(UPDATED 10-17-06, 8:20 a.m.: Added a Point to Ponder at the bottom.)
Okay, after less than a week — an enternity to some — Richard Edelman finally came out with a statement on the whole Wal-Marting Across America fake blog fiasco.
What I found most interesting is not what Mr. Edelman posted, but in what he stated in a comment (more than one):
“Note that I waited to post until we had all of the facts but I am absolutely clear that we were wrong and have to do better.”
That leads me to believe that Mr. Edelman was very lightly involved in the project — if at all.
I understand and agree with not responding until all the facts were known. But, if he had to wait “until we had all of the facts,” then I assume that Mr. Edelman was not too involved in the campaign. It’s really none of our business who lead the project, but it seems that person was very naive and/or arrogant to think that
1) the fake blog would not be uncovered — given the Wal-Mart haters out there — and
2) to even initiate a fake blog in the first place given the high-profile stance Edelman et al has taken in transparency and ethics in blogs and public relations.
What can we learn?
That, while we should appreciate the leadership role Edelman has taken in social media — helping build credibility in that area of PR practice — the big PR firms are by no means perfect. They can contribute to the poor reputation PR has as much as the out-of-control sole practitioner can. We must police ourselves for the improvement of the PR industry.
No matter how much we preach the transparency gospel, the bottomline goal of making money and serving clients still can rule the day. Money doesn’t talk, it screams as my high school teacher, Mr. Daniel Foote would say. It can be hard to fight the desire to generate exposure for clients/employers at any cost, but we must continue to strive for ethical practices.
Also, as typical, Constantin Basturea’s PR meets the WWW has a good round up and commentary on the Edelman-Wal-Mart issue.
Point to ponder: Many PR bloggers are rightfully giving credit to Mr. Edelman for fessing up to the WalMartingAcrossAmerica fake blog. Taking the high-road and making all warm-and-fuzzy. I’m sure these sentiments are sincere. However, I wonder how many of these same PR pros as well as other PR pros will use the fake blog incident against Edelman when going up against it to win new/retain business? All’s fair in love, war and PR business?
– Mike
Technorati tags: Edelman, blogging, flog, WalMartingAcrossAmerica, ethics, PR
