For the most part, much of the interaction between car journalists and automaker public relations officials involves press releases and press events. It’s easy to think that these folks have quite the cushy gig, but it isn’t always fun at wineries and driving new cars. Sometimes, the automaker’s PR has to deal with a huge crisis.
Jason wrote about how Toyota responded to a television news segment that revealed that its trucks could be broken into using a pencil. Sid Bridge takes off his funny hat and puts on his PR hat:
Time to put on my PR hat and chime in, I suppose.
This one of the biggest nightmares for a PR person, and textbook failure of a company to understand and value public relations.In other words, someone – likely an executive, a CEO or a chief legal officer, made the following two mistakes (among many, many others): 1. Treated the reporter as an adversary or an annoyance and 2. Clearly did NOT have PR counsel in a position of power.
In this industry, in order to be effective at PR, we always demand “a seat at the table.” If no PR person gets to have direct access to the executive team, there’s a good chance no one will be a voice of reason and say something like “Do you have any idea how many people you’re harming with ____ policy?”
Of course, legal will snap back with something like “If we admit responsibility there will be a billion lawsuits” and corporate will say something like “It’s going to cost too much to fix and the news will just disappear”. That’s where it’s my responsibility to remind everyone to do the right thing.
Toyota should have known they’d be on the hook for a recall. Even if it was too late, they should had jumped on the problem properly. Acknowledge that they were late to the game, accept responsibility and get the fix out there. All of this can be done while still being legal-compliant (believe me, I have spent my career making sure I understand the ins and outs of communicating while keeping lawyers happy).
To be fair, it was the 1980’s and I feel like PR has grown up a lot since then. We still hold the response to the Tylenol crisis of 1982 the a textbook example of how to jump on top of a problem and communicate clearly. Since then, things have gotten better but not universally.
It’s telling that the letter that went to Toyota owners was signed from “Toyota Motor Sales” and not from some more over-arching corporate source/named exec.
I’ve found in my position I spend a lot of time helping others understand reporters from programs like “Fight Back” and how much you can engage without being the villain. And I always remind people that the best way to not look like the villain is to NOT ACT LIKE ONE. Any company that acts like the bad guy isn’t gonna get me for an employee.
Matt wrote about our participation in the upcoming RADwood NorCal event. Canopysaurus:
What’s our Vector, Victor?
Wonk Unit:
We have clearance, Clarence.
Data:
Clarence Oveur, Over.
Dan Bee:
Surely you can’t be serious.
Bluetooth Cassette Tape:
I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.
SlowBrownWagon:
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
Airplane! references always get me!
Have a great evening, everyone.
Top graphic image: Toyota
How kind of that chap to take his lawnmower out for a drive on a Sunday… Bet he even polishes it.
I think this year’s 2026 PR disaster of the year award goes to Bricks and Minifigs. They obviously don’t know how to do PR.
Lotus PR used to send all their press releases through an engineer for proof reading to make sure they were technically correct.
There were so many releases containing technical errors that required rewriting that they made the decision to….
…stop having them proof read for technical content.
Related: if I tell you that a new titanium exhaust weighs just 12kg, don’t quote the mass saving for fitting that exhaust as 12kg.
I remember getting handed packets of paper to review the images and technical details around model changes. The first question was always “what’s this for?”. If it’s for dealers and tech bulletins, I don’t care if they didn’t update the grill. Is it for the owners manual? Ok this detail isn’t critical but other stuff on the image is changing so it’s worth including. Is it going into a brochure? Fine toothed comb on content AND wording.
Meanwhile, at Lotus: lightweight means the same as light weight, right? Plus we’re saving an entire space of typing.
We taped “Airplane” off of cable TV on our VCR and watched it so much that the VHS tape started to wear out. Boy were we surprised when we watched the unedited version years later.
Then again, we like movies about gladiators.
One of my favorite details is the prop sounds during shots of the airplane in flight. That movie is solid gold.
For me it was the $&!/ hitting the fan.
So obvious. So literal. So unexpected.
I laughed so hard I was nearly sick the first time I saw it.
I had only seen the TV version until my college years when I rented it to watch with a girl I had just started dating, mostly so she could get my jokes when I quoted the film. I quickly realized there was a lot more cut than I ever knew about to let it run on broadcast TV, and she hated the movie enough that it ended up being our last date.
Dodged that bullet.
That was a quick and cheap way to find out she wasn’t “the one” or even “a one.” Much better that than a divorce years later.
Lots of movies are like that, Trading Places comes to mind.
and Raising Arizona
Once again, I stand amazed at the depth of knowledge and experience the writers and commenters bring to this site.
Incredible.
And that essay from Sid Bridge was pretty impressive, too!
Yes, I remember. I had lasagna.