How Brands Are Responding To Their Celebrity-Related Crises

Companies seeking to profit from relationships with celebrities can find themselves in a crisis when celebrities say or do controversial things that can tarnish corporate brands, images and reputations.

The nature of those ties varies—as do companies’ responses when celebrities cross over the line.

NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, for example, displays the McDonald’s logo on his car and racing uniform. Adidas has sold rapper Kanye West’s line of shoes.

In recent days the two celebrities have generated the wrong kind of publicity for McDonald’s and Adidas. Wallace caused a crash at a recent NASCAR race and had an altercation with another driver afterward. West,who now calls himself Ye] continues to make international headlines for his antisemitic comments and views.

Because the court of public opinion can render its verdict quickly, corporate executives need to react just as fast to help prevent or mitigate damage to their brands.

For his part, Wallace issued an apology and was suspended for one race; McDonald’s has said nothing about the two incidents, and NASCAR continues to sell a Wallace driver’s uniform adorned with the McDonald’s logo.

Ye, on the other hand, has not apologized or recanted, which today led Adidas to terminate its partnership with the rapper.

“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech,” the company said in a statement. “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

Other companies. including CAA, the talent agency that has represented him, have also cut their ties with the singer.

Defining Success

“In crisis management, success is defined as not only doing the right thing, but doing it at the right time. In this case, Adidas did the right thing by terminating their relationship with Ye, and their statement hit the right notes, but they took too long to do it,” Nick Kalm, founder and CEO of Reputation Partners, a national strategic communications and public relations firm, said via email.

Slow To Respond

“Ye’s outrageous statements and actions began weeks ago, with the firestorm beginning immediately thereafter. It was a bit surprising that a consumer-facing company like Adidas was so slow to respond to the crisis, but perhaps it was due to the significant financial charge the company incurred as a result of the separation. In any case, any company with celebrity endorsers must have a crisis plan and scenario-based decision-making completed in advance,” Kalm observed.

Staying Quiet For Now

“In the case of Bubba Wallace, it’s highly likely more people were tuned in to the altercation and incident than the McDonald’s logo. Raising the issue may actually call attention to McDonald’s sponsorship,” John Goodman of John Goodman PR, advised via email

“However, if the [association with McDonald’s] does arise, then the company should release a statement disavowing itself from the incident. And I would recommend this strategy for most situations where a sponsor is peripherally associated with a negative incident,” he counseled.

‘Every Situation Is Different’

“Every situation is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. However, a good rule of thumb is to see what happens, Stacy Elmore, co-founder of The Luxury Pergola, a company that works with social media influencers, said via email.

“Sometimes the controversy will blow over and be forgotten within a week or two, in which case you can resume normal operations as usual. But other times, the controversy will continue to be a topic of conversation (or even grow), and in that case, you’ll need to decide whether continuing to work with that celebrity is worth the potential backlash.

“Keep in mind that the world doesn’t revolve around your brand – bad news for celebrities often means bad news for brands too. And finally, remember that the news cycle moves fast – if you do decide to part ways with a celebrity, don’t try to publicly embarrass them. It’s always a bad idea to burn bridges.,” she counseled.

Setting The Ground Rules

When assessing a brand, or company’s, ties to any endorsements including other brands, celebrities, etc., the most important work is done before the agreement is ever made,” Cassaundra Kalba. a publicist at Otter PR ,said via email.

“Too often, brands are looking for high-profile people in their industry or in the media at the moment and don’t take the time to truly assess how mutually beneficial this partnership is going to be.

“The C-suite at companies, such as McDonald’s or Adidas, need to not only make sure their target markets align with the proposed endorsee, but also their values, morals, mission, etc. By doing this ahead of time, you can mitigate a lot of risk and potential issues within the partnership that may arise down the line,” she recommended.

“At the end of the day, put your own brands reputation before any other partnerships,” Kalba advised.