7 PR Disasters That Made Companies Hire Public Relations Companies in 2025

PR disasters happen fast. One moment, your brand stands tall. Next, you're fighting for survival. When United Airlines dragged a passenger off an overbooked flight, their slow response turned a bad situation into a brand nightmare.

This pattern repeats across industries. Johnson & Johnson's handling of the 1982 Tylenol crisis demonstrates what works - swift action and complete transparency. They took immediate control, pulled products nationwide, and created tamper-proof packaging. Crisis became opportunity.

When your brand's reputation is at stake, you need more than just damage control. You need strategic guidance. We provide:

● Clear communication strategies that demonstrate accountability

● Established media relationships for accurate message distribution

● Crisis management frameworks built on proven success

Many brands expect quick fixes from PR efforts. The truth? Building back trust takes time.

We know effective crisis management demands both:

● Immediate action to stop the bleeding

● Long-term strategy to rebuild reputation

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UNITED AIRLINES PASSENGER REMOVAL INCIDENT

April 2017 marked a defining moment in crisis management history. A 69-year-old passenger, Dr. David Dao, was violently dragged off an overbooked United flight - bloodied and unconscious - while fellow passengers captured every moment on video. The incident shows why even major corporations need expert PR guidance when facing reputation-threatening events.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE UNITED AIRLINES PR DISASTER

On April 9, 2017, United Express Flight 3411 was overbooked. The airline needed four seats for crew members. When their compensation offers failed to attract volunteers, United selected four passengers for removal. Three complied. Dr. Dao, a pulmonologist with patients waiting the next day, refused.

What happened next shocked everyone onboard. Security officers:

● Forcibly removed Dr. Dao

● Struck his face against an armrest

● Dragged him down the aisle by his arms

The entire situation stemmed from United's decision to prioritize staff transport over a paying customer who had already boarded. Their choice to use force instead of increasing compensation offers cost them dearly in both reputation and finances.

The irony? United's CEO, Oscar Munoz, had been named "Communicator of the Year for 2017" by PRWeek just weeks before this incident.

PUBLIC REACTION AND MEDIA COVERAGE

Videos spread like wildfire across social media platforms. The footage circulated globally, including on Chinese social media site Weibo, which is particularly significant given United's important Asian routes.

The financial impact hit immediately:

1. Stock dropped 4% the day after

2. Over $900 million in market value vanished

3. Closed down 1.2% by day's end

Public outrage exploded online. The hashtag #boycottUnited gained massive traction. Customers shared their own negative experiences, creating a snowball effect of negative publicity.

The New York Times called the scenes "disturbing", while CNN Money described "a middle-aged passenger being dragged off a full flight" in shocking footage.

WHY UNITED AIRLINES HIRED A PR FIRM

United's response made everything worse. CEO Oscar Munoz's first statement referred to the violent removal as "having to re-accommodate these customers" - language completely disconnected from the brutal reality captured on video.

Munoz then sent an internal email defending the airline's actions and calling Dr. Dao "disruptive and belligerent," directly contradicting passenger accounts and viral videos.

Public relations expert Rupert Younger called Munoz's handling "a major disappointment". Only after intense criticism did Munoz issue a more sincere apology: "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way".

The damage was done. PRWeek, which had honored Munoz weeks earlier, stated: "It's fair to say that if PRWeek were choosing its Communicator of the Year now, we would not be awarding it to Oscar Munoz".

United finally implemented policy changes that should have come immediately:

4. No law enforcement for passenger removal except for safety reasons

5. Compensation for voluntary bumping increased to $10,000

6. Reduced overbooking practices

7. New training programs for employees

This case demonstrates why companies facing PR disasters turn to specialized firms. When reputation hangs in the balance, you need a partner who provides: An objective perspective during emotional crises.

● Tested crisis communication frameworks

● Strategic messaging that rebuilds trust

BP DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 workers and unleashed millions of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico. What followed wasn't just an environmental disaster – BP's communication failures turned a crisis into a complete brand meltdown.

BP'S COMMUNICATION MISTAKES

BP never grasped the disaster's accurate scale. They claimed only 5,000 barrels leaked daily, when the actual numbers soared far higher. This wasn't just poor estimation – civil penalties would be calculated per barrel, with a maximum of up to $4,300 each.

Their transparency problems worsened the situation:

● Delayed release of underwater leak footage until forced by Congress

● The existence of massive underwater oil plumes, as discovered by scientists, is denied.

● Attempted to shift blame to Transocean with CEO Tony Hayward stating: "This was not our accident... This was Transocean's rig."

BP entered this crisis without a communication strategy. Crisis expert Glenn DaGian pointed out that Hayward had "slashed budgets for PR and government relations to cut costs". When disaster struck, they stood completely unprepared.

THE CEO'S DISASTROUS STATEMENTS

Tony Hayward's tone-deaf comments became PR case studies in what not to say. While families mourned 11 dead workers and coastal communities watched their livelihoods vanish, Hayward declared: "There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do. You know, I'd like my life back".

His empathy failures continued with statements like:

● "The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest."

● "The Gulf of Mexico is a vast ocean. The amount of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny."

● Referring to affected residents as "small people" through the BP Chairman

Hayward toured a Louisiana beach in a crisp white shirt while locals faced economic ruin. The public reaction? Immediate and fierce. Crisis communications expert Christopher Caywood stated bluntly, "They were either uncomfortable with telling the truth or unable to tell the truth."

HOW PR EXPERTS REBUILT BP'S IMAGE

BP invested over $500 million in brand recovery. They hired Brunswick Group and former White House press secretary Anne Womack-Kolton to lead American PR efforts.

The PR team implemented key recovery strategies:

01 COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE Created a YouTube channel with technical briefings that explained containment challenges

02 PUBLIC EXPRESSION CHANNELS Allowed people to "vent their anger and frustration on Facebook or in response to tweets"

03 LEADERSHIP CHANGE Replaced Hayward with Mississippi native Robert Dudley, who insisted BP was "doing things differently"

04 FOCUS SHIFT Launched customer loyalty program around "Invigorate" gasoline while establishing a $20 billion victim compensation fund

Though BP's reputation suffered permanent damage, professional PR intervention prevented total collapse. Their experience shows why companies facing major disasters need specialized guidance to navigate reputation recovery.

PEPSI'S KENDALL JENNER AD BACKLASH

Pepsi created a marketing firestorm in spring 2017 with their Kendall Jenner commercial. The ad demonstrated exactly why even giant brands with massive marketing teams sometimes require outside PR assistance.

THE AD THAT MISSED THE MARK

The commercial featured model Kendall Jenner leaving a photoshoot to join a street protest. In the final scene, she hands a Pepsi to a police officer who smiles while protesters cheer. This moment echoed authentic protest imagery, remarkably resembling photos from Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Baton Rouge.

Pepsi thought they were creating unity. Their press release called it "various groups of people embracing a spontaneous moment... to live life unbounded, unfiltered and uninhibited."

What they created:

● A trivialization of serious social movements

● The suggestion that complex issues could be solved with soda

● The co-opting of protest imagery for product sales

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter responded perfectly on Twitter: "If only Daddy had known about the power of #Pepsi."

SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH

The reaction hit like a tidal wave:

● #Pepsi and #KendallJenner trended for all the wrong reasons

● Critics from all political backgrounds condemned the ad

● Saturday Night Live created a devastating parody

The financial impact was immediate and measurable:

● Consumer perception score dropped 4 points in one day

● "Purchase consideration" metric fell from 27% to 24%

Young consumers demand authenticity from brands on social issues. Pepsi delivered the opposite - superficial engagement through a celebrity with zero activist credibility.

HOW WE GUIDED RECOVERY

After pulling the ad and issuing an initial apology, Pepsi needed professional help. We implemented a three-part recovery strategy:

8. GENUINE ACCOUNTABILITY

• Acknowledge the mistake without qualifications

• Stop defending creative choices

• Accept responsibility completely

9.      STRUCTURAL CHANGES

• Create diverse internal review processes

• Develop cultural sensitivity checkpoints

• Establish stakeholder consultation protocols

10.  STRATEGIC REFOCUS

• Return to product-focused marketing

• Leverage existing sports partnerships

• Rebuild through familiar territory

This approach demonstrates what we prioritize in crisis recovery: authentic acknowledgment, system improvements, and strategic repositioning.

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Our work with brands like Pepsi shows what we offer: not just damage control after a crisis hits, but the expertise to help you recover authentically while building safeguards against future mistakes.

You have a brand. We protect your reputation.

FACEBOOK CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL

When Facebook faced its data privacy reckoning in 2018, the social media giant learned a painful lesson about crisis management. This watershed moment forever changed how platforms handle user information and demonstrated the importance of professional crisis response.

DATA PRIVACY BREACH AND PUBLIC TRUST COLLAPSE

The scandal centered on one shocking fact: Cambridge Analytica harvested personal data from 87 million Facebook users without permission. The deception started with a seemingly innocent personality quiz app called "This is Your Digital Life."

What made this particularly troubling? The app didn't just collect data from the 270,000 users who installed it. It secretly gathered information from all their friends, too, without their consent.

The public reacted with fury:

● #DeleteFacebook trended with 400,000 tweets in just 30 days

● Facebook's market value dropped $41 billion as investors fled

● Users worldwide deleted accounts and demanded answers

ZUCKERBERG'S SILENCE SPEAKS VOLUMES

Mark Zuckerberg disappeared for five critical days after the story broke. This communication vacuum allowed speculation to flourish and user outrage to intensify. When a crisis hits, silence becomes your enemy.

When he finally spoke, Zuckerberg acknowledged a "breach of trust" and outlined steps to prevent it. Behind the scenes, Facebook partnered with Definers Public Affairs, a Washington PR firm that:

● Wrote articles attacking Facebook's rivals

● Suggested that George Soros orchestrated anti-Facebook sentiment

This strategy backfired spectacularly when The New York Times exposed it. Crisis management expert Davia Temin put it bluntly: "In today's world, you have 15 minutes to address a crisis when it emerges on social media."

01 REBUILDING TRUST THROUGH STRATEGIC PR

After recognizing the severity of their predicament, Facebook implemented several recovery strategies:

11.  Terminated their relationship with Definers Public Affairs

12.  Zuckerberg testified before Congress about data practices

13.  Restricted third-party developer access to user data

14.  Launched transparency initiatives with enhanced privacy controls

15.  Implemented GDPR standards globally, not just in Europe

Most importantly, they established Social Science One, fundamentally changing how the company shares data with researchers.

The cost of mishandling this crisis? An $5 billion FTC could cause delicate and permanent damage to user trust.

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BALENCIAGA'S CONTROVERSIAL AD CAMPAIGN

THE HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN THAT SHOCKED THE WORLD

Balenciaga's 2022 holiday campaign turned into a full-blown crisis when their "Gift Collection" featured children holding teddy bears in BDSM-inspired outfits. Another ad displayed court documents related to child pornography cases.

The reaction was immediate. Kim Kardashian publicly distanced herself. #CancelBalenciaga dominated social media. Parents and advocacy groups expressed outrage across platforms.

01 DELAYED RESPONSE

Balenciaga waited days before addressing the controversy. Their first move? Blame the production company and set designer. This finger-pointing approach backfired spectacularly.

02 SOCIAL MEDIA SHUTDOWN

As outrage mounted, Balenciaga's Instagram account temporarily disappeared. Their stock price plummeted. Their silence amplified the crisis hour by hour.

03 BRAND REPUTATION COLLAPSE

Celebrity partners cut ties. Retail sales dropped. The luxury brand faced an existential threat to its century-old reputation.

CRISIS TURNAROUND STRATEGY

Facing brand extinction, Balenciaga hired a specialized PR firm that implemented a total communications overhaul:

● CEO Cédric Charbit issued a genuine apology, accepting full responsibility

● All campaign content has been  removed from every platform worldwide

● A new "image board" has been established to review all content before release

● Foundation created to support child protection organizations

Despite these efforts, the brand continues to face skepticism. Some mistakes create damage too deep for even skilled PR professionals to repair fully.

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SOUTHWEST AIRLINES HOLIDAY MELTDOWN

The 2022 Christmas season turned into a customer service disaster when Southwest Airlines' systems failed spectacularly. While other carriers recovered quickly from Winter Storm Elliott, Southwest canceled 16,900 flights between December 21 and 31, stranding over two million passengers.

OPERATIONAL COLLAPSE

Southwest's meltdown exposed critical weaknesses in their:

● Outdated crew scheduling software

● Point-to-point flight model vulnerabilities

● Inadequate customer communication systems

CEO Bob Jordan's initial response exacerbated the situation. The airline issued a tone-deaf statement about "working to recover from operational challenges" while passengers slept on airport floors. This prompted Department of Transportation intervention, with Secretary Pete Buttigieg publicly calling their performance "unacceptable".

SOCIAL MEDIA NIGHTMARE

The crisis exploded across platforms:

● Viral images showed mountains of unclaimed luggage at airports

● #SouthwestStoleChristmas became a rallying cry for angry customers

● Families shared stories of sleeping in terminals and missing holidays

Call centers collapsed under the pressure. Many customers learned about cancellations only after arriving at airports, creating a perfect storm of customer outrage.

REBUILDING TRUST

Facing this unprecedented backlash, Southwest turned to professional crisis communicators. Their recovery strategy included:

01 CUSTOMER COMPENSATION A $90 million program offering vouchers for affected travelers

02 LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITY CEO Jordan recorded a direct apology video addressing the "giant puzzle" of failures

03 SYSTEM OVERHAUL Working with General Electric to upgrade crew scheduling systems

04 TRANSPARENT REPORTING Openly acknowledging the $800 million financial impact

The road to reputation recovery remains a challenging endeavor. Every airline faces moments of crisis - what matters is how they respond when customers need them most.

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BUD LIGHT'S DYLAN MULVANEY PARTNERSHIP FALLOUT

HOW A SINGLE INFLUENCER POST COSTS $5 BILLION

April 2023 marked the moment Bud Light crashed into a PR disaster. A simple partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney turned into America's most expensive marketing mistake of the year.

THE CAMPAIGN MISSTEP

Bud Light sent personalized beer cans to Mulvaney for her "365 Days of Girlhood" social media series. When she posted the video, core customers reacted immediately. The backlash wasn't just loud - it was financially devastating:

● Sales dropped 25% year-over-year

● $5 billion in market value disappeared within weeks

● America's top-selling beer for 22 years lost its #1 position

What surprised industry experts? The apparent lack of strategic oversight. No risk assessment. No crisis plan. No prepared responses.

SWIFT PUBLIC REACTION

Conservative voices mobilized quickly:

16.  Musicians Kid Rock and Travis Tritt filmed themselves destroying products

17.  Influencers shared videos pouring beer down drains

18.  #BoycottBudLight trended across platforms

We've seen brand controversies before. This one stands apart for its immediate financial impact and sustained consumer action.

REBUILDING THE BRAND

Anheuser-Busch turned to crisis communication specialists when its internal teams were unable to contain the damage. The recovery strategy included:

● Leadership changes at the marketing executive level

● Return to traditional sports and music partnerships

● Refocused messaging on American heritage

● Direct support programs for distributors facing sales declines

The Bud Light case illustrates why established brands sometimes require external PR expertise. When you're too close to your brand, you miss potential landmines in today's divided cultural landscape.

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LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES

These seven PR disasters illustrate how quickly brand reputations can collapse without effective crisis management. In each case, delayed responses, tone-deaf messaging, and blame-shifting turned manageable problems into full-blown catastrophes.

SPEED WINS IN CRISIS SITUATIONS

Johnson & Johnson survived the Tylenol poisoning by acting decisively with total transparency. Meanwhile, BP, United Airlines, and Facebook suffered significant damage due to delayed and insincere responses.

When crisis hits, you need:

● IMMEDIATE ACTION - Address issues within hours, not days

● AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION - Audiences instantly spot fake apologies

● MEANINGFUL CHANGES - Show exactly how you'll prevent future problems

THE COST OF POOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT

The financial impact speaks for itself:

● United Airlines lost $900 million in market value initially

● BP invested over $500 million in brand recovery efforts

● Bud Light lost its position as America's top-selling beer after 22 years

● Facebook paid a $5 billion FTC fine

WHY PROFESSIONAL PR MATTERS

Your internal marketing team may excel at promotion, but crisis management requires specialized expertise. We bring:

01 OBJECTIVITY when emotions run high 02 MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS when accurate messaging is crucial 03 TESTED FRAMEWORKS for rebuilding damaged trust

PREPARE BEFORE CRISIS STRIKES

Innovative brands establish crisis response protocols before emergencies happen. They build relationships with PR specialists who understand their unique market position and can mobilize instantly.

Brands that successfully weather PR storms share three characteristics:

● Fast response times

● Transparent communication

● Meaningful action addressing underlying issues

We're here to help. Let's get in contact.

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FAQs

Q1. What major trends are shaping the PR industry in 2025?

The PR industry in 2025 is being shaped by technological innovations, changing audience expectations, and evolving media landscapes. PR professionals are adapting their strategies to leverage emerging technologies, navigate fragmented media channels, and meet the growing demand for authentic and transparent communication.

Q2. Can you provide an example of a significant PR disaster?

A notable PR disaster occurred in 2017 with the United Airlines passenger removal incident. When a video of a passenger being forcibly dragged off an overbooked flight went viral, the company's delayed and tone-deaf response amplified the backlash, resulting in significant reputation damage and financial losses.

Q3. Is public relations considered a promising career path for 2025?

Yes, public relations is viewed as a promising career in 2025. The growing need for brand reputation management, the evolving media landscape, and the integration of PR with emerging technologies make it a critical and desirable field with diverse opportunities for growth and specialization.

Q4. How do companies typically respond to major PR crises?

Companies often respond to major PR crises by hiring specialized public relations firms to manage the situation. These firms help develop crisis communication strategies, craft appropriate messaging, engage with stakeholders, and implement reputation recovery plans to mitigate damage and rebuild trust.

Q5. What lessons can be learned from recent corporate PR disasters?

Recent corporate PR disasters underscore the importance of swift response times, open communication, and genuine accountability. Companies that successfully navigate crises typically respond rapidly, communicate honestly with their audience, and take meaningful action to address underlying issues and prevent future occurrences.