4 crisis lessons from Sean Spicer’s major misstep
The press secretary used Hitler and the Holocaust to draw a comparison to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Here’s what you can learn from the PR disaster.
It’s been a busy week for crisis communicators.
It might have seemed that one couldn’t top Pepsi’s marketing misstep or United’s PR mess (which will become a case study for years to come), but White House press secretary Sean Spicer stepped up to the challenge.
— Emma (@politics_n_prep) April 11, 2017
During Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Spicer referenced Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust while discussing the use of chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
“You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” Spicer said.
Crisis communicators and PR pros can pull some valuable takeaways from Spicer’s comments, as well as his later-issued clarifications and eventual apologies:
1. Don’t compare things to Adolf Hitler or the Holocaust.
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