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Last month three of Under Armour’s celebrity endorsers — Stephen Curry, Misty Copeland, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson — publicly criticized the company’s CEO, Kevin Plank, for making a favorable statement about President Trump. This was an unusual PR challenge. Normally, executives worry about their endorsers behaving in ways that reflect poorly on their companies, such as getting in trouble with the law. They don’t expect to be reprimanded by the very people they’re paying to market their products.
In today’s hyperpartisan environment, companies are facing backlash from in-house employees, too. As detailed in this report, one Oracle staffer posted a letter explaining that he had quit his job because the company’s co-CEO, Safra Catz, joined Trump’s transition team. And after IBM chief Ginni Rometty congratulated Trump on his election win, staffers circulated an online petition asking her to allow them to refuse to participate in projects that violate civil and constitutional liberties. It now has more than 2,000 signatures.
What should companies do when insiders publicly condemn them? Based on my experience training communication executives on how to handle such situations, here’s what I recommend....
This article writes about the increasingly outspoken and bold generation that we have in society today. In today’s hyperpartisan environment, companies are facing backlash from in-house employees too. While I myself believe in freedom and speech and the determination to stand up for what you believe in, I do agree that companies need to watch whatever they advocate for, either directly or indirectly. Now that both adolescents and adults alike are becoming more direct and accusatory in their statements, it is important to communicate your values to your subordinates and external clients. In addition, as leaders of their respective companies, their employees will be looking at them for guidance and a figure that they should strive to emulate. Hence, to avoid any misunderstandings and backlash from the public and internally, companies need to think before they openly express their views on contentious issues, now more than ever.