Originally published June 2022. Updated June 2026. A PR crisis impacts the reputation of a brand — and how the brand responds determines whether the impact compounds across years or fades inside a news cycle. Crises tak
Originally published March 2022. Updated June 2026. The best crisis communicators do not just manage damage — they create opportunity from the disclosure window. A crisis surfaces every weakness in an organization's
Originally drafted February 2022. Published June 2026. Cathay Pacific's January 2022 crisis — when two of its cargo crew were accused of breaking Hong Kong home isolation rules and an Omicron cluster followed — beca
Originally published June 2021. Updated June 2026. The 2020 Burger King Impossible Whopper UK ad ban is a clean case study in how a small-print disclosure becomes a class-action exposure when the overall impression of t
Originally published May 2021. Updated June 2026. A mishap and a crisis are different categories of problem — but the line between them is thin, and the wrong response converts the first into the second. A customer-serv
Crisis communications is the discipline of managing reputation under pressure — a practice 5W AI Communications has run since 2003 across more than 1,500 clients in consumer, B2B, public-figure, and international contex
Every brand needs a crisis communication plan. Most don't have one. The 10 parts every brand needs, tested against real crises from Tylenol to BP to United Airlines.
This year, with the state of things, due to the pandemic, the event marketing industry, as well as other global events, have undergone significant changes. With social distancing as the main rule around the world, brands
Whenever a brand or corporation is involved in a lawsuit, the public starts focusing on what the business is and has been doing in the past, which evolves into speculations and rumors that could easily lead to damaging t
Recently, the communications team at Franklin Templeton in NYC woke up in the middle of a PR Crisis. One of their employees was caught on camera in the now infamous “dog owner versus bird watcher” video. They had no war
Whenever consumers or businesses react to anything, their reactions have big ripple effects. During times of economic uncertainty, this ripple effect is exaggerated. Public relations and marketing agencies have all been
Whenever a brand or company seems to be on the receiving end of any damaging or negative publicity, it is clear that there is a public relations crisis happening. These are serious events that are very disruptive for any