When PR Goes Wrong and How to Recover
Six real word case studies on when PR goes very, very wrong and the lessons that we can all learn from these examples.
Episode Summary
A cheerful holiday jingle drops on TikTok. Within hours, millions of people are using it to soundtrack flight delays, lost luggage, and crying toddlers in airport terminals. The airline never planned for that. Nobody does.
That is the reality of PR in the age of the internet — and it is exactly what Karen Swim, APR, and Michelle Kane dig into in this Halloween-season episode of That Solo Life. Using six real-world case studies, they examine the moments when brands, executives, and communications teams lost control of the narrative, and what PR professionals can take from each one. From cyber attack disclosures that started strong and then stumbled, to a reply-all email that landed in an entire media list, to 48 hours of silence that turned a scandal into a crisis — every story carries a lesson that applies directly to solo practitioners and their clients.
The through-line: PR is not just storytelling. It is risk management. And every message, every platform, every moment of silence is a decision with consequences.
Timestamp Highlights[00:00] Cold open: the Jet2 TikTok jingle. Karen sets the scene — a UK airline launches a feel-good summer campaign on TikTok. The internet repurposes it immediately as the soundtrack to travel nightmares. The hashtag #Jet2Holiday explodes to tens of millions of views, none of them what the brand intended.
[~02:00] Lesson from Jet2. The jingle was not the problem — the assumption that audiences would use it as intended was. Jet2 responded with humor, leaned into the chaos, and avoided a long-term reputation hit. Key takeaway: if your content can be memed, it will be. Anticipate remix culture before you publish.
[~03:48] M&S Easter cyber attack. Marks and Spencer started with strong, transparent crisis communications — quick updates, clear language. Then weeks later, customers learned the breach was worse than originally disclosed. That gap is where trust eroded. Lesson: crisis communications does not end when the headlines fade. Keep communicating until the issue is fully resolved.
[~04:43] AWS outage. When your platform powers half the internet, any outage is a global event. AWS responded with minute-by-minute updates — no vague statements, no delays. That consistency reduced panic even when the news was bad. Lesson: people can handle bad news. What they cannot handle is silence. Communicate early, communicate often.
[~05:16] The Coldplay kiss cam scandal. Two executives caught in a compromising moment on a stadium kiss cam. The PR crisis was not the moment itself — it was the 48 hours of silence that followed. By the time the company responded, the narrative had been built by everyone else. Lesson: silence is a strategy only when it is intentional. Waiting for a scandal to disappear is not a strategy.
[~07:04] Ulta Beauty newsletter error. One phrase in an email newsletter unintentionally referenced a tragic celebrity event. The backlash was immediate. Lesson: every message you put out is a potential headline. Review processes exist for a reason — invest in them.
[~07:44] The reply-all disaster. An internal email chain with candid, snarky comments was accidentally sent to an entire media list. Screenshots circulated. Journalist relationships were damaged. Lesson: internal culture shows up externally. Also: do not populate the "To" field until you are ready to send.
[~09:52] What all six cases have in common. PR is risk management at every level. The internet is unpredictable and can be unforgiving — but it can also be funny, and brands that can laugh at themselves often recover faster. Every disaster carries a lesson, and every lesson is an opportunity to build better systems before the next one.
Resources & Additional Information- Travel Noire: How A Jet2 Jingle Took Over TikTok As 2025's Biggest Summer Travel Meme
- People Magazine: Woman in Coldplay 'Kiss Cam' Controversy Says Former Boss Lied to Her
- Marks and Spencer (M&S): Cyber Update
- Tech UpKeep: AWS Outage
- Business Insider: Ulta Beauty Apologizes to Kate Spade’s Family…
- Fearey PR: PR Failure #43
- That Solo Life: Submit Your Own PR Horror Story — Karen and Michelle invite listeners to share anonymously for a possible future episode
- Solo PR Pro: Membership and Resources
- That Solo Life: All Episodes
That Solo Life is a podcast created for public relations, communication, and marketing professionals who work as independent and small practitioners. Hosted by Karen Swim, APR, President of Solo PR Pro, and Michelle Kane, Principal of Voice Matters, the show delivers expert insights, encouragement, and practical advice for solo PR pros navigating today's dynamic professional landscape.
Listen to all episodes and catch up on previous conversations at thatsololife.com.
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0:18 KAREN SWIM, APR: Okay. Picture this. You are a major airline. You've just dropped a cheerful holiday jingle on Tik Tok. Sunshine, beaches, happy families, the whole vibe. You're feeling good. You're thinking this is going to be the sound of summer. MICHELLE KANE: And then TikTok says, oh, sweetie, no. KAREN SWIM, APR: Instead of dream vacations, people start using your jingle to soundtrack airport chaos, flight delays, lost luggage, crying toddlers basically every travel nightmare imaginable.
1:01 MICHELLE KANE: And the hashtag Jet2 Holiday doing the accents of people recognize it. Jet2 holiday blows up to tens of millions of views and they were brilliant and suddenly all these poor people, your feel Good campaign becomes a meme about misery. KAREN SWIM, APR: That's right. So today we're talking about PR horror stories, the moments when brands think they're launching magic and the internet turns it into mayhem. MICHELLE KANE: And more importantly, what PR pros can learn from these disasters so we don't end up starring in the next one. No sequels for us, right?
1:43 KAREN SWIM, APR: No. All right. Well, you want to get into these horror stories and we should say that I think, yeah, this this episode is still launching in October. So it's spooky month. MICHELLE KANE: It's still spooky month. Gotta love it. Yeah. KAREN SWIM, APR: So let's start with the that was the jet two. And this one is chaotic, but it's also kind of hilarious. MICHELLE KANE: Oh totally. And you know, let's leave it to be said that I didn't know who jet two was before it. So there's that, right? Yeah. And it's really one of those examples of how, you know, the internet will repurpose your content for its own entertainment no matter what you do. And once you put it out there, you have zero control looking at y'all who wear the green dresses that can be projected upon green screen.
2:33 KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. And honestly, it wasn't the jingle that was the problem. It was that they assumed that people would use it the way that they intended. MICHELLE KANE: Oh, those bright and shiny, altruistic people. Bless them. Yeah. Yeah. And the lesson for the PR pros, you know, us included, you know, you really do have to anticipate the whole culture of remix, right? Because so many people are doing it. And if your content can be memed, it will be and possibly not in the way you intended. KAREN SWIM, APR: That is so true. But I, I, we got to give credit to Jet2 because they really did lean in. They responded with humor, they acknowledged the chaos and they didn't get defensive.
3:16 MICHELLE KANE: Exactly. Which, you know, I think part of what helped that was all these hysterical travel nightmares weren't they're doing right. They didn't cause any of it. It was just ha ha ha. So, you know, and thankfully for them, this this horror story didn't become a long term reputation crisis. As a result, they could just roll with it and go, yeah, that is funny. And who doesn't love a company or a person who can laugh at themselves? KAREN SWIM, APR: I agree. I totally agree. And we went from saying jet, who did jet to exactly. MICHELLE KANE: Say what, who what? Oh, all right. Next up M&S and the Easter cyber attack.
3:57 Yeah. Science fiction. KAREN SWIM, APR: Ooh that's a this one is a classic crisis comms marathon right. They started strong quick transparency clear updates. MICHELLE KANE: And then weeks later customers learned that the breach was worse than originally communicated. I think a giant food stores living that nightmare right now. But KAREN SWIM, APR: And that's when trust eroded. So the lesson here is that crisis comms doesn't end when the headlines fade. You have to keep communicating people until the issue is fully resolved. MICHELLE KANE: Yes, yes. Always be communicating a, b, c yeah.
4:39 Oh my gosh. All right. What's the next one in your bag of horror tricks? KAREN SWIM, APR: Aws. Aws had a rough 117 million outage reports. MICHELLE KANE: Oh my God. I remember this one. Yeah. When your platform powers have the internet, any outage creates a global event. That was not fun. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah, but they did do something smart minute by minute updates. So no files, no vague statements. MICHELLE KANE: Yeah, yeah. And you know what? Honestly, that consistency and transparency that helped reduce the panic didn't mean we weren't angst ridden about it, but at least we knew it was being handled. So, you know, even if the news isn't good, here's the lesson.
5:21 People still want to know what's happening. They can take the bad news because, you know, in the absence of anything, people are just going to make stuff up. So you may as well lead the way and communicate. All right, here's our story of rom com Gone Bad, the Coldplay kiss cam scandal. Oh boy. This one is messy, right? Two executives caught in a cozy moment on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert. And of course, one was married. I shouldn't take stuff that's horrible. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. And this, you know, we've had since this first broke, there's been, you know, follow on stories about this. So the PR horror wasn't the kiss.
6:02 It was the 48 hours of silence afterward. MICHELLE KANE: Seriously? Yeah. And like, you know, just like we said that that vacuum just creates space for so much misinformation. You know, all those AI clips that came as a result of it. I mean, everyone just up and ran with it because, I mean, you know, even though there were humans involved and it did affect them, the world needs something to giggle at. And this, this provided. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. And I mean, by the time the company responded, they had completely lost control of the narrative. MICHELLE KANE: Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, our takeaway here is if you have the unfortunate situation where it's a scandal involving executives, speed matters, you know, hop on the phone.
6:51 Silence is a strategy, but only when it's intentional and part of the plan. Not wondering will this just go away? Because more than likely, no, it's not going to go away. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. MICHELLE KANE: Yeah. KAREN SWIM, APR: So Alta I love Alta. MICHELLE KANE: I do too. KAREN SWIM, APR: They okay. Alta had an email newsletter mistake. And it's a reminder that copywriting is a reputational risk. MICHELLE KANE: Yes. Because one phrase unintentionally referenced a tragic event involving a celebrity partner. And of course, the backlash was immediate. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. And the takeaway here is that every single message that you put out is a potential headline. So you, you really have to tighten up your review processes because they do matter.
7:44 MICHELLE KANE: Yeah, yeah. Speaking of words mattering, Fury's reply all disaster. The reply, all nightmare. I mean, the gmail undo button can only get you so far. I do, I do, I do, I do, yeah. I mean this was too much. KAREN SWIM, APR: And one we can all relate to, right? MICHELLE KANE: Oh yes. Yes yes. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yes. Okay. So this was an internal email chain with snarky comments that accidentally got sent to an entire media list. MICHELLE KANE: Scoops everywhere. KAREN SWIM, APR: Journalists and. MICHELLE KANE: I serious.
8:25 KAREN SWIM, APR: I can't, you know. MICHELLE KANE: Oh. KAREN SWIM, APR: I don't think I mean, I've seen people do reply on mistakes. So but the entire media list, I wonder, like why they had their entire media list on like how. MICHELLE KANE: Your right were they were they bcc'd. Yeah, even that is like, oh, cringe. KAREN SWIM, APR: That's crazy. MICHELLE KANE: Oh yeah. So lots of relationships damage there, unfortunately. Yeah yeah yeah. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. MICHELLE KANE: Yeah. Boy. KAREN SWIM, APR: Screenshots. Various journalists. That's a nightmare. So here's the lesson on that. Internal culture shows up externally and reply all. It's a villain. Except I do hate it when people reply only to me for something that my team actually does need to know.
9:14 So if I put extra people in a reply, then replying only to me is not helpful because then I have to communicate it. And then I have to keep communicating because you keep refusing to hit reply all. But maybe, maybe this crisis called everybody to fear reply all in its entirety. MICHELLE KANE: True, true. And then there's its distant cousin of. Sometimes it's good not to put the two address in the email until you're finished, because sometimes your finger slips and you send it, you're like now I look stupid. Yes, all these little things that keep us awake at night. So what do all these horror stories have in common. KAREN SWIM, APR: Besides being spooky and appropriate for Halloween month?
9:55 MICHELLE KANE: Well, they scare me. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah. I think that they, you know, it's a reminder that PR isn't just about storytelling, right? It's about risk management on every level. MICHELLE KANE: Absolutely, absolutely. And that, you know, as we know, but we need to remind ourselves all the time, the internet is unpredictable and can be unforgiving. You know, sometimes really funny. KAREN SWIM, APR: Really hilarious. Sometimes the internet really wins. I mean, they come and they entertain you and you are like, let me grab some popcorn because this is good. Yeah. But I mean, you know, every disaster does have a lesson. And, and you really can turn, you know, horror into strategy.
10:41 MICHELLE KANE: Totally, totally. So, you know, that's it. Today it was a quick trick or treat episode. We've we hope we brought some treats. So no tricks, but if you have a PR horror story of your own, you can certainly submit it. Either you can be anonymous, we will guarantee anonymity, but hey, if you want to own it, that's fine with us to send it our way. Go over to that solo life.com and hit us up. KAREN SWIM, APR: Yeah, we might, we might feature it in a future episode. MICHELLE KANE: I think that would be fun because you know what? If we can't laugh with ourselves, what can happen? Well, thanks for joining us. Please do share this around if you found it valuable. And of course, until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.