Tiger Woods.
Yep, once again I can just type in a celebrity name, and it will conjure up images of cringe-worthy news reports and tabloid covers. Pretty much these days, I can come up with a new one every week.
But this celebrity scandal has a different dimension. This time, I want to look at the horrific public relations tactics that went into this situation, and how we should deal with the constant news.
Many times people believe that staying silent is the best way to both ignore the situation and to take the high road. In this instance though, Tiger's PR person failed. Miserably. Because of the way Tiger was seen in the public, and because of how the cheating situation was started (mysterious car crash?) all added to the silence that ended up hurting him, rather than helping him. For more on that issue, this article explains what I just briefly mentioned.
What I'm here to do, is to show you why public relations is important in pop culture, and therefore why we should learn from it.
All PR majors in college should have learned the fundamentals of crisis communications. Number one rule, is honesty. You can't possibly be honest if you aren't saying anything. This is a huge mistake that many celebrities make. What we have to remember, is to take a look at what these people actually say, and then take it with a grain of salt. Sure, that sounds depressing, but it's the truth.
We put these celebrities on a pedestal, and when it comes to scandal, we need to learn to take a step back. In the Tiger situation, it's all about seeing the silence for what it really was.
Now that an apology letter has come out, you have to ask yourself...too little, too late?
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