Imagine working in PR for the Post Office right now? The scandal that saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted due to the inaccurate accounting of Fujitsu-owned computer system Horizon continues to rumble on.
Time will tell whether the Post Office will ever be able to build back its reputation, but with such a gross injustice committed, it would not be surprising if it is forever tarnished.
Marketing Beat takes a look at the Post Office and other recent PR scandals that threaten to seriously damage big brands.
1. The Post Office and its not-so-shiny machine
It took the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office to get the public talking, and ultimately incite political action, but the scandal was first revealed in an investigation 15 years ago, by the trade publication Computer Weekly.
Shockingly, except for the Private Eye’s insightful coverage, it had largely been ignored, until now.
If the Post Office thought the scandal had past, it was sorely mistaken. Time tells. Sometimes it takes the work of an eagle-eyed historian 100 years later, other times it happens sooner. Mr Bates vs The Post Office has now garnered 10.6 million viewers and the scandal has been front page news ever since. It has even had international coverage.
The Post Office’s brand reputation fell from 6.4 to 4.8 in just one week in January in the wake of the drama.
They say it takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a minute to lose it… and the Post Office might just prove that to be true.
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2. The CBI: Marred by sexual harassment claims
Richard Soames, the new president of the Confederation for British Industry, the non-profit which lobbies on behalf of some of the largest British businesses, has admitted that the sexual misconduct allegations revealed in an investigation in The Guardian led the organisation to a near-death experience.
Soames took on the role after former boss Tony Danker was sacked last year following complaints about his behaviour.
Separate claims of sexual misconduct within the institution, including two allegations of rape, were also uncovered.
Amid the scandal, an array of businesses left the organisation, from retailers like Asda, Marks and Spencer, the John Lewis Partnership, Tesco and Sainsbury’s to Heathrow Airport, BP, ITV and many more. Soames definitely has his work cut out to repair the organisation’s reputation.
3. Boeing: From chat to crash
The airplane manufacturer was forced to pay £158 million ($200 million) in 2022 after two of its planes crashed and the business’s former CEO was found to have made misleading statements about the jets.
More recently the plane maker was forced to admit a mistake after an unused cabin door broke off an Alaska Airlines fight.
The question is can PR make up for an engineering mishap?
4. P&O Ferries: when sacking no longer saves
In March 2022 shipping firm P&O Ferries sacked 786 staff in one fell swoop, all via a video message. The firm had plans to replace British workers with staff from overseas, with cheaper wages at just £5.15 an hour.
CEO Peter Hebblethwaite eventually admitted to breaking the law, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson backed calls for him to quit.
P&O Cruises – which is a separate brand from P&O Ferries – ended up suffering public backlash in the scandal and even had to create a campaign to clarify its separateness from P&O Ferries.
However, many argue that P&O Ferries itself is yet to pay the price for the scandal.
5. When Shein sent influencers to clean up its act
When fast fashion brand Shein allegedly sent influencers to promote one of its factories in Guangzhou China and rave about conditions there, the retailer faced a backlash.
Some of the influencers deleted their posts shortly afterwards, but a public discussion had already ensued about Shein’s treatment of its staff, from payments to conditions.
The fact SHEIN even did a press trip with influencers to one of its factories is a red flag 🚩 Like if everything was a-ok why would they even do the trip?!
— Besma | Curiously Conscious (@BesmaCC) June 24, 2023
Despite criticism around the controversy, the fast fashion brand continues to grow rapidly in the UK and across the world.
6. X (terminate): How Musk drove advertisers away
No list of PR mishaps would be complete without Elon Musk’s apparent agreement with an antisemitic comment on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following the saga many advertisers including IBM, Disney, Apple and more pulled from working with the site.
Instead of working to fix the relationships, Musk lashed out and said “Go f**k yourself” to advertisers, consequently losing nearly half its advertising revenue.
7. Open AI
In a more recent tech-oriented scandal. Brand new AI tech has proved controversial for reasons including deep fakes, with some advertisers calling for AI-generated technology to be clearly labelled.
However, an internal PR saga engulfed Open AI when its board of director fired chief executive and co-founder Sam Altman in November 2023.
Altman had been seen as a leader in the new field, and following his departure, and caused parner Microsoft’s stocks to fall.
Microsoft went as far as clarifying that it doesn’t own any portion of the firm.
Now, Microsoft has extended its partnership with Open AI, and Sam Altman is back but as a leader in a relatively new field in which trust is key, could the confusion and hearsay have opened the crisis floodgates?
