Edelman (STEVE RUBEL WORKS HERE!) Public Relations Apologizes for Fake Blog

According to BrandRepublic (and a bunch of others) Edelman PR issued a public apology for not disclosing that a blog called www.walmartingacrossamerica.com, about two people in an RV sleeping in Wal-Mart parking lots, was in fact, underwritten by Working Families for Wal-Mart, a group back by (shock) Wal-Mart, designed to portray a positive image of the superstore.

There aren't keys  big enough on my keyboard to ask Edelman - WTF?

This is EDELMAN! This is "The last great independent PR shop." This is the home of STEVE FREAKING RUBEL! He's quoted as the expert on every article on blogs in the free world, because he's been that good at mixing the Kool-Aid.

You're going to tell me Steve couldn't have just walked into Richard's office and been like, "Richard, this isn't cool - We're creating some bad Ju-ju, and we're gonna get busted." Would Richard have listened? Maybe. But Steve commented ""I am sorry I could not speak about this sooner. I had no personal role in this project. There is a process in place that I had to let proceed through its course. This is why it took some time."

You're EDELMAN'S BLOG EXPERT. YOU HAD NO ROLE IN THIS PROJECT?  IT. WAS. A. BLOG!

And Columbus sat below, writing out star charts for his next trip to Asia. He had no personal role in actually FINDING America.

And besides, what the hell does "This is why it took some time" MEAN?! Watergate took some time, too, but no one blamed the White House's lying and failing to be transparent on "letting it run its course."

Come on guys - What were you smoking that day? How could you possibly let this happen? I'd said it hundreds of times, and it's a cornerstone of my book (shameless plug, coming out next month, publishes by Wiley!) that basically says - "IF YOU LIE, YOU WILL GET NAILED." This isn't rocket science, people. DON'T LIE. DON'T OMIT. This is the INTERNET. It will come back to bite you on the ass. And it will HURT.

It's not so much what they did. They're Wal-Mart. They'll recover. This has no bearing on whether I can buy a pair of Wrangler jeans for $11.00, then walk three feet to my left and buy a shotgun.

What it DOES do, though, is make people stop and question whether they're going to be willing to take a chance next time on a PR stunt, on a Blog campaign, on some way of thinking differently, or taking a new chance. "Oh, we don't want to do that, remember what happened with Edelman and Wal-Mart? So people go back to thinking normally, and killing that which is creativity. All of a sudden, we're sending out 500 press releases in a blast without personalization again, because, "that's the way it's worked before."

And that really pisses me off.

Great, Edelman. Way to go. Thanks. I'm reminded of the line from Beverly Hills Cop II, when Axl Foley discovers Max, the cop killer, at the Playboy party. Calling him out in public, he says, "OK, that's it everyone. Party's over. Max fucked it up for everybody so let's just go home."

Thanks, Edelman. Did you fuck it up for everybody? Only time will tell. But here's a guarantee: You didn't help. Oh, and Steve? Neither did you, by "not saying anything sooner."

Comments

[Benson]

Nicely said. That's a newbie mistake, Edelman really should have known better. BTW, how does one become a blog expert in a PR firm?

(shameless plug, what shameless plug? I didn't see a shameless plug anywhere) ;)

[Bob LeDrew - Flacklife]

Peter, you're right. Hyperbolic, but right. We are, I suspect, on the edge of a new way of conversing. We may well be the first group of communicators to actually achieve the potential of the Internet -- if stuff like this doesn't f* it up totally.

All we have is our credibility, and our orgnaization's credibility, to make our deals with our target audiences. We squander them at our peril.

And when someone like Edelman does something like this with such a lightning-rod corporation, they do the communications equivalent of lighting a garbage fire with a $1000 bill. They're wasting money, they're wasting credibility.

They're not only zeroing out any hope of positively influencing the brands of Edelman and Wal-Mart, they're pushing those brands back with perceptions of "evil sinister PR flacks" and "evil megalomaniac empires".

And when Edelman reacted as it did to all this, they totally destroyed the good work they did on being a leader in social media.

And their actions reflect badly on all of us. Chances are none of us will starve because of flog-gate. But these things are like water dripping in a cave. Individually, a water droplet has no effect. But over time, they build giant stalactites and stalagmites.

Shame on them. First for doing what they did. And worse, for reacting the way they did.

[Todd Defren]

Bravo, Peter. Agree on all fronts.

[Peter Shankman]

Oh, Bob... Take away my Hyberbolic self, and with what am I left?

[Katherine Hutt]

A seedy tale all around - the other "mistakes were made" part of this is that the photographer/RV driver (boyfriend of the blogger) works for The Washington Post and got busted for violating the paper's prohibition on outside work. He had to reimburse the Wal-Mart front group for his share of the vacation. Story reported last week by Howie Kurtz (see link).

Some vacation - camping in Wal-Mart parking lots! And then to have to pay $2,200 for the privilege.

[Marc Snyder]

Remember who wrote Dell Starts Corporate Blog, But Fails to Address Critical Issues?

Dell could still turn it around if they hurry, but I fear this lack of candor will really set them back. When I read the one2one doctrine, their heart seems like it's in the right place. Their actions don't speak that way. Perhaps it might have been better for them to have stayed silent. Cmon Dell. We know you're bigger than this. Join us. Be real. Walk the talk.

Am I the only one who finds this hilarious?

[steve rubel]

Sometimes things aren't this simple. It's a big company. I don't know about lots of projects that relate to my area of expertise. But we will now.

[Amanda Chapel]

I think Rubel should resign.

http://www.strumpette.com/archives/206-Call-Goes-Out-for-Edelman-and-Rubel-to-Resign.html

- Amanda Chapel

[Marc Snyder]

Steve,

You're kidding, right?

Sometimes things aren't this simple. It's a big company.

I'm presuming you mean Edelman. (It can't be WalMart since Richard absolved them in his post and took all the blame.) Edelman is big? Sure it is. But it's still smaller that DELL for crying out loud.

I don't know about lots of projects that relate to my area of expertise. But we will now.

I don't know... we will now. What's that, a regal "we"? ;-)

[Steve Rubel]

Marc, to clarify, we are putting the processes in place for the team I work for to be more aware of what the different groups are doing.