Public relations' worst moves of 2006

Apologizing for mistakes is one thing, though, and paying for them is another. Sony and about a half-dozen laptop computer makers had to recall more than 7 million lithium-ion batteries after reports of batteries catching fire surfaced on the Web. As of mid-September, the estimated cost to Sony of the battery recall ran as high as $300 million. It's an expensive way to say, "We're sorry."

For every company that ran into a PR trauma in 2006, there were others that got a lift, either intentionally or through luck and good timing.

In the case of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, there was a bit of both. On the down side, the retailer took heat after the disclosure that a folksy blog written by "Jim and Laura" during a cross-country tour was actually being financed by Wal-Mart and its PR firm. But Wal-Mart also gained stature by introducing a plan to offer low-cost generic drug prescriptions, rolling out the plan to a few states at a time to gain maximum publicity for the program.

Many publicity campaigns relied on the latest technological wizardry, on MySpace, YouTube, or elsewhere. But others used good, old-fashioned gimmickry. Take Procter & Gamble's pop-up public toilet facility in New York's Times Square to promote its Charmin toilet paper. There were Charmin cheerleaders and, on a recent morning, a young woman decked out as a dancing toilet. It may not be art, but it sure beats explaining all those backdated stock options.

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