Scott McClellan,and Brush

I thought he was a revenger. One reason was that he told the truth immediately after Brush fired him. The other reason was that if he knew something wrong, why he kept the secret so long. It was a negative impression to the public.

PR promise should be ethics. At least for me that I believe saying bad things on purpose

Do not cross the line. Once someone lies, others will not trust him/her again. In China, an old story was about the liar. A guy used to tell others the wolf was coming. At the beginning, people trusted him and carried weapons protecting themselves. The wolf did not come even once. So people knew this guy lied. As a result, the wolf finally killed the liar. No one thought he was honesty. Then it just happened.

It is a sad story. There is no standard line for ethical or not. However, if someone breaks the trust, the only thing can bring it back believes.

On the other hand, what Scott McClellan did successfully got the public’s attention. He might have something interesting for real. It was difficult to collect information in the enemy under the eyes. In a certain level, he was the another Edward Snowden to fight with the government.

In a word, America has freedom of speech. Timing for this case was an important thing. And his behavior was against the ethical of PR.  

Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton

Before, Mark Penn did a great job on managing Hillary Clinton’s things. He taught her how to do the presentations, how to respond the questions, how to deal with her “emeries”, and how to overcome the troubles.

At this time, Mark Penn made a mistake.

It was not smart when he took care of the emeries and let them knew each other. The worst situation was that in a certain extent he could reveal their secrets unwittingly for each other. Then he could do everything on his purpose, such as investing, profiting, promoting and so on.

What’s more, Clinton disagreed the free-trade act but Columbian government agreed this with the same firm to speak for them. It sounded like Clinton was bad person. Because in many people’s mind, the government’s public trust is more than individual. So avoiding this kind of situation, Mark Penn should let both of sides to be positive. At least, looks like great.

For a famous public relations counseling firm, it is difficult to keep track on different clients. Each client’s position is different. As a professional PR person, knowing everything in details is a must. As an old saying: “know yourself as well as the enemy”. Of course it is not that easy, but using some tools maybe helpful.

So what Mark Penn could do, is that using social media to de-conflict between Columbian government and Hilary Clinton. Then do not share information about each other. The firm can let several people to manage one client, so that they can help each other to make a proper strategy. “Separation of powers” are very classical for the country. So firms do.

"The Gray Lady" and Moveon.org on discount

In history, the newspaper and political party is used to be owner-member relationship in American before. But not now. Then after 1960, New York Times is on the Democratic Party side. (one of the two major parties, the other is Republican Party).
New York Times is a national newspaper. “The Gray Lady” is a good serious publication and has good credibility and authority.It sounds cliché.Is the $ 70,000 discount for the advertisement a mistake or a thoughtful arrangement? If it was a mistake, I have to say Ny Times is unprofessional at all. Big deal with big mistake is hardly impossible for large companies. In my opinion, I think “the discount” was set on purpose. The discount could be a real discount for George Soros, a billionaire in the Democratic Party, the mastermind of Moveon.org, and the enemy of George W. Bush. Ny times showed the political stand and met people’s anti-war ideas. “One stone two birds”. For the army, they did not want to fight at all. They have family. They want to spend time with their kids and live peaceful. For the majority of people, they also want to enjoy their lives. In a word, no war is perfect.
However, the questions come out. Who put the discount on the street? Who is the salesperson? Could one salesperson alone take care of the entire deal? All kinds of signs said it was a speculation. The timing was too perfect. The topic was too sensitive. The “secret” was too obviously. The fixed amount of payment was too  deliberately.For the commercial profit, Ny Times got the exclusive report. Instead of the risk, more and more people would like to buy the newspaper. More and more people would read the relative online news about this. The entire profit is over 70,000 dollars for sure.
In addition, any product (newspaper) has to make profits. No matter what the situation is, I believe the winner is the Ny Times. It chooses Democratic Party because it is more valuable. Also, it grabs people’s attention, and keeps creditability.

Steve Jobs cut the iPhone price

“A communicator must get feedback from a receiver to know what messages are or are not getting through and how to structure future communications”. 

I have to say Steve Jobs is a genius. His iPology is the best example for Public Relations.

At the beginning, iPhone’s price is expensive. There are still few customers purchase it. It means that iPhone is good enough. Those unpurchased customers are two major groups. One is the group that cannot afford it but want to badly. The other is still waiting for the new iPhone to make sure the technology is good enough. It was a way to communicate with the customers. At that time, the iPhone was the bomb. It had good shape, good screen, and unique operating system. Based on the psychology, the more people expect, the more they want. Let alone the lower price one. Cutting the price is the result after good communication on marketing. Why $200? I think it can hit the peak of market. Although, those “quick” buyers were mad. Then it may cause a certain level of negative effect. But it is the trend that the older product costs less after new one comes not.

“A regular goal of public relations is aggressive communication to persuade people to take certain actions”. Steve Jobs can get many feedbacks.

Additionally, at this time, Apple actually apologized for those who purchased the pone at the earlier price, but admit the trend that Steve Jobs suggested. Apple’s letter balanced both of the market and the customer.

Pope Benedict XVI

At first, no matter how he made this “fantastic” trip looked easy and natural, which people know the purpose it was not as same as the surface.

“Fact speaks louder than words”.

However, his remediation was not bad. He knew PR is labeled external affaires, corporate communications, corporate relations and so on. At the beginning, he was trying to avoid mainstream media’s reports. If the public did not pressure him, the wrong end of the stick could be easily removed. The public opinion is a great social media platform that “designed” to get groups of people together to solve problems. Furthermore, the “first” trip is obviously the important news as well. Shifting people’s eyes in great secrecy could be the best way at that time. Once all the social media paid much attention on his trip in details, he would be safe.

In a word, he had already failed and admit he was guilty when he started this trip.  What’s more, he was trying to hide his crime instead of making an apology.

Duane "Dog" Chapman

Duane “Dog” Chapman is famous for his TV show called bounty hunting. He said something dirty when he was calling his son, Tucker, about the relationship with an African American girlfriend. The public launched a strongly diplomatic protest when this phone-calling recording was exposed.

I do not care if it is right or wrong. It happened already. How to turn this situation back is important and more interesting. A&E can suspension about Dog’s TV show for a while. During suspending period, A&E can make another schedule for him to make the positive image, such as hospital volunteer, educational presenter, armed forces caseworker and so on. In addition, an Africa American can join the team as Dog’s partner. A contract is needed for details. Otherwise, the public will say that the A&E uses money to make it look all right.

            Hiring a criminal is a big risk for sure.

But Western society is captivated about crime and justice. Super hero and dangerous offender is only a fine line between. Maybe A&E create a new Tv show for him and use “racial discrimination” as a watching spot. It makes further exploration of cultural fusion from conflicts.

What’s more, there is no such show in China. The impact to being a criminal is so heavy in China. So A&E should know different cultures very well to make the plan for him.

As far as I am concerned, there is no doubt that he will back in TV industry because of it is profitable. People like to watch something exciting is unblamable. But the show needs to be legal.