Pat Burns, Facebook and the Hockey Hall of Fame

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Burns Recently, we told you about the social media campaign we started to get former NHL coach Pat Burns inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010 (Burns has terminal lung cancer). Over the course of a few weeks, more than 70,000 people joined the group, helping to generate extensive media coverage for the cause.
 
The Hall announced their 2010 inductees in late June and to the amazement of many, Burns was not included in this year's class. His omission generated a significant amount of negative media coverage for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here's a sampling:

A big thanks goes out to all of the reporters across North America who supported this campaign from its earliest days and who took the HHOF to task for this bewildering error in judgment. I owe each of you a cold beer. Email me if you'd like to collect.

Burns will be inducted some day. But instead of making the speech himself, it will likely be his wife or one of his children. That's a shame. The HHOF missed a great opportunity to do the right thing for one of their own. Here's hoping the former coach is still with us in 2011 when we try again.

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Note: This story is taken from our 'Manage your Message' e-newsletter. To get your own copy sent to your inbox each month, sign up here.


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Is GM bending the truth with its latest TV ad?

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GM Have you seen that new GM commercial? The one with the upbeat music, where CEO Ed Whitacre proudly states, "That's why I'm here to announce we have repaid our government loan - in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule."

If that line caused you to raise an eyebrow, you're not alone. The media has been all over GM for the claim (which, ironically, appears in a commercial titled 'Trust'). GM has paid off loans from the federal government, but the U.S. Treasury is still GM's majority shareholder at a cost of approximately $50 billion. Critics say GM's repayment actually came from another government bailout program. One TV commentator described it as "paying off your MasterCard with your Visa".

The Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, alleging deceptive advertising. GM says it is "confident that our ad meets the FTC's guidelines". We'll have to wait and see how this one plays out.

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BP continues to spill oil and credibility

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Bp BP continues to get hammered for the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill, which is on its way to becoming the worst in U.S. history, has irreparably harmed the company's carefully cultivated image of environmental responsibility. Louisiana and federal officials in the U.S. have described the company's cleanup efforts as being 'not adequate'. No kidding.
 
Rather than taking responsibility for the disaster, BP Group Chief Executive Tony Hayward has tried to position BP as being among a group of organizations fighting a common enemy (the spill). Some could argue that this was a bit of clever positioning, but in the end, it risks making the company's executives look like weasels trying to avoid a mess they helped to create.
 
Hayward also channeled Winston Churchill in a recent interview, saying, "We are determined to fight this spill on all fronts, in the deep waters of the gulf, in the shallow waters and, should it be necessary, on the shore."
 
The Churchill-esque quote just seems a bit contrived for such a serious environmental catastrophe, especially since the company has admitted it lacks the resources to stop the leak and clean up the mess.
 
Thanks to its lacklustre efforts (both in the water and in the media), the company's market cap has plummeted by more than $25 billion since the spill began more than two weeks ago. And the oil continues to flow...
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Campaign to get Pat Burns into Hockey Hall of Fame surges past 50,000 members

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I started this group a few weeks ago with some friends because it felt like the right thing to do. If you're a hockey fan, a Pat Burns fan, someone who has been touched by cancer, or just a decent human being, please take five seconds to visit www.patburns.ca and join this facebook group. Thanks, WW

Campaign to get Pat Burns into Hockey Hall of Fame surges past 50,000 members

OAKVILLE, ON, April 8 /CNW/ - Less than two weeks after its launch, an online movement to fast-track former NHL coach Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame has attracted over 50,000 members.

Burns, one of the most accomplished and respected coaches in NHL history, has terminal cancer. In late March, three Oakville, Ontario residents launched a Facebook group called 'Let's Get Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame - NOW!' The group has attracted more than 50,000 members and has been profiled by media outlets across North America.

"We're sending a message to the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee that we'd like to see Pat Burns on the ballot on April 15 and that the voting and induction processes should be accelerated in light of his illness," said the group's organizers. "This isn't a debate about whether Pat Burns belongs in the Hall of Fame - his accomplishments speak for themselves, and 50,000 hockey fans agree. This is about expediting the process so he and his family can enjoy this great honour while he's still with us. It's about the hockey community seizing a rare and fleeting opportunity to do the right thing for one of their own."

The Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee must submit its nominations for this year's class by April 15.

"The larger our numbers, the louder our voice," said the organizers. "We're asking Canadians to take a few seconds to visit www.patburns.ca and join the group to show their support for getting Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame now."

Burns won the Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003. He is also the only NHL head coach in history to win the Jack Adams Award (for Coach of the Year) three times. His exceptional coaching career, which included 501 regular season wins, was cut short by a cancer diagnosis in 2004.

To show your support, please visit www.patburns.ca.

For further information: Warren Weeks, (416) 238-6361, warren.weeks@elevenpr.com; John Perenack, (416) 238-2576, perenack@room-40.com

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How the TTC mishandled the media in the 'case of the snoozing worker'

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How the TTC mishandled the media in the 'case of the snoozing worker'

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) faced a PR challenge last month after a cellphone picture of a sleeping worker went viral on the Internet. For the TTC...

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Don Cherry says doctor's accusations 'totally unfair'

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This is a quick follow up on the story we've been following this week about the doctor who accused Don Cherry of being responsible for head injuries in the game of hockey.

In his December 19 Coach's Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Cherry called Doctor Tator's accusations 'totally unfair'. He even went so far as to say, "I would hate to think Doctor Tator is doing it just to get his name in the paper."

You can view the Coach's Corner segment here.

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The wrath of Grapes...

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Quick follow up to yesterday's post about the brain surgeon who attacked Don Cherry as a way to get his story about head injuries in hockey in the media. It has only been one day but the payback has started to roll in. Check out Bruce Dowbiggin's story today in The Globe and Mail. 

And this link has an audio clip of Don Cherry refusing to do a radio interview on the topic. Warning - multiple expletives....

Coach's Corner should be more entertaining than usual this Saturday night.

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How to get a boring story on A1: Take a shot at Don Cherry

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A Toronto brain surgeon has used a tried and true PR technique to get his story on the front page of one of Canada's national newspapers. And good for him. But you can rest assured the other shoe will drop this Saturday night.

On A1 of the National Post, there's a story titled 'A shot at Don Cherry'. At its core, this is a story about hits to the head and concussions in the game of hockey. In this case, the messenger is Dr. Charles Tator. His story is an important one. He's calling for the sport to better protect its players from hits to the head, which may lead to devastating long-term health effects.

And while the story might be important, it's also boring. Few journalists will feel compelled to write a story about something that has been happening in a sport for decades, and which may cause negative health effects years down the road. 

To make a story like this appealing to a reporter, Dr. Tator had to hang it on one (or more) of the three drivers of news: change, controversy or human interest. He chose controversy, opting to attack one of hockey's most recognizable personalities, Don Cherry.

"I think he (Don Cherry) is a negative influence because he applauds aggressive hockey," Dr. Tator is quoted as saying in the article.

The tactic worked. A story pitch that should have ended up in the 'deleted items' file instead wound up on the front page and will surely generate coverage in radio and TV throughout Canada this week. Given that he is a brain surgeon (let's face it, there's a certain degree of intelligence implied), Dr. Tator is undoubtedly aware that he will be in Mr. Cherry's crosshairs at approximately 8:00 pm this Saturday night during Cherry's 'Coach's Corner' segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

Don Cherry does like aggressive hockey. But he also preaches the need for a return to the type of respect that players had for one another in the good ol' days. Cherry has long been a supporter of safe play in the game of hockey. He is the driving force behind the 'STOP' decal program that gets young children to think twice before hitting another player from behind.

Dr. Tator refers to these efforts as "window-dressing" that won't lead to a cultural shift.

If the good doctor wanted to truly effect change in the way the game is played, he might have been better served to call NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to the carpet. In this case, however, he simply wanted to get his story on the front page. And by taking a pot shot at one of Canada's most popular and beloved senior citizens, he has succeeded. But there is a price to pay for draping your boring story in controversy at someone else's expense. We'll just have to tune in to Coach's Corner this Saturday Night to see what that price is.

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Using Google Trends to measure the effectiveness of crisis communications

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It's generally accepted that crisis communications is a worthwhile pursuit. But in a world where executives want to measure the effectiveness of everything, how do you know if your crisis communications plan actually worked?
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David Letterman gives a lesson in crisis management

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David Letterman gives a lesson in crisis management
Even if you didn't watch the Late Show with David Letterman last Thursday night, you've likely seen the news coverage that followed it. Letterman used 10 minutes of his show on October 1st to tell millions of people about an alleged extortion plot against him. If you're unfamiliar with the story...
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Globe and Mail's Salutin takes cheap shot at PR

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In his column in the Globe and Mail this morning, Rick Salutin reveals a serious bias against the PR industry. What's that, you say? A reporter who's got an axe to grind against PR?

Everyone (particularly a newspaper columnist, who's paid to fan the flames of controversy) is entitled to his/her opinion. On that note, here's mine. This column is an unwarranted cheap shot at the PR profession.

Salutin uses the Michael Bryant affair as his platform (the recent case in which a former Ontario politician, in the car with his wife, was involved in an altercation with a bike courier which resulted in the courier's death). After noting that the media coverage of the event has served the public well, Salutin writes, "But there's one element that irritates me severely. It's the presence, since very early, of a public-relations firm aiding Mr. Bryant."

The rest of the column doesn't seem to have a clear point. It just rehashes journalism's old disdain for PR. He also suggests that the other problem at play is that many journalism grads end up in public relations. And that a "depressing quantity of news stories, especially in areas such as medicine, now come from well-produced PR packages sent on behalf of pharmaceutical firms and the like."

He bemoans the fact that PR people "may put words in client's mouths, vet their ideas and advise on whether to speak at all".

Is this guy for real? Salutin has been at this game a long time. His feigned naivete on the role of PR comes off more like a columnist's device than genuine concern. If a prominent public figure gets tangled up in a situation like Bryant did recently, their first two phone calls should be to their lawyer and a PR firm. The man's career, reputation and freedom are on the line. And given the media's love of 'David versus Goliath' stories, the bicycle courier starts out as the clear favourite in the court of public opinion, even though the truth has yet to emerge. Bryant likely has a million things going through his mind. Hiring experienced professionals for council on how to handle his one shot when the TV cameras are shoved in his face is not shocking, insulting, or devious. It's common sense. And if Salutin happened to be the unfortunate individual in the car that night, I'll bet he would have the Globe and Mail's PR firm (that's right, the Globe and Mail has a PR firm) on speed dial - pronto.

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