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The Origins of Public Relations
The beginning of Public Relations can be traced all the way back to the 18th century. The way we know Public Relations now stems from the early 20th century. There are two people who are credited with the development of Public Relations, Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays. Bernays argues that Public Relations was meant to manipulate the opinions of the public. While this statement may be true, Public Relations has changed over the years.
Public Relations Now
Public Relations has come a long way since the early 1900s. While Public Relations is still meant to help shape an organization's image, there are now more roles and responsibilities within Public Relations. Some of these roles include crisis management, relationship management, image management, and resource management. These roles are important for successful Public Relations companies. Over the years, the internet has caused quite a commotion for these companies.
PR Nightmares
Social Media and unethical practices have caused companies to face something called "PR Nightmares". PR Nightmares is a term used to describe a crisis that a company has to deal with. Usually, this crisis makes the company look really bad. We see PR Nightmares often on social media. Right now we are seeing a PR Nightmare with Ellen Degeneres. Multiple celebrities and current/former employees have spoken out on social media about how poorly they have been treated by Ellen Degeneres and Warner Brothers on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Ellen has since released a statement to the staff saying she was unaware of these terrible conditions and will work harder to make sure it gets better. This was a great PR move to try and fix her image.
One of the most famous unethical PR Nightmares is the Wells Fargo Scandal.
This video explains the Wells Fargo scandal.
In 2016, Wells Fargo had one of the biggest PR Nightmares in history brought to light. It was discovered that Wells Fargo would make their employees open fake accounts to look good to stockholders. Employees brought it to the attention of Human Resources and then shortly after would get fired. Wells Fargo had told its employees to do whatever it takes to make their numbers look good. Employees were told by their management teams to open fake bank accounts and credit cards. Higher management claimed to have no idea that they were aware of this.
This was a huge PR Nightmare for Wells Fargo. The company had to do extensive damage control and to this day, they are still working hard to gain back the trust of the public. A lot of people were affected by this scandal. Wells Fargo has paid almost 3 billion dollars in lawsuits.
Hi Veronica!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Wells Fargo would do that makes me so uneasy. A company trying that hard to control people to portray their company as more successful so people are more likely to do business with them is terrible. It gives people a really false sense of what they are signing up for.
Hi Veronica,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. I find it interesting that Bernay's argues that PR was "meant to manipulate the opinions of the public". I believe that PR is meant to present, protect and preserve the image of an individual or a company. The way in which he describes it is honestly very off putting in my opinion.
I also find it interesting that Wells Fargo would make it's employees create fake accounts to project a certain image, and on top of that, fire individuals who would report it to HR. The people that reported are the individuals every company should have on their team. Individuals who value truth, one of our ethics codes. I believe that Wells Fargo would have continued to be successful without this PR nightmare. I also believe that it's only right that they have had to pay for the mistake. I hope they were able to learn from it.