PR Ethics Case Studies

Robert W. Gehl

The logo of the Public Relations Society of America
The logo of the Canadian Public Relations Society
Charles Ess's book Digital Media Ethics
  • You, yes you, are a capable, ethical actor who makes ethical choices every day.
  • You don't just rely on others to make moral judgments – you do so all the time.
  • Keep practicing!

PR Ethics Case Studies Drawn from Real Events

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

  • A PR firm took on a client promoting a personal hygiene product.
  • The PR firm developed stories about a person who suffered from a hygiene issue/mild illness and could only manage it with the product.
  • Several news outlets ran the story.
  • The person in the story was an employee of the PR firm, which was not disclosed, and the employee used a fake name.
  • The PR firm is a member of a professional organization.

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

  • What ethical issues are at play here? Cite specific ideas from the codes of conduct.
  • What publics are affected by this case?
  • What would the various professional organizations do about this case?

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

A screenshot of a PR Week story about 'sweaty-gate', which involved deception in PR.
  • The issue is now called "sweaty-gate."
  • The PR firm, Fuel, was hired by a deodorant company.
  • Fuel created a story about a person so sweaty she could not work.

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

A screenshot of a PR Week story about 'sweaty-gate', which involved deception in PR.
  • The person in the story worked for Fuel, a fact that was not disclosed.
  • (I also do not think she was ever that sweaty.)
  • The PR firm, Fuel, was kicked out of the PRCA.

Case: PR Employee Pretends to be Sick

  • Discussion

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

  • trigger warnings: racism

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

  • A major telecommunications company published a magazine for its employees.
  • One weekend, it was short of material, so the editor bought a cartoon sight unseen to fill space.
  • The cartoon was about people talking on telephones around the world – except Africans were presented in a racist way
  • The telecommunications firm has in-house PR employees who are members of a professional organization

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

  • What ethical issues are at play here? Cite specific ideas from the codes of conduct.
  • What publics are affected by this case?
  • What would the various professional organizations do about this case?

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

A screenshot of episode 145 of the Ethical Voices podcast, which features an interview with Dick Martin.
  • The company was AT&T, and the PR employee was Dick Martin.
  • The company magazine was shut down after the cartoon.

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

A screenshot of episode 145 of the Ethical Voices podcast, which features an interview with Dick Martin.
  • However, Black employees in particular did not think that was enough, and they advocated for more opportunities in management.
  • The company eventually established a mentoring program so that Black (and other marginalized employees) could rise to positions of power in the organization.

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

A screenshot of episode 145 of the Ethical Voices podcast, which features an interview with Dick Martin.
  • AT&T faced no sanction from professional PR organizations.

Case: A Hateful Cartoon

  • Discussion.

Case: Distract the Masses with Racism

  • Trigger warning: mentions of racism

Case: Distract the Masses with Racism

  • A wealthy family is under criticism for their close connections to a corrupt government.
  • The family hires a PR firm to change the narrative in the country.
  • The PR firm uses fake social media accounts to stir up racism in the country, distracting people's attention away from the activities of the family.
  • The PR firm is a member of a professional organization.

Case: Distract the Masses with Racism

  • What ethical issues are at play here? Cite specific ideas from the codes of conduct.
  • What publics are affected by this case?
  • What would the various professional organizations do about this case?

Case: Distract the Masses with Racism

A Guardian news article about Bell Pottinger's activities in South Africa

Bell Pottinger was expelled from the PR and Communication Association (UK) after journalists uncovered their use of fake Twitter accounts to stir up racism in South Africa. Bell Pottinger was doing this on behalf of a wealthy family, the Gupta family.

Bell Pottinger has since been dissolved.

Case: Distract the Masses with Racism

  • Discussion.

Case: Lying about Atrocities

  • Trigger warning: mentions of war and violence

Case: Lying about Atrocities

  • A country facing an invasion from a neighboring country hires a PR firm to advocate for it to military powers around the world.
  • The PR firm helps a young woman present the case for the country. She testifies that she has seen the invading army commit attrocities, including the killing of children in hospitals. The PR firm makes sure every news outlet is alerted to this testimony.
  • However, the young woman was actually the daughter of an official from the invaded country, and she never actually witnessed the things she claimed she saw.
  • The PR firm is a member of a professional organization.

Case: Lying about Atrocities

  • What ethical issues are at play here? Cite specific ideas from the codes of conduct.
  • What publics are affected by this case?
  • What would the various professional organizations do about this case?

Case: Lying about Atrocities

A Wikipedia snippet about the Nayirah testimony in the lead up to the US-Iraq war in 1990-91.
  • The PR firm was Hill & Knowlton, which was hired by Citizens for a Free Kuwait, which was advocating for Kuwait after the 1990 invasion by Iraq.
  • The young woman testifying was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US. That fact was not shared initially, and only came out later.
  • She testified that Iraqi soldiers had murdered newborn babies in hospitals.

Case: Lying about Atrocities

A Wikipedia snippet about the Nayirah testimony in the lead up to the US-Iraq war in 1990-91.
  • Her testimony to the US Congress was later found to be false.
  • Hill & Knowlton were accused of deceiving the public.
  • Hill & Knowlton, a member of PRSA, denied any wrongdoing. They faced no sanction from the PRSA.

Case: Lying about Atrocities

  • Discussion

PR Ethics Case Studies

  • What cases do you think have had ethical outcomes? Why?
  • How do the various publics affect your views on the cases?
  • What cases did not? What different outcome would be more ethical?

PR Ethics Case Studies

Robert W. Gehl

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