How Not to Win Friends and Influence People

This is from O'Dwyer's Communications & New Media. by Michael Fineman. The actual title is "Top Ten PR Blunders of 2009."  In descending order 1 = worst. See note at end for distinction between PR Blunder and Moral Failure. Sometimes it's a fine line. And we have here some possible contenders for Darwin Awards.

1. Air Force One VC-25 does photo-op flyover of lower Manhattan, seemingly pursued by F-16 jet, causing office workers to stream out of buildings and run through streets in panic, fearing another 9/11. Obama orders internal review.

2. Christina School District officials in Delaware suspend 6-year-old Zachary Christie and sentence him to 45 days in reform school for bringing a Cub Scout fork/knife/spoon eating utensil to school.

3. Can any amount of "God's work" be enough? Diane Francis, Editor-at-Large for Canada's Financial Post, blogs that "Goldman Sucks" and says if the $500 million support plan promised to small businesses were a tip "it would be an insult," particularly in New York.

4. Kanye West grabs mic from Taylor Swift.

5. United Airlines loses musician David Carroll's bags in October while Carroll is en route to deliver a speech about customer service. United had only recently settled with Carroll for damaging his guitar, following a PR fiasco ignited when millions watched Carroll sing on YouTube about United's refusal to pay him for the damage done to the guitar by baggage handlers.

6. Domino's Pizza takes 48 hours to apologize.

7. KFC rescinds Internet coupons for free grilled chicken in "unmitigated disaster" of a PR campaign.

8. Target sells "Illegal Alien" Halloween costume, complete with orange jumpsuit and fake "green card accessory." Target explains this happened "by mistake."

9. A Wells Fargo executive commandeers a foreclosed Malibu home for parties and refuses to show it to potential buyers.

10. Horizon Group Management sues tenant Amanda Bonnen after she tweets that her apartment is moldy. Horizon's suit claims that Bonnen's tweet to her 22 Twitter followers publicized the moldy condition of her apartment "throughout the world." The lawsuit got coverage by the New York Times, AP, Chicago Tribune, TechDirt, Inquisitor, O'Dwyers, and now, this blog and who knows where all else.

As to "why no Tiger?" Fineman did not consider it a public relations problem -- it was a moral failure. As noted, it's a fine line.