PR Blunder of the Year, and It’s Just January
Sometimes these blog columns write themselves. This is one of those times.
Capt. Francesco Schettino, the person who should have been last to leave the cruise ship Costa Concordia as it began to sink off the coast of Italy, leaves me no choice. When you commit the PR blunder of the year, and it’s still just January, that can’t be ignored in a blog largely dedicated to public relations and marketing.
Now known the world over as the cowardly captain, Schettino told a maritme court his departure from the wreck that caused at least 11 deaths was an accident. He said he was helping passengers into lifeboats when the ship listed, causing him to trip, and he ended up in one of the lifeboats.
It’s somewhat of an understatement to say Schettino violated rule number one of crisis communications; Don’t lie. His “accidentally fell into a lifeboat” tale falls more into the category of ridiculously laughable whopper. The captain’s every action since that fateful evening collectively violate rule number two: Take responsibility.
Schettino has shamed himself and sea captains everywhere, and embarrassed his Italian countrymen — all as the world was watching. I leave it to my fellow bloggers to identify a more egregious crisis response failure in 2012. The captain has set the bar fairly high (or should I say low).