What is bad publicity?
It depends on the perception people have of you. And how you want them to perceive you.
If you’re Benji and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte, positive publicity is bad publicity. These are the bad boys of pop punk bands. Their image borders on predatory and feral. Helping little old ladies across the street is bad for their image.
Marcus Einfeld is a former judge. His car was caught speeding by a speed camera. And to avoid paying a $70 fine, he said he wasn’t driving the car. Someone else was. That person happens to have died prior to the date of the speeding offence. He’s accused of lying about who really was behind the wheel of his car.
Ouch! That’s bad publicity.
The next one is interesting.
Shannon Lush, the acclaimed author of Spotless and bearing the moniker of ‘The Queen Of Clean’. She’s an icon in the world of clean and green, thanks to the ABC recognising her extraordinary knowledge about removing stains.
She was on the front cover of Good Weekend’s February 2, 2008 edition.
She’s sold over half a million of her Spotless books and it continues to fly off the shelves at 1,000 copies a week.
I was compelled to read every word of this article so I could understand why she’s so brilliant.
According to Jane Cadzow, the journalist who wrote the article, Shannon’s father was an industrial chemist, amongst other things, and taught Shannon about the chemical composition of the objects around her and the ways in which different materials interact with one another.
Not the sort of exposure most children get to chemistry so early in life. And she loved it and soaked up everything he taught her. And went on to learn more on her own. In Shannon’s words, “chemistry is like breathing for me.”
Very impressive. And so far, great publicity.
But as the article delves deeper into the life of Shannon Lush, issues arise which border on unbelievable. Or at least highly sceptical.
She met her husband, Rick, as a result of speed dating. She went out with 600 men in 12 months, some more than once, before meeting Rick. She says she had 4 dates a day. She didn’t pay for a meal for an entire year.
She thrives on 90 minutes sleep a night. If she gets 4 hours or more, she feels like she’s drunk from too much sleep.
She lifted a crashed car up and off a neighbour’s garbage can. In front of the police investigating the accident.
And to paraphrase Good Weekend.
Shannon held a solo exhibition, renting a house and completely fitting it out with her art and handicrafts. There were 40,000 pieces that took her just on 3 months to complete. Everything from miniatures the size of a fingernail to pictures that covered entire walls. 8,000 ceramic pieces. And glass. She retiled an entire bathroom with handmade tiles. And made all the fittings for the bathroom as well.
From Spotless to breathless.
I grabbed my calculator and did the maths. 90 days times 24 hours per day are 2,160 hours or 129,600 minutes. 40,000 items is one made every 3.24 minutes. Without sleep.
Is this possible? Even plausible?
This doesn’t diminish the popularity of Shannon’s show on 702 ABC Sydney. Her devoted listeners never stop calling in with questions. And Shannon says there isn’t anything she’s come across that she can’t remove. Her popularity is a testament to this.
But what did the article in Good Weekend do for her image?
Did it change my perception of her?
Yes, it did. I’m seriously dubious about her superwoman abilities.
Is this a case of bad publicity? Or too much information?
I’d like you to tell this Guerrilla From The Bush your opinion. Is this bad publicity, good publicity, too much information, or just a case of a superwoman who’s in a class of her own?
Let’s look at a different scenario.
We’ve all heard there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Taking into account that most bad publicity is brought about by a series of events not dissimilar to Marcus Einfeld’s incident, on a grander scale, can bad publicity hurt you?
If you think not, think again.
Bad publicity has destroyed companies and people.
Think Enron. HIH Insurance. Rodney Adler. James Hardie Australia. Watergate and Richard Nixon. Monica Lewinski.
At the end of the day, when all the dust has settled, you have only one attribute in business that you take from place to place. It’s your baggage. And that baggage is your reputation.
Besmirch it at your peril.
I’d love you to post your comments and let’s see if we can help each other. Better yet, let’s have as many people as possible pitch in and share their experiences.
Take care,
CAROL
Carol Jones
Director
Interface Pty Ltd
The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover, Roadworks Apron, Log Lugger, Travel Bug Shoe Bag, Mr Chin’s Laundry Bag and Sweet Shoo are all simple solutions for difficult problems. And every one is a joy to use.
We’ve developed markets for these 6 products without national or international retail distribution. To see what we’ve achieved, click on our website at www.interfaceaustralia.com.
Read the story of how our business began on The Ironing Board Cover Lady. No sales hype. Just a down home story about how we started our business on the dining room table of our rural property, driving on ‘L’ Plates, without an instructor.
A comment about LinkedIn. If you’re not a member of LinkedIn, when you click View Full Profile, you’ll be asked to join. It’s free and the option is yours. There are benefits to joining. Once you’re a member, you can key in the name of any person you do business with. If they’ve taken the trouble to complete a Profile, you’ll be able to assess their background, their capabilities and the calibre of person they are. You might be, as I am, often pleasantly surprised. So go have a look.
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