Often I feel like the American people hold others to a double standard. Companies are encouraged to speak opinions that would be deemed favorable and profitable, despite honesty. However, when you voice an honest opinion that could be decidedly unfavorable or disagreeable, it's discouraged. So as PR professionals, we hold ourselves to a code that encourages honesty but yet wants the publics favor. We are suddenly straddling a line of our ethics and our job.
Yes, I think the CEO was wise in letting his views known. However, I disagree with the questions the book asks. I do not believe he shunned gay marriage. He said specifically that he supports the Bible-written union of man and wife, nothing negative. It almost seems carefully worded to not be aggressive.
Chick-Fil-A is built on Christian values, that is just how it is. If I had been advising Mr. Cathy, I would have encouraged him to remain honest, yet empathetic and sensitive to others opinions. Maybe wording like, "I respect that others may have differing opinions and I reserve that right to the individual. But I hope you all can respect the core values that I built my company on."
I see PR as a volleyball game. Your spin or communication is you setting the ball over the net. Once it's in their court, you are in the clear with the right words and they have to be even more careful to respond. This case was not bad PR for Chick-Fil-A. They did not say they do not support gay marriage, they just said they support marriage of man and wife. They did not say for supporters to come to the stores that one day, Mike Huckabee did.
Ultimately, we all have values and we should not have to change those for the sake of reputation. Mr. Cathy still has a strong company and unfortunately their PR professional could not handle it.
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