Catching Up

Since I last posted, many things have happened both in life and media. I went to Atlantic City and didn't lose my shirt; Mel Gibson went to a bar and lost his mind and muzzle. This is a good thing.

Many people are calling the two biggest, and most current scandals, PR Crises. "Both Mel Gibson and Floyd Landis have a lot of work to do to repair their image," is a terribly bogus argument. Neither have a chance of escaping these fiascos, ever, with their reputations thoroughly in tact.

Mel Gibson is an anti-semite. Plain and simple. Whether he gets Patrick Swayze, Patrick McEnroe or Patrick Stewart to speak effusively on his behalf is patronizing and irrelevant. The things that come out of someone's mouth when they are drunk will be some of the most truthful things (according to what they believe) they will ever say.

I agree with David Parmet, a PR Pro who blogs at Parmet.net/PR. Any time a 'celebrity' screws up and tries to save face, it isn't a PR crisis.

When a radical 'actor' slips and lets his freak flag fly, people will notice, remember and judge. By launching a campaign to show the soft and sensitive side of a monster won't change many opinions. After all, it doesn't appear that he can even stray from his father's opinions.

As for Mr. Landis, I'm usually all for presuming innocence until stark guilt is displayed. With OJ, I would bet he committed the murders but wouldn't have found him guilty due to the handling of the case and the evidence at hand (and the PR war that was waged by his defense team). However, it doesn't appear possible Landis is innocent of doping and I think he should just disappear into the truth and join Buckner, Ben Johnson and Pete Rose in pro-sports ignominy.

Tags: PR, marketing, "mel gibson", "floyd landis", steroids, anti-semitism