The death of Robin Williams last week prompted a spate of commentary examining the sad news from a multitude of angles. In the midst of the coverage, global PR shop Edelman came under fire for posting a “Carpe Diem” blog outlining the promotional opportunities the event created (they subsequently posted a brief apology). The Washington Post pop culture blogger Alyssa Rosenberg railed against the “worst public relations pitches” she received from publicists using Williams’ death as a hook.
A major part of our work involves monitoring the news to uncover areas where our clients could bring valuable perspective to the conversation. When there’s a tragic event in the news, we have to balance the need to highlight a client’s relevant expertise with the profoundly personal nature of the event. What value can our client add to the public discourse?
In the case of last week’s heart-breaking news, I had to walk that fine line because we do have a client with the credentials to participate meaningfully in the discussion. The client’s organization is a non-profit with decades of experience treating the co-occurring disorders that some say had been plaguing Williams. The litmus test for me was whether or not I believed the public would benefit from our client’s expertise relative to reported challenges Williams faced during his life.
In many ways, it’s no different from what we should be doing as PR pros anyway. In every case, we must take care to fully evaluate whether our client can add something meaningful to the dialogue.
That’s where I believe the how-to blog post and misguided pitches crossed the line. They represent everything critics say is wrong about PR – i.e., keep throwing stuff at the wall until something sticks.
I firmly believe that whenever there is a tragedy of this sort, it represents an opportunity to raise awareness in the hope of helping others who may be dealing with similar struggles. But we must not simply position a client for the sake of the exposure; we must be sure we are providing a solid source of assistance to people who are desperate to find answers.