In my Principles of Public Relations class, the students have been taught that when responding to an issue, it is best to act quickly and to tell the truth.
That being said, I came across a pretty good example of addressing the media and the public. The Spice Girls just announced that they would be ending their world tour at the end of this month. Rumour started to spread about what the reason could be as to why the ladies were not planning on going to Europe, Asia and Australia like they had promised thousands of fans. First it was all Mel C’s fault because she was the easiest to blame since she was the last Spice Girl to sign onto the reunion/goodbye tour. Then it was Victoria who was at fault because she wanted to be a full-time mother to her boys. Nobody knew what was going on until the Spice Girls issued this statement on their official site:
01 February 2008
IMPORTANT TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTSadly the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments for Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C and Victoria. It was announced in June that, as well as the Europe and the US, the girls planned to visit Australia, China, South Africa and Argentina. Due to the phenomenal demand for tickets in the UK and the US along with the touring logistics for such a massive production it was not possible to fit everything in. As the girls return to normal family life and the kids go back to school they are reviewing all the options, who knows what the future might bring!
The girls said: “We’ve had such an amazing time over the last 3 months. It’s been incredible being back together and seeing our fans again. We want to thank everyone who came to see us. It was all so mad the first time round, so we’ve really been able to appreciate it properly this time. There have been so many highlights and good times that we know it will be hard to be apart after Toronto. Really sorry if we didn’t get to see you this time round. We all have other commitments in our lives now but who knows what will happen next.”
They also posted this video:
I think they did a great job squashing rumours before they got worse. I think it was pretty noble that they posted this video instead of just relying on a media release and an “Important Announcement” on their website. Although it does suck for a lot of fans that didn’t get the chance to see them, the video shows that the Spice Girls actually care. Either that or they have a really good publicist, but I’ll bank they took a bit from column A, and a bit from column B.
