The clearest PR crisis examples are Johnson & Johnson's 1982 Tylenol recall, Wells Fargo's 2016 accounts scandal, United Airlines' 2017 passenger removal and three 2026 cases: Alarum's July FBI domain seizures, Target's August costume apology and the Good Good and Callaway ad dispute. Each teaches one lesson: recall early, apologize with accountability, name the harm and never blame a partner. Fifteen cases follow with dated facts.
A crisis case earns a place in a training deck when it teaches one specific, repeatable lesson. This page holds to fifteen. Each summary draws on pages on this site or on named reporting. For the doctrine behind the lessons, read the managing negative press guide, and for more named cases by industry browse the crisis communications case study library.
On this page
Which ten PR crisis examples come from this site's case files?
The first ten cases below span retail, technology, airlines, sports, finance and media.
1. Target (2013): a data breach that lingers. Target's 2013 data breach compromised customer payment records and drove shoppers away. Lesson (this site's analysis): measure recovery over years, not one press cycle, because search results keep repeating the original story. For the first-hours playbook, see cybersecurity PR in the first 24 hours.
2. Alarum (July 2026): a statement that promises cooperation and little else. On July 2, 2026, Alarum Technologies disclosed that the FBI had seized domains tied to its subsidiary NetNut, and on July 3 it said more domains had been seized and that service disruptions could have a material adverse effect on the business, according to securities-law firm notices carried by PR Newswire. Alarum's own statement pledged full cooperation with law enforcement, according to Quiver. Its shares closed at $8.02 on July 1 and $3.08 on July 6, as reported in the same notices, and Ynet reported a 71.3% fall on the Tel Aviv exchange. Lesson: a pledge to cooperate does not tell the market what happens to the business, so say what the company is doing about operations, customers and disclosure.
3. United Airlines (April 2017): three statements, one story. United's removal of a passenger from a flight led to three statements in quick succession, and the first drew heavy criticism. Lesson: the first statement sets the story, so acknowledge the harm before explaining policy. An earlier United case, the 2009 United Breaks Guitars video, is the subject of Ronn Torossian's Harvard Business School crisis lecture.
4. Lance Armstrong (2012 to 2018): a long denial. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued its report in October 2012, he admitted doping to Oprah Winfrey in January 2013, and on April 19, 2018 he agreed to pay $5 million to settle a federal fraud suit, according to Reuters. Lesson: the gap between denial and admission becomes the story, and legal costs can run for years after the admission.
5. Sony and Peter Rabbit (2018): the scene no one caught. A scene in the film Peter Rabbit mocked a character's allergy, a specific community objected, and Sony apologized. Lesson: review creative content for harm to a specific audience before release. The corporate apology guide shows what a strong apology contains.
6. Penn State (2012 and 2017): two crises in five years. Penn State faced the 2012 Sandusky cover-up findings and the 2017 Piazza hazing death. Lesson: a second crisis is read against the first, so an institution has to show what changed.
7. British Airways (May 2017): an outage that stranded 75,000 passengers. The IT failure stranded about 75,000 passengers, and the CEO's apology videos and a leaked staff email shaped the coverage. Lesson: the response has to keep pace with the story, because each gap becomes new coverage.
8. Wells Fargo (2016): apologies without enough accountability. The accounts scandal brought $185 million in penalties, two apologies to Congress, a pay clawback, the CEO's exit and branch closures. Lesson: an apology works only when action follows quickly.
9. Bill O'Reilly and Fox News (April 2017): advertisers decide. Advertisers pulled spots after reports about settlements, and Fox fired O'Reilly, as widely reported at the time. Lesson: in an advertising-funded business, advertiser reaction can end a crisis faster than the company's plan, so map who can end it.
10. UBS (2011): a CEO exit after a $2.3 billion loss. UBS lost $2.3 billion to unauthorized trading by Kweku Adoboli, and CEO Oswald Gruebel resigned, as widely reported at the time. Lesson: top-level accountability can close one chapter, but it does not answer questions about controls.
Which two classic PR crisis examples come from outside the files?
Two older, widely documented cases round out the list because they set the standard the others are measured against.
11. Johnson & Johnson, the Tylenol recall (1982): the $100 million decision. Seven people in the Chicago area died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules, according to a University of Central Florida study. Johnson & Johnson recalled about 31 million bottles nationwide at an estimated cost of $100 million, even though the contamination was limited to Chicago and the FDA did not require it, according to Everything-PR's account. Lesson: a costly recall ahead of any mandate can be cheaper than the alternative.
12. Chipotle (2015 onward): a long recovery. Food-safety outbreaks tied to Chipotle restaurants in 2015 hurt sales for years, and the company rebuilt its food-safety practices in public. Lesson: a food-safety crisis ends when the safety record is rebuilt, not when the news moves on.
Which three 2026 PR crisis examples were added in November?
Three 2026 cases were added in November 2026, each drawn from named trade or business reporting and each showing a different failure. Facts are attributed in the sentence that uses them.
13. Target (August 2026): a costume apology that critics rejected. Target pulled a children's "Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown" Halloween costume and apologized after social media users said it resembled blackface and minstrel caricatures, according to a Global Banking & Finance Review factbox, which reported that Target's shares fell about 5% on August 25, 2026. Axios reported on September 3, 2026 that actress Viola Davis publicly rejected the apology. Lesson: an apology that does not name the harm to the people affected can be rejected in public, and the rejection becomes the next headline.
14. Good Good and Callaway (2026): blaming the partner. An ad showing Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark knocking creator Alexis Miestowski to the ground drew immediate backlash, and Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick apologized, according to Axios. After Callaway cut ties, Kendrick accused Callaway of letting Good Good take the fall, and by Axios's September 3, 2026 report both Kendrick and Good Good president Joe Flannery had left the company. PRovoke Media's Q3 2026 crisis review reported that Callaway CEO Chip Brewer acknowledged the company had approved the content before it was posted and said that approval should never have happened. Lesson: accusing a partner in public extends the story, so settle who approved what in private and say what each side will change.
15. Starbucks Korea (2026): a promotion pulled within hours. PRovoke Media's Q2 2026 crisis review reported that a Starbucks Korea promotion was withdrawn within hours and followed by multiple public apologies from Starbucks Korea and its parent, Shinsegae Group. The review said an experienced corporate affairs professional should have flagged the promotion. According to the Global Banking & Finance Review factbox, the South Korean unit reported what the company described as a "very significant" decline in sales, and the head of Starbucks Korea was dismissed. Lesson: a fast withdrawal and repeated apologies did not prevent the business impact, so the cheapest fix is a harm review before launch.
What do the fifteen PR crisis examples have in common?
Five patterns repeat across the fifteen cases, and they are this site's analysis.
Speed and substance both matter. A fast statement with nothing in it, as in Alarum's cooperation pledge, leaves questions open. Tylenol and Wells Fargo show that action has to follow words.
Timelines run longer than a press cycle. Armstrong's case ran six years from the USADA report to the settlement, and Chipotle's recovery ran for years.
The record does not forget. Target's breach, Penn State's two cases and Armstrong's denial all remain easy to find, and any new crisis is read against them.
Someone else may hold the leverage. Advertisers decided O'Reilly's exit, and regulators and law enforcement set the pace for Alarum.
A review before launch costs less than an apology after it. Target, Callaway and Starbucks Korea each acted after the content was public, and Callaway's CEO said the approval should never have happened, according to PRovoke Media.
How do you build a crisis plan from these fifteen examples?
You build a crisis plan by matching your company's biggest risks to the closest case above, not by copying all fifteen. The table maps common crisis types to the example that teaches the matching lesson.
| Crisis type | Closest example | Immediate action the example teaches |
|---|---|---|
| Data breach or security incident | Target (2013) | Plan for years of recovery, not one news cycle |
| Law-enforcement action | Alarum | Say what the company is doing about operations and disclosure, not only that it will cooperate |
| A viral customer incident | United Airlines | Acknowledge the harm in the first statement |
| A principal's personal conduct | Lance Armstrong | Avoid a denial you cannot hold, because the gap becomes the story |
| Content or creative backlash | Sony, Peter Rabbit | Apologize specifically to the audience harmed |
| Marketing or product backlash in 2026 | Target (2026), Starbucks Korea | Run a harm review before launch and name the harm in the first apology |
| Partner or sponsor dispute | Good Good and Callaway | Settle approvals in private and avoid blaming the partner in public |
| Product safety failure | Johnson & Johnson, Chipotle | Recall or remediate before a mandate, and show the fix for as long as it takes |
| Advertiser or partner pressure | Fox News | Map which partners can end the story before they do |
What traps appear when applying these examples?
Four traps recur when companies apply these cases to their own planning.
Treating every crisis like Tylenol. J&J controlled the physical product and could pull it from shelves. A data breach or an allegation has no equivalent lever.
Measuring recovery by press coverage alone. Coverage fades before search results do, so track both.
Assuming a settlement ends the story. Armstrong's settlement ended his last legal matter, but not the way he is described.
Ignoring who else has leverage. Advertisers, regulators and law enforcement can set the pace instead of the company.
Where should you go next?
Start with the managing negative press guide, which covers the first 24 hours, who speaks and when to correct. For apologies, see the corporate apology guide. More sourced cases follow the same format: Delta's 2016 outage and Toyota's recall. For recent cases, see Boeing's 2018 to 2024 record, the Caesars and MGM ransomware attacks and the Silicon Valley Bank run. If a crisis has already put negative coverage in search results, read whether you can really remove negative articles from Google. For breach and ransomware response, see the cybersecurity PR firm page, and for banking and finance crises like Wells Fargo, see the fintech PR firm page. If you are weighing outside help, read how to choose a crisis PR firm, and browse the crisis PR section for every crisis article on this site. Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W, whose crisis PR practice handles these situations. For a wider library of crisis cases, see Everything-PR's crisis PR section.
Frequently asked questions
What is a recent PR crisis example from 2026?
Three 2026 cases are on this page. Alarum Technologies' July 2026 domain seizures cut its shares from $8.02 to $3.08 in five days, according to PR Newswire notices. Target pulled a Halloween costume in August 2026 and its shares fell about 5% on August 25, according to a Global Banking & Finance Review factbox. Good Good's CEO and president left after the Callaway dispute, according to Axios.
What are the most famous PR crisis examples?
The best-known PR crisis examples on this page are the 1982 Johnson & Johnson Tylenol recall, the 2016 Wells Fargo accounts scandal, United Airlines' 2017 passenger removal and Chipotle's food-safety outbreaks from 2015. Each is covered above with dated facts and one lesson.
What is the most important lesson across the fifteen PR crisis examples?
Timelines run longer than most companies plan for. Armstrong's case ran six years from the USADA report to the settlement, Chipotle's recovery ran for years, and Target's breach is still cited, so a real crisis resolves on a longer clock than a single press cycle.
Do older cases like Tylenol still apply today?
Yes, with one addition. The lesson to put the public first and recall early still holds, and today the crisis and the response both stay searchable for years.
How many crisis scenarios should a company plan for?
Plan for five to ten scenarios specific to the company's risks, each mapped to the closest example on this list. This is this site's recommendation, not a measured standard.
What should a first public statement say?
It should say what happened and what the company is doing about it, in that order, and name when the next update will come. The managing negative press guide covers who speaks and when to correct.
Does a strong apology end a PR crisis?
No. An apology closes one chapter, but Wells Fargo's two apologies to Congress came with penalties, a pay clawback and the CEO's exit, and Target's 2026 apology was rejected in public, which shows the response has to name the harm and include action.
Originally published July 31, 2026. Updated on November 7, 2026 with three 2026 cases. The Target (2013), United, Sony, Penn State, British Airways, Wells Fargo, O'Reilly, UBS and Chipotle summaries rely on linked case pages or general reporting and were not all re-checked against primary sources. The 2026 Target, Good Good and Starbucks Korea summaries rely on named trade and business reporting and were not checked against company statements.