This week, Nicki and I gave our ‘Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger’ presentation about a recent PR issue, and whether the organization in question did an effective/ineffective job in responding.
I’ve decided to use this blog post to add to the conversation and contribute my voice to the many that are already out there warning others to think carefully about supporting the Nygard brand.
The Facts
Peter Nygard is a fashion designer and chairman of women’s clothing manufacturer Nygard International.
Recognized as a Canadian rags-to-riches story, Nygard had rather humble beginnings growing up in Deloraine, Manitoba, but is now a regular on the list of most wealthiest Canadians with a net worth of $817 million in 2009.
The Issue
In April 2010, the CBC program The Fifth Estate aired a documentary about Peter Nygard’s treatment of employees, specifically, about workplace bullying and harassment.
It featured a number of interviews with former employees who talked about their experiences with verbal abuse, sexual harassment, fines, and work permits, among other things. (To learn more, watch the full documentary here.)
It was a serious, and damaging revelation that showed a darker side to someone who was otherwise thought to be creative, business savvy, and generous businessman, albeit with expensive tastes and a large ego.
That’s not to say some damage control couldn’t have been done. But the controversial nature of the documentary, plus Nygard’s attempts to cover it up, made for one hot PR issue.
The (Bad) Response
Nygard immediately went into offensive mode, filing a lawsuit against CBC in Manitoba to prevent the documentary from airing. They also launched a copyright complaint against CBC journalist David Commons for footage taken at Nygard’s Manhatten store opening. Both of these, of course, only fueled public interest in the documentary.
Nygard’s lawyers didn’t help matters either – rather than addressing the issue directly, their statements tried to elicit sympathy for the company, saying the fiasco was creating problems for a company already in difficult times.
“This has caused an enormous amount of damage to our client at a time when management personnel should be devoting all their energies to protecting the business and its employee from the effects of the economic recession”. (Richard Good, Nygard lawyer, Winnipeg Free Press)
Employees who spoke out were also targeted. Dana Neal, a human resources executive, told the CBC about a PR employee from Nygard who took his girlfriend out to lunch and tried to intimidate him into not releasing information by threatening to ‘take away [their] house”. He, and two other employees were also sued by the company for going public.
The crackdown on information about the documentary also extended online where blog posts quickly popped up, criticizing Nygard and giving CBC the thumbs up.
Suspicious comments – which many bloggers claim to be from Nygard employees – started appearing on these posts, speaking positively about Peter Nygard and generally contridicting the documentary’s claims.
A Facebook page encouraging people to boycott Nygard was eventually shut down by Nygard’s lawyers, supposedly for ‘infringing on intellectual property rights’. (Lilith News)
The (Better) Response
Though it’s hard to find the silvering lining in these kinds of PR nightmares, some form of damage control is always possible.
In the class discussion following our presentation, many people noted that getting Nygard to admit his anger management issues (among other things) and publicly stating that he will seek treatment for it is a method that has worked for high profile celebrities in the past.
Though it doesn’t solve all the problems, owning up to mistakes and taking an active step towards fixing them will gain some respect from the public and help stem the flow of negative media attention.
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