When Not to Use Public Relations: US Supreme Court, Goldman Sachs/Kathy Ruemmler and More

On July 16th of this year, there was World PR Day. 

The meme was The Golden Age of Public Relations. Why the sector was entering another golden age was because, it claimed: The profession functioned as a type of "Human Operating System (OS)" for universal trust in an automated world.

Overall, that might not be hyperbole. For decades I had created strategy and content for the industry. The tools leveraged have resulted in game-changers. For instance, Dove gave the blessing for all females, no matter their body type, to feel naturally beautiful.

But, those power tools have to be used selectively. Sometimes they can worsen a situation. Often what is required is direct reform of the whatever, not public relations. Jump in, fix.

Take the US Supreme Court. The latest Gallup puts the approval at 33%. A primary source of that negativity seems to be rulings allegedly tilted toward conservative ideology. Well, liberal member of the Court Elena Kagan (get that, too-clever-by-half choice of spokesperson) seems determined to change that bit of public opinion. As influential Above the Law sarcastically puts it:

"Speaking at a Ninth Circuit event yesterday, Justice Kagan told the assembled judges that she thinks 'that is a bad rap' when critics point out that the Supreme Court majority is a Trump administration validation machine."

Obviously, Justice Kagan isn't moving any needles for repositioning and repackaging SCOTUS back to its own Golden Age. 

Then there were the catastrophic and sustained attempts by both Goldman Sachs the corporation and Kathy Ruemmler the individual player for reputation rehab after the Epstein Files scandal.

For example, even Congress wanted to know about GS' contracting with the digital reputation fixer Terakeet on Ruemmler's behalf. Meanwhile, both inside the corporation and externally that campaign seemed quite odd. In addition, what stirred up more controversy, rather than neutralizing it, was keeping Ruemmler on. That possible attempt at providing, in PR terms, a "dignified exit," also backfired.

It is well known that Ruemmler hired her own PR team. Too many view that defensive opinion piece in The New York Times as nothing but blatant and ineffective PR spin. 

Ruemmler might have had a better shot at reputation rehab if she laid low, eventually landed a hands-on job practicing law and produced high-profile wins. God bless capitalism. Win and all is forgiven.

Of course, PR has a long record of being misused. The legal world will remember vividly McDonald's framing the hot-coffee litigation by Stella Liebeck as just another "frivolous lawsuit." It took a while for the corporation to regain trust.

In coaching I help clients recognize that it isn't what happens. It's how you handle it. Often PR is not the right strategy. 

Careers. Forget all that. It’s about earning a good living, no matter what.

Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova, StreetSmart Coaching (janegenova374@gmail.com)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wachtell Partner Romancing Associate in Central Park: Let's Talk About Power

  Would red-haired 40-something Nathaniel Cullerton be so appealing to a 20-something if he hadn't been a partner in an elite law firm and she was an underling at that firm?  That's what most of the coverage of the kissing incident in Central Park by the two Wachtell lawyers doesn't touch. Here is the video by Tik Toker Jay Guapo of their romantic break in the day. It was foreign-policy expert Henry Kissinger who observed: "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."  Since then, organizations have recognized how that reality can create major problems in the workplace. Typically, those take the form of a manager type engaging in an intimate relationship with a subordinate or at least a person with less status. Another issue is that such arrangements can breed favoritism. The subordinate gets goodies others don't. The rest of the organization seethes in resentment.  In addition, it can also trigger penalties for "non-compliance." The subordinate resists th...
Read more

America Not Hiring in 2026: Back to Golden Age of Solopreneurs?

 For hiring, 2025 was a brutal year to search for a job. The Wall Street Journal reports that 2026 could be worse: "At a gathering of CEOs in Midtown Manhattan this month organized by the Yale School of Management, 66% of leaders surveyed said they planned to either fire workers or maintain the size of their existing teams next year. Only a third indicated they planned to hire." The WSJ adds that pullback from adding manpower could be temporary. But given shareholders' demand for cost-efficiency and the continual improvements in AI, chronic unemployment could become standard. However, there is a solution. An old-fashioned one. That's becoming a solopreneur, that is setting up your own business without partners or employees. The model dates back to ancient times.  The golden age of the solo business owner in America had been from the late 1800s to about the mid 1920s.  There had been a wave of immigrants, discrimination against them and few jobs. They drove pushcarts ...
Read more

Scott Barshay's Leadership at Paul, Weiss Torpedoed, PR Nothing But a Joke, Sympathy for Brad Karp

  Last week was a bad, gone worse and worse, one for law firm Wachtell.   This week starts out as what could upend the new leadership of Scott Barshay (The Decider) at Paul, Weiss.  Today's very long-form article in The New York Times  by Michael Schmidt and Jessica Silver-Greenberg depicts Barshay negatively. Understatement. He is rolled out as one-dimensionally power-driven, abrasive, divisive and downright naive about the power of the media. About the latter, he blew off any concern about the media's response to the law firm's removing from the website the Center to Combat Hate.  An example of the beating delivered Barshay? Here is the NYT coverage of the response by some at Paul, Weiss when Barshay was hired: "But there was unease among some at Paul Weiss. Partners and associates learned from lawyers at Cravath that some people there were not unhappy to see Mr. Barshay go. His ego made him difficult to work with, the Paul Weiss lawyers were told." No ambigu...
Read more