Has corporate PR learned the lessons of 9/11?

After Starbucks suffered a battering on September 11 after charging firemen for bottled water, MediaGuardian asks whether big corporations will reap good or ill will in the wake of the tsunami

Julia Day, marketing and PR correspondent
Wednesday January 5, 2005

Public relations disasters in the wake of global catastrophes or terrorist attacks are easily avoidable but even the most clued up companies fail to learn the lessons of the past and carry on with "business as usual" oblivious to the impact their actions will have on public opinion.

Many holiday operators continued to advertise on TV during Christmas even though the image of sun-drenched, palm tree-lined beaches seemed entirely inappropriate given the disaster unfolding in south-east Asia.

There were lessons to be learned after 9/11 when companies insensitively tried to cash n by either hitching their products or services to the disaster or by boasting about how much cash they had donated.

Starbucks suffered a brand-image battering when it charged relief workers £90 for three cases of bottled water immediately following the attacks on the twin towers before the ensuing outcry prompted an apology and refund.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/story/0,15671,1383591,00.html