Which brands found themselves in crisis management mode this week?
We’ll take a look at a social media platform that finally met its demise, an event that went awry causing its founder some legal trouble and a popular sparkling water brand that hit a snag.
Google+
Google shuttered its long-suffering social media platform Google+ this week amidst a data breach that affected nearly half a million users.
Now, many thought Google+ was long overdue for its end, but the fact that the data breach was the final nail in its coffin was surprising to some.
“One fan said the company is using its recently revealed security breach as an excuse to shutter the site,” reported CNBC.
But you may not have heard the last of the platform.
TechCrunch reported Thursday:
“You thought Google+ was dead, didn’t you? And it is — if you’re a consumer. But the business version of Google’s social network will live on for the foreseeable future — and it’s getting a bunch of new features today.”
Fyre Festival
The fallout from the disastrous Fyre Festival which took place in April 2017 wrapped up this week.
The Washington Post reported,
“Fyre Festival organizer Billy McFarland, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud after the failed music festival in 2017 in the Bahamas, has been sentenced to six years in prison, according to reports.”
In case you forgot, “festivalgoers paid anywhere from $450 to $250,000 to attend. Expectations were high.”
“Instead, the festival collapsed in spectacular, public fashion. When attendees arrived in the Exumas, a group of islands that are part of the Bahamas, they discovered that the luxury accommodations were disaster-relief tents on the beach, some still not set up. Cheese sandwiches made up the “gourmet meals,” and festival organizers seemed to be equally in the dark, sometimes literally, about what was supposed to happen.”
La Croix
The lawsuit against popular sparkling water maker La Croix made the news this week.
“The suit, filed by the firm Beaumont Costales against LaCroix’s parent company claims the ‘all natural’ sparkling water includes an ingredient used in cockroach insecticide,” reports Delish.
BevNet said:
“National Beverage Corporation, makers of La Croix, is fighting back against a class action lawsuit alleging that the company uses synthetic ingredients in its sparkling water products, including one found in cockroach insecticide.”
The company denied the charges in a press release.
Has the damage been done? People love their LaCroix water, that’s for sure, as evidenced by this headline in The Week, “All the things you’d have to put in LaCroix to get me to stop drinking it.”
Which PR Crisis Stood Out This Week?
Each week we see brands in crisis, underscoring the need for EVERY organization to have a crisis communications plan in place.
Which crisis stood out for you this week, PR pros? Head on over to Twitter to take the poll.
Which brand will be next to join the list? Watch for next week’s PR Crisis of the Week column.
Like this post? Please consider sharing on social media and following me there. And be sure to sign up for my free monthly newsletter with exclusive content by typing your email address into the box below.
