Lessons to Learn From Public Relations Mistakes

                                                                                        By: Rosie Leuby

With many great triumphs in life, there will also be moments of failure. There are many different major public relations mistakes that have happened over the years that can teach future public relations practitioners what to be careful of. Here are just a few major mistakes found in public relations practices that one can learn from:


1. McDonald’s on TwitterAs a public relations move, McDonald’s promoted the use of a hashtag, #McDStories, on Twitter. Almost immediately after posting about their promotion, the hashtag was overwhelmed with negative comments about McDonald’s. They pulled the hashtag after only two hours and criticized Twitter users for their “snarky” comments. The lesson to learn here is that one cannot control the conversations on social media, and especially not act all that surprised when people say something that is not nice.

2. Coca-Cola‘s Carton Change
One of there products, Tropicana, was getting a new, cleaner-looking design on their cartons, instead of their signature orange with a straw image. It caused the customers to be upset and confused them when they were trying to purchase their favorite orange juice. The uproar caused Coca-Cola to quickly reverse their decision after the fan outcry. The lesson here is to stay true to the brand packaging.

3. Apple’s Steve Job’s Comment
When a post to the world, like a comment from Steve Jobs about the iPod being the “funnest” ever, has grammar issues, that message is no longer getting through to consumers as the word choice has distracted them. The lesson to learn here is how no one is immune to grammar mistakes and one should make sure that grammar rules are used correctly.
 
To learn more about public relations mistakes and lessons to learn from it, check out this link: http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2012/05/05/11-major-public-relations-mistakes-and-how-to-learn-from-them/

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