Crisis Communications Case Studies

Chapter 5 of For Immediate Release: why authenticity is an operating advantage, with the 2006 Walmart blog case and Tourneau versus Wempe as examples.

Chapter 8 of For Immediate Release: why a crisis must be managed in the first 48 hours, with the Tylenol case, a response protocol and AI answer effects.

Crisis communications case studies by industry, from Wells Fargo and United Airlines to Target and Toyota, with the lesson each response taught.

After a 2012 Moneyval review gave failing grades on seven of 16 core aspects, the Vatican Bank published its first annual report and closed thousands of accounts. See what its reputation repair involved.

The BlackBerry decline in numbers: revenue fell from $6.8B to $3.3B in a year. See the dated timeline, the 2013 leadership reset and what the case teaches.

GM's 2014 ignition-switch recall as a crisis communications case study: the timeline, what it cost, what GM did well and badly, and five clear lessons.

Why did BlackBerry consolidate its $10 million PR account in 2013? Sourced facts on APCO, Text 100, the 2014 review and this page's 2013 view. Oct 2026 update.

Hurricane Sandy hit New York four days ago. The death toll is over forty, hundreds of thousands have no power, and the city is preparing to run a marathon on Sunday. It is the wrong call. A textbook crisis communications

Originally published: July 24, 2012 · Updated: June 16, 2026 On July 20, 2012, a gunman opened fire during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado. Twelve people were

Current TV answered Keith Olbermann's 2012 lawsuit with a specific, quotable statement that six outlets repeated. See what it said, when hard-hitting crisis PR works, and how to write one responsibly.

Originally published: April 30, 2010 · Updated: June 16, 2026 The original post analyzed a New York Times profile of Jeffrey Conroy that ran the morning of April 30, 2010, a few weeks before his May 26 sentencing. Conro