Five-O Faux Pas compounded by PR Faux Pas

A disclaimer before I continue, I'm a fan of Hawaii Five-O. Great over the top action-adventure show. So it was doubly disappointing to hear about how the show's crew handled, make that mishandled visiting Pearl Harbor Vets in Hawaii to mark the 70th anniversary of the "Day which will live in infamy."

23 vets, hosted by the Denver-based Greatest Generations Foundation were visiting the Punch Bowl Cemetery. Hawaii Five-Oh was also using the location to shoot scenes for the show. The vets planned a small ceremony and the playing of taps to honor their comrades but the crew from Five-O essentially hustled them out of the cemetery.

Witnessing it all was Steffan Tubbs of 850KOA and a board member of the Greatest Generation Foundation and he's led the charge in making sure amends are made to these vets making likely their last visit to Hawaii due to age.

Compounding the mess was the response from CBS. The network response was the standard PR hoo-hah saying "Any rudeness can be attributed to haste to finish our work."There was more but pretty tepid stuff. When anyone representing your business screws up, it's best to say so and make it right pronto. In most cases you end up with a positive result instead of a negative one.

This all has created quite a controversy. If I were CBS I'd offer to fly everyone of those vets who are able, back to Hawaii along with their immediate family. While none of this was the fault of the cast members themselves, it wouldn't hurt to have them on hand to personally meet these vets. Finally, at the end of the next episode of Five-O cast members should be on screen personally thanking all those who both survived December 7, 1941 or who paid the supreme sacrifice.

What is most surprising is that the show portrays the military in a very favorable light. The character of Steve McGarrett played by Alex O'Laughlin is an ex-Navy Seal.

All that said, CBS can and must do better.

Fix it Danno.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations

Coke, Polar Bears and Perception.

There's a saying in the news business, "Perception is reality." In other words, regardless of the story, it's how people perceive the story that can often trump the facts.

Case in point: A promotion by Coca-Cola and the WWF to increase awareness of what some claim to be the dwindling habitat of Polar Bears. Coke produced white cans with polar bears on them. Same coke, just a different can. Personally I thought it was a great promotion.

I was wrong.

So what went wrong? Plenty. Some consumers were confused that the white cans were diet Coke and not the regular flavor. Others claimed the Coke tasted "different" even though it was exactly the same as what was in the familiar red cans. Many of course, went online to complain.

So a can designed to keep polar bears from going extinct, may become extinct itself as Coke is replacing many, if not all of the white cans with the tried and true red cans.

A rare marketing misfire for Coca-Cola? Nope. But a classic case of how consumer perception is their reality. Regardless of what's true, it's what consumers THINK is true.

The campaign also brought out protests claiming Coke was spreading a disinformation campaign.

I attended a Social Media marketing seminar at Coca-Cola last year in Atlanta. You'd be hard pressed to find a more skilled marketing team. This was obviously a well-thought out campaign with the goal of saving polar bears, regardless of your stance on global climate change or whatever it's called these days.

But none of it mattered because ultimately it was all about consumer perception, and nothing to do with reality. For a lot of them, their favorite drink tasted different in a white can, or a bottle with a white bottle cap.

In this case, Polar Bears lost to perception.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations