An “ethical leadership” crusader once hailed as Mr. T for Transparency just learned the hard way that crisis management isn’t the same as crisis avoidance.
Mr. T shocked fellow advocates when he decided to polish the tarnished image of a government official (Mayor B.S.) whose moral halo has long been slipping.
The plan: a PR rehab.
The result: a PR relapse.
As Mayor B.S.’s controversies flooded social media and newsrooms, Mr. T’s messaging flopped faster than a press release with no pickup. The “damage control” only drew more damage.
When the backlash got too loud, Mr. T. reportedly went on a digital detox of his own making by unfriending and blocking journalists who dared post or publish anything critical of Mayor B.S. But in the age of screenshots and group chats, such moves don’t stay private for long.
“Even when you’re defending a client, you don’t burn bridges,” one veteran reporter quipped. “Media’s job is to tell the truth. If that offends you, maybe PR isn’t your calling.”
The episode has since become a case study in how advocacy meets irony. For someone who built a reputation on transparency, ghosting the press is a no-no.
Lesson learned? In crisis comms, credibility beats control — and unfriending the media doesn’t delete the truth.