the issue. Although most of the messaging surrounding the Toyota recall focuses on sticky floor mats, the real problem may be the pedal or as Steve Wozniak asserts, it could be a computer glitch. (If you haven’t heard, the Woz ’s Prius gets stuck at 97mph while in cruise control) Although Toyota states there “may” be a problem with the pedal in its latest update, much of what we’ve seen in our media is concerning the floor mats. The Woz asserts its a software problem, not a pedal or mat issue. Since the main issue is sudden acceleration – something we haven’t seen in any of Toyota’s messaging – this is probably a good example of a diversion tactic.
5) Lie. It almost worked for Martha and it definitely worked for OJ.
Bottom line is that the organizations with true investigative journalists are dwindling. TV and print media no longer has the budget to spend months on uncovering stories ala Watergate. Companies have learned the game and crisis communications firms have become much more adept at the spin. And that could be a very bad thing for us.
Tags: Bonnie Harris, crisis communications, Crisis Management, floor mats, New York Times, online marketing, SEO, Steve Wozniak, toyota recall
February 5th, 2010 at 11:02 am
These are great tips that I will be using them real soon! This article was interesting and will be sending friends and family to read this article. Thanks again!
February 5th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Thanks for the comment. I’m sure in the fashion industry burying bad reviews (not that YOU ever get them) would be essential!
February 6th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Those may be effective techniques, but it’s far removed from what they use to preach in regards to crisis communication. Back in the day, it was “get it over with”. In other words, if the bad news is going to come out, have it all come out at once. Don’t delay it over time with a little more dribbling out over time. Efforts to mask a problem can also cause a problem to be a news story for a longer time than it needs to be.
February 6th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Well said Stephen – I’m disheartened by companies who take these approaches when dealing with a real crisis. Today’s media environment makes it too easy for companies to skirt real issues.
February 7th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Toyota should have read this post they have a real PR nightmare going on today.
February 7th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I totally agree that companies are becoming particularly devious about skirting the real issues, especially by using diversional strategies. They must’ve learnt these techniques from Politicians who have been expert at doing this, and important sweeping issues under the carpet, for years!
February 7th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
I agree, although I’ve found the print stories to be rather forgiving of Toyota – no one even mentions that people have died from this problem.
February 7th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Devious is right – it’s getting way to easy to divert consumers from the real issues. It’s sad, really.
February 8th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Unfortunately these once unheard of, underhanded, slight of hand tactics are now page one in the PR how-to handbook. With the social networking explosion it has become too easy to bury the truth, it’s kind of a sad statement on the business mindset these days.
February 10th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Wow – it is unfortunate to see these as tips people are using on a regular basis. I have friends who have made a professional out of journalism and public relations when it was still a credible profession. And you thought attorneys like myself were sleazy!
February 10th, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I am not one of those people that thinks attorneys are sleazy! Thanks for your comment.
February 11th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Awesome article!Really i agree these great tips to bury bad news.I am suffering from the same problem and found your article with full of useful information.I am going to implement these tips soon.I also try to recommend this article to all of my friends.Eagerly waiting to read your next article,keep sharing.
February 11th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
I couldn’t believe all the Toyota recalls. And I heard Honda is going to recall a ton of cars too because of an airbag issue. Toyota and Honda, who would have thought?
February 11th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
I don’t think attorneys are sleazy either, I use to work for alot of attoneys and you have good and bad ones.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Are you kidding? the rental car company tried to give me a toyota but I refused it.
February 11th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Thanks for the kinds words. Remember, if there’s a real crisis it’s always best to be up front!
February 11th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
Some companies who wish to bury bad news for sure flood the likes of Twitter.
The next presedential elections in the US will put that in the shade though, I am sure
February 13th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I really hate when companies just kind of push the major issues to side when it comes to their customers. Great article!
February 13th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Of course, you can bury all the bad news by never creating it! I can’t believe the stuff some companies do under the table just to earn more money.
February 13th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
@#17 – Twitter doesn’t come up in search results often enough to really bury anything. Unless you mean burying Twitter results with your Twitters.
February 13th, 2010 at 8:16 pm
Bad news on Twitter is spread virally, not through search. But companies can start tweeting information that diverts the issue or takes focus off the crisis, and that can spread virally too. That’s how you bury it using Twitter.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:26 am
In this era.. We can spread bad news using facebook or twitter. More convenient and easy
February 14th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Great article with ways to bury bad news. The use of social networking is a good way to deal with it.
February 14th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Awesome article!
February 15th, 2010 at 5:51 am
couldn’t believe all the Toyota recalls.
the rental car company tried to give me a toyota but I refused it.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:54 am
You can also create a diversion. This technique is known to be used by politicians. If something more dramatic happens, the media will jump at it.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
love the idea of burying bad news in an avalanche of online activity, the problem is that when a major news site runs a negative article about you, you have virtually no hope of pushing them out of top spot in the search engines.
February 24th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
I have an inkling that public relations people are out there to either cover up bad news or create good news out of bad news. I really like this piece and I’m sure it’ll be handy to me in the future.
March 1st, 2010 at 5:19 am
very expensive… share your knowledge and you will blessed a hundred folds.
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March 23rd, 2010 at 6:40 pm
[...] there’s a cheap PR trick I’ve used with clients that can help you bury news you don’t want people to find. Flood the web with good news of your own by sending out tons of free press releases (and paid [...]
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:46 pm
[...] there’s a cheap PR trick I’ve used with clients that can help you bury news you don’t want people to find. Flood the web with good news of your own by sending out tons of free press releases (and paid [...]
April 1st, 2010 at 9:36 pm
With all the social media these days it’s hard to stop bad news from going viral on the Internet. With twitter and facebook news travels fast.
April 16th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
when in doubt, bury. goldman sachs got hit hard today. let’s see them bury that.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Yeah I strongly agree with the fact that social media would really dominate the future ways of delivering news to twitter with the use of different ways and easier ways.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:30 pm
One of the best ways is to by the keyword being used (domain) and quickly put up a site, usually it’s a blog and start posting. Or have a good content writer or article company to do posting there for you, using SEO posts.
It will start pushing the bad info to the bottom. It’s not the quickest way but it’s very effective over a few months time.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Again this can take time – it’s not an instant fix, but there isn’t one. Another way is to file a DMCA if your name is being used. They will have to take their site down. Check with your attorney before doing this — but it’s the best way to completely get rid of the issue.
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Thanks andrew..hopefully someone wouldn’t have to take down their site but it always is an option as a last resort.
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