Damage control is a major part of public relations, especially when concerning entertainers. Everyone has seen the tabloids of actors/actresses or popular musical artist out partying and drinking at clubs. Celebrities are often displeased with how they are portrayed by the media. Their PR manager is in charge of trying to fix any damage that may have done to their reputation. There are many strategies that can be used to successfully damage control a situation. A publicist may:
Hold a press conference:
A major part of damage control is holding a press conference. The major focus of a press conference is almost always apologizing to the media or refuting alleged stories. In order to do this successfully, special attention must be paid to: who the most qualified representative would be (most of the time either the celebrity or the press manager), the goals of the conference (apologizing or refuting),who is in the audience (mostly reporters), what the press wants, and what questions to be prepared for.
Release stories and/or photos of the celebrity in acts of charity:
After a scandal, many celebrities will perform some act of charity in order to get positive press. However, it is hard to prove what charity is out of the goodness of a celebrity's heart and what charity is for good publicity. For example, it is widely rumored that Angelina Jolie's adoptions of her children (all from foreign countries) is for publicity. Especially because she started adopting after the scandal involving her, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Lindsey Lohan's charitable donations have also been called a "publicity stunt" in order to detract attention from her party girl antics.
Make appearances on TV or in magazines:
Television and magazines are a huge outlet for damage control. Photos and statements released to the tabloids reach millions of people and commercials and TV appearances can reach even more. Photos were released to tabloids of Michael Richards with Rev. Al Sharpton after Richards' racist rant at a comedy club. Paris Hilton went on the "Late Show" after she was released from jail to talk about how she has matured.
A perfect example of almost all of the above mentioned strategies can be seen in the Tiger Woods scandal.
Tiger Woods
It seems that almost everyone is aware of the basics of the Tiger scandal. He was involved in a car crash and found to have had multiple mistresses while married to wife, Elin Woods. Woods was in serious trouble when many of his endorsers dropped. One sponsor that stayed with him was Nike. Just recently, Nike released a commercial of a somber Tiger with his father doing a voice over; asking him if he learned anything. To see the add, click here: Tiger's New Emotional Commercial.
Not long after that, another story came out about Tiger seeing Doctor Anthony Galea who has been proven to give his professional athlete patients performance enhancing drugs. Following this, Tiger held a press conference to both apologize to his fans and deny some of the latest rumors.
Finally, he returned to golf earlier this month at the Masters where he was welcomed.
Examples:
Below are some examples of negative press and the damage control that followed.
After Tiger Woods' major scandal, he laid low for a while and then held a press conference.
After going to court and being convicted of domestic abuse, Chris Brown appeared on the Larry King show.
After much negative publicity surrounding the Jon and Kate divorce, Kate Gosselin changed her look and published a book.
Bouzeos, Darcy L. "How to Make the Most of Celebrity Appearances." Public Relations Quarterly 34, no. 2 (Summer89 1989): 25. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 21, 2010).
Damage Control In Celebrity Culture
Damage control is a major part of public relations, especially when concerning entertainers. Everyone has seen the tabloids of actors/actresses or popular musical artist out partying and drinking at clubs. Celebrities are often displeased with how they are portrayed by the media. Their PR manager is in charge of trying to fix any damage that may have done to their reputation. There are many strategies that can be used to successfully damage control a situation. A publicist may:
Hold a press conference:
A major part of damage control is holding a press conference. The major focus of a press conference is almost always apologizing to the media or refuting alleged stories. In order to do this successfully, special attention must be paid to: who the most qualified representative would be (most of the time either the celebrity or the press manager), the goals of the conference (apologizing or refuting),who is in the audience (mostly reporters), what the press wants, and what questions to be prepared for.Release stories and/or photos of the celebrity in acts of charity:
After a scandal, many celebrities will perform some act of charity in order to get positive press. However, it is hard to prove what charity is out of the goodness of a celebrity's heart and what charity is for good publicity. For example, it is widely rumored that Angelina Jolie's adoptions of her children (all from foreign countries) is for publicity. Especially because she started adopting after the scandal involving her, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Lindsey Lohan's charitable donations have also been called a "publicity stunt" in order to detract attention from her party girl antics.Make appearances on TV or in magazines:
Television and magazines are a huge outlet for damage control. Photos and statements released to the tabloids reach millions of people and commercials and TV appearances can reach even more. Photos were released to tabloids of Michael Richards with Rev. Al Sharpton after Richards' racist rant at a comedy club. Paris Hilton went on the "Late Show" after she was released from jail to talk about how she has matured.A perfect example of almost all of the above mentioned strategies can be seen in the Tiger Woods scandal.
Tiger Woods
It seems that almost everyone is aware of the basics of the Tiger scandal. He was involved in a car crash and found to have had multiple mistresses while married to wife, Elin Woods. Woods was in serious trouble when many of his endorsers dropped. One sponsor that stayed with him was Nike. Just recently, Nike released a commercial of a somber Tiger with his father doing a voice over; asking him if he learned anything. To see the add, click here: Tiger's New Emotional Commercial.Not long after that, another story came out about Tiger seeing Doctor Anthony Galea who has been proven to give his professional athlete patients performance enhancing drugs. Following this, Tiger held a press conference to both apologize to his fans and deny some of the latest rumors.
Finally, he returned to golf earlier this month at the Masters where he was welcomed.
Examples:
Below are some examples of negative press and the damage control that followed.After Tiger Woods' major scandal, he laid low for a while and then held a press conference.
After going to court and being convicted of domestic abuse, Chris Brown appeared on the Larry King show.
After much negative publicity surrounding the Jon and Kate divorce, Kate Gosselin changed her look and published a book.
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Sources
Bouzeos, Darcy L. "How to Make the Most of Celebrity Appearances." Public Relations Quarterly 34, no. 2 (Summer89 1989): 25. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 21, 2010).
Davis, Paul (n.d). Celebrities, Publicity and Damage Control Techniques. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Celebrities,-Publicity,-and-Damage-Control-Techniques&id=799156.
Noveck, Jocelyn. (2010, April).Parodies Proliferate of Woods ad with Dad's Voice. Retrieved from http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FEA_LIFESTYLES_WOODS_NIKE_AD?SITE=VASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAUL.
Tiger Woods' Anthony Galea Connection: Doctor Under Investigation for Performance-Enhancing Drugs. Retrieved from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/15/tiger-woods-anthony-galea_n_392224.html.
*All photos were acquired through Google Images