When Don't Thugs and Lawyers Mix Well?

A criminal defense attorney may not have the most glamorous job in the profession. However, Daniel Muessig has embraced the job, and created a video to advertise his services that has gotten him more clients. The video has gone viral and has gotten a lot of media attention, but it’s also controversial and has made other attorneys upset. 

When I first saw it, I thought it was a Saturday Night Live parody sketch because it has a hip hop style and seems silly, not serious. Muessig also uses words such as "liar" and "scumbug" to describe other lawyers. It doesn’t seem professional, and Muessig doesn’t care. He wants to connect with potential clients and says, "I think like a criminal" and tells them that consequences “suck”.

He’s probably glad the video has worked for him financially and has gotten him a lot of media coverage, but in the long run, it could be harmful. Other lawyers have commented in various articles that it negatively affects their professional image, and I agree. If he wants to have a bigger firm in the future, this sophomoric video has already affected what people think of him. Even if he decides to remove the video from YouTube, the articles written about him will still be online, and people have probably already duplicated the video to post it elsewhere.

Even if an attorney is struggling to get clients, he or she should be careful when using social media and doing things that could get the wrong media attention. A publicity plan should be about the future as well as the present.

What Can Trains, Toilets and the French Teach Us About Public Relations?

I was on vacation with my family, and we stayed in a hotel that got their measurements wrong. The bathroom door in our room couldn't close because it was not able to clear the toilet, so the hotel had to cut part of the door off to make it work.

Who would've thought France would make the same kind of mistake, but much worse? Jolie Lee in USA Today shared a story about how France had to spend almost 70 million dollars to fix over 1,000 train stations because the trains they ordered were too wide for the platforms. I remember when I took woodworking class in school, they told us to measure twice, and cut once. It’s a simple concept that’s been around for years, but France’s national railway system obviously didn't check everything out before deciding to use the new trains.  

You also have to measure your publicity campaign to make it fit, but in that case, it has to fit various audiences. What might work for the mainstream media might not work for your employees because public relations is about internal and external communication. For instance, if you work for a publicly traded company, the press releases should have formal language and be written in such a way as to not violate any regulations when you announce earnings or corporate mergers. Even press releases that cover new products are usually written in a stiffer style. However, if you use that same kind of language in internal communications for employees, they might think you’re being too stiff, out of touch, or unapproachable, and their livelihoods could be affected. On the other hand, if you decide to communicate with your employees with a more casual style, it could end up reflecting badly on you when you use that same style with the media. Basically, you can create the same message for the media and employees,but the way it’s delivered should be customized. 

So before you launch your communications plan, make sure it fits, and be consistent with the audience you’re talking to. You don’t want your message to “pull into the wrong station” with employees, management, or federal regulators. Simple phrases could do a lot of damage and even affect morale.

Time Magazine Reporter Needs a Math Lesson

It's amazing how people can use any kind of number to make their point, even in an established media outlet. Joe Klein wrote “Obamacare: Mend it, Don’t End it” in Time magazine, and since it's a major publication that's been around for a while, you'd expect to read solid information that backs up his opinion.

However, he seems to see numbers his own “special” way, since they don't really add up. He defends the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and says it's running pretty well, then uses a poll to prove his point:

“The word of mouth seems to be … not bad: a recent ABC News–Washington Post poll actually had more Americans in favor of Obamacare than opposed to it, by an overpowering 49% to 48%.”

Overpowering? It's been a while since I've had math, but even I can see that 49 percent is barely different than 48. It's just a difference of one percentage point, which doesn't match the definition of “overpowering”. Even though he's writing an editorial, not a straight news piece, he's entitled to his opinion, but his argument becomes weak with those numbers that are barely different.

Later on, though, he's more accurate when he says, “A recent Kaiser family foundation poll shows that 59% of Americans want to see this program improved...” That sounds more “overwhelming” than the other percentage he gave to prove a point that wasn't really proven.

Joe Klein is an experienced journalist, and the fact that he's twisted information to try to support his ideas is a lesson for anyone. If you want to use statistics or polls to support your position, make sure you're using solid information that truly matches what you want to say. Otherwise, it can negatively affect your reputation. In Klein's case, he seems to be doing fine, but most people shouldn't take such a chance. What you say should be solid and helpful.

Lady in the Banana Peal Suit Slips Up in Court

It's not so ap-pealing: Catherine Conrad, aka the “Banana Lady”, has slipped up after filing several lawsuits for copyright infringement. Kim Janssen, who's a Federal Courts Reporter for the Sun-Times, says after Conrad has performed with her puppet monkey and has done “The Banana Shake” for various groups, she's sued because people have used her image or have posted videos of her online.

However, her latest litigious effort has failed at the U.S.“Appeals Court. She sued several credit unions after people posted videos of her on Facebook. The judge said she doesn't own the copyright of her banana costume because it's “a common consumer product” and said her lawsuit is an “abuse of the legal process”.

Not only are her legal actions obviously frivolous, but she doesn't seem to understand publicity, either. Hopefully the judge's decision will prevent other lawsuits, and hopefully she'll learn some publicity lessons because she's missed a basic concept. It's helpful when people organically share what someone is doing because it can result in more positive exposure for the person. However, by not letting people share her image and videos, Conrad is cutting off a natural marketing plan, and she's only getting negative publicity for all the lawsuits she's filed.

By the way, what's interesting about this case is that her attorney's name wasn't in the story, probably because he or she doesn't want to slip on the Banana Lady's rotten peel.

Did the Marlboro Man Go "Up in Smoke?"

There's an expression: "tragedy plus time equals comedy", and when a guy who portrayed the Marlboro Man in advertising died this year from a smoking-related illness, it was tragic, and also seemed like a punch line to a sad joke.

Eric Lawson had smoked since he was 14, and he smoked most of his life. Even though he had a hard time quitting, he told people to not smoke because he knew it was unhealthy (and he wasn't the only Marlboro Man who died from a smoking-related illness, according to an article by Nate Jones in People magazine). Actually, I also created my own anti-smoking campaign when I was growing up because I constantly bothered my parents to quit, and they eventually did--and that was before the government promoted that smoking was harmful.

Whether the government is involved or not, it just goes to show that no matter what attractive images companies put out there, the truth will come out. It can seem like false advertising when a company has a message that is destructive or simply is not true.

Whatever you're willing to commit to in your promotional messages, you should be genuine so that there won't be any negative consequences. You can dress something up to make it pretty, but if it doesn't have much substance and ends up misleading people, it will eventually catch up with you. Then you'll have to spend a lot of time and energy on damage control.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart Misses the Mark

Once a person expresses his or her true feelings on a subject, it's impossible to take those words back, and the consequences become more extreme in the media.

That's a lesson Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart probably learned when he spoke to student journalists. Brian Slodysko in the Chicago Sun-Times reports Dart told the students, "Most of the people in my world hate the media,” and said even though he doesn't hate them, "I feel sorry for them."

He even criticized objectivity when journalists want to get both sides of a story: "one thing that always eats at me."

Not only was his speech covered in the Sun-Times but it was posted on YouTube, and even though it hasn't gotten a lot of hits, he obviously struck a negative cord with the people who are supposed to cover him fairly. 

His spokesperson didn't really help the situation either when she said he's a "passionate guy" who wants to help aspiring journalists. What Dart should have done is said "sorry", not assign a representative to explain away his opinions with an insincere statement. 

It's another example of how people have to think before they speak, and since attorneys work on sensitive cases, it makes it even more important. However, if you have said something you shouldn't have, it's better to offer a real apology so that people won't think poorly of you. Also, it's important to do it yourself, not issue a statement through your publicist. If you're not sure how to go about it, talk to your public relations professional so that you can express yourself in an intelligent, positive way. 
 

Would a Lawyer Ever Say Something Unkind?

Trials are hard enough, but attorneys get even more frustrated and disappointed when the verdict isn't in their favor. They can even become angry and have lots of problems with their clients, like Drew Peterson and his lawyer, Joel Brodsky, when Peterson was convicted of killing his wife.

Brodsky went on TV after the verdict and "blamed Peterson for moves he made at the trial" according to Joseph Hosey in the Bollingbrook Patch.

There's a more recent example of an attorney bad-mouthing his client in the United Arab Emirates. He called him "the most stupid murderer I have seen in 40 years" after he was convicted of murdering a woman who claimed he got her pregnant, even though they didn't have sex. He killed her with a stone and put her body in a bathtub and set the home on fire. The body survived because the bathtub was filled with water.

Attorneys might have dim-witted clients, but they shouldn't bad-mouth them in public. It will only affect future client relationships. It could also impact their practice because potential clients will see them as unprofessional and possibly inept, so they won't hire them. Besides, if an attorney criticizes a client publicly, it can show a lack of judgment for taking the client on in the first place. It's just unwise all around, and can negatively affect a lawyer's reputation.

As my mother said, "if you can't say something nice about somebody, shut up!" (Mom's comment was embellished for this blog post).