Crisis Management

Cancel Culture 

        In our generation, there is this thing called "cancel culture". You see this a lot when celebrities or someone with high authority either say or share something that is not accepted by a mass group of people or they do something to make a lot of people angry, people will continuously bash them on the internet until they are canceled for lack of better words. This can happen in school settings. All it takes is one person to mess up for that mistake to spread around the entire school and now you have the whole school against them. This happens a lot on social media with celebrities. You have to be careful how you voice your opinions and you also have to be careful what you say because someone out there is looking for any way to run your name into the ground. 

        In a lot of cases, the problems arise from people saying something they shouldn't have or in a context that others don't understand. Red Banyan's reputation management team will tell you that it makes the problem a lot worse if you wait to address the situation because then the media will run rapid with what little information they have. It is better to bite the situation on the head rather than to let people make assumptions. 

    

        In a recent case, there was a large group who decide to start tearing and ripping the logos off of their Carhartt merchandise because the brand decided to make it mandatory for the employees of Carhartt to be fully vaccinated. The ones who do not agree with the vaccination retaliated and stopped buying items from the brand or cutting the logos off of their clothing. In the whole debate, you also had a group of people who brought to the retaliator's attention that Apple and several other companies that we use items from every day required their employees to be vaccincated but we aren't out here throwing our phones away which was a very good point.

        Here are just a couple of examples of recent cases of people being "canceled". First, J.K. Rowling received backlash after voicing her opinion on how she is afraid that pushing people towards transgender rights will take away from women's rights. Since she has made this comment, she has apologized and shared your thoughts. Another example, Gina Carano who was the actor in Mandalorian, was fired by Disney after making the comment saying that being Republican in 2021 was like being Jewish during Natzi Germany. Since then her agent has dropped her and the company Hasbro has dropped her Star Wars action figures. The thing about cancel culture is even if your company agrees with you on your opinion but the world doesn't, then the company has to decide to let you go because of the backlashed you caused the company. 

        Tik tok is also a platform that is a magnet for canceling celebrities. On an app like Tik Tok, almost nothing is private. There was a couple that are both Tik Tok stars, the girl being an influencer for positive body image for women and the boy was also an influencer who just made fun content. Sienna and Jack started as best friends but then soon escalated to being a couple and dating for a good while. They looked to be the picture-perfect couple but then accusations started to arise that Sienna sexually assaulted Jack while he was intoxicated. Tik Tok blew up and they both posted videos about the situation. Sienna still posts on her social media but now has gained a lot more haters. Sienna still hasn't recovered from this situation. 

        In almost all "cancel culture" situations, you are almost always going to get an apology video. It is what the people demand. The sooner you apologize to the public the sooner your name is cleared. In some cases, the media may have just taken what you said the wrong way and you have to explain yourself so that they will understand where you are coming from. Apologizing and clarifying as soon as people start to stir on the subject is the best way to go. 

        The bottom line is these days, you have to be careful what you say, what you post on social media, the actions you take, and who you surround yourself with. In some cases, people do get a rise out of the public for things that are right but just aren't agreed with but in most cases, it was brought on by the individual. No matter how top secret you think something is, someone will find a way to figure it out.