7 Ways to Avoid PR Disasters Near the Elections

By Sarah Huard

November 4, 2024

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This election season has proven to be particularly polarizing, and many companies have had to deal with their fair share of PR disasters and controversies in the time leading up to the vote. If your company or client is running PR campaigns ahead of the election, there are a few things you should keep in mind to avoid similar controversies that might damage the hard-won reputation and trust you’ve been building.

1. Stay Apolitical in Your Public Interactions

This is probably the most obvious advice of all, but recent events have shown that it bears emphasizing. If you’re going to critique policy changes because those changes may negatively impact your industry, you should still keep your wording as neutral as possible and avoid attacking specific people or political figures during interviews or in articles. If you’re going to make your positions known on social media, just be aware that such statements may directly impact your employees and your company as well. 

This is something some CEOs have unfortunately learned in just the past few months, like when the founder of a sticker company expressed his support for former President Trump and the result was a proliferation of death threats against not only him, but also his employees. 

Ideally, you want to remain politically neutral. If you do feel the need to take a stand, be aware of:

• The political views of the publication or journalist you’re interacting with. If you express opposition to GOP policies, don’t expect positive coverage from journalists who are supportive of them or to be included in articles that tout those policies.
• The potential that your employees could become targets. If you represent a company, your views may directly impact how your company and your employees are viewed and treated online. 
• The political views of your target demographic. If the demographic you’re targeting in a marketing campaign doesn’t match the views you’ve recently expressed, you may find that you struggle to connect with that audience. 
• There is such a thing as bad coverage. “All coverage is good coverage”? Not necessarily. If you’re alienating your purchasers and damaging brand trust that you’ve developed, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Pro Tip: If you’re a communications officer, you can help protect your company from PR disasters through media training for employees and company spokespeople and by encouraging them to remain as apolitical as possible ahead of the election.

2. Anticipate Indirect Affiliations

This is one of those lesser-known pieces of advice that can come in very handy if you are running ads on platforms like X or you’re making use of influencer marketing as a complement to your PR efforts. With ad algorithms, some platforms might automatically display your ads next to political content or on partisan pages, potentially associating your brand with specific ideologies.

For example, the Portland Press Herald ran a story on how ad videos for over 60 major brands, including Verizon and Slack, were running with videos that promoted highly controversial policies and election misinformation. The New York Times shared a similar report that showed major brands’ ads ended up paired with racist videos. 

To avoid this, monitor ad placements closely and consider adding keywords or pages to exclude from ad campaigns. You may even want to pause your ads for a short time. Also, if you’re working with influencers, ensure they’re not sharing content that could reflect poorly on your brand around election season. Even if the association seems minor, audiences may link their political stance with your brand. 

3. Manage Employee Advocacy Programs Carefully

Employee advocacy programs encourage employees to share content about their company on their personal social media profiles, acting as brand ambassadors. The goal is to extend the brand’s reach and credibility through the voices of employees, who can often seem more authentic and relatable than corporate accounts.

Such programs are great, but can produce PR disasters if employee advocates unintentionally trigger backlash due to political views they’ve expressed in personal posts. Make sure to reiterate guidelines for personal and professional boundaries on social media ahead of the election. Encourage them to avoid discussing politics or at least to refrain from contradicting your company’s stance if their profiles link them to your organization.

4. Vet Scheduled Content Thoroughly

Let’s say you’ve developed a content plan that’s scheduled to go live at a certain time. Around elections, unassuming posts can suddenly seem insensitive due to changing social dynamics or breaking news stories. You may want to review or even temporarily pause scheduled posts to ensure they don’t take on unintended connotations. A harmless campaign could turn problematic with the wrong timing.

5. Monitor Customer Support and Feedback Channels

Political developments can lead to heightened emotions, so customer support and social media managers should be trained to de-escalate politically charged complaints without appearing dismissive or defensive. Have clear guidelines for handling sensitive conversations, especially on social media, to avoid any political confrontation or accusations of bias. 

As a comms professional, you may need to step in if internal customer support complaints end up escalating to public sites like Google reviews or TrustPilot. It will be your responsibility to make sure anything your company posts as a public response is in line with how you want your brand to be perceived by both the media and your customers.

6. Resist Piggybacking

If you’re tempted to take advantage of the election cycle through offers or story pitches, you should reconsider. Offering election-day discounts or voter-themed promotions can appear insincere or manipulative. Avoid tying sales or special deals to voting, which may seem like leveraging civic responsibility for profit. You’ll also want to avoid pitching based on news stories that highlight tragedies or overly controversial events ahead of the election. 

In short, PR professionals should exercise heightened sensitivity, maintain neutrality, and avoid appearing opportunistic.

7. Prepare Crisis Response Messaging for Election-Related Scenarios

Even with your best efforts, there’s always the chance that your client or company may end up unwittingly stirring up controversy and attracting bad press. One of the top ways this happens is in interviews when your clients or spokespeople respond to an unexpected question on a sensitive topic. 

Even if your source doesn’t plan to speak on political subjects, have pre-drafted, neutral responses ready for sensitive topics. A quick, nonpartisan response strategy will help your team avoid delays or on-the-fly statements that could escalate the situation.

Not sure how to prepare a press release for crisis management situations? Read our guide: The Perfect Press Release: Your First Aid for Crisis Management

What To Do When Nothing Works

If all else fails and you do end up with a PR disaster on your hands, there are a couple other things you should keep in mind. 

Firstly, no response is the same as a bad response. The last thing you want to do is go silent or shut down negative commentary. If you do, you give off the impression that your brand can’t take criticism. Instead, respond empathetically. Be quick to explain the situation as much as possible and take blame as needed.

Secondly, be careful about asking for interviews to be taken down. Let’s say your CEO really stepped out of line in an interview and you’re worried about that interview going live. Most publications will not edit a published piece except to correct factual errors. While you can always reach out to make an apology, you don’t want to make the situation worse by placing blame on the interviewer or making a request in a disrespectful fashion. 

Finally, know when to distance yourself publicly. If one of the influencers your company is working with has made controversial or even racist statements, it’s probably time to distance yourself and make a public statement to the effect that your company does not share those views. Similarly, if your ads end up on controversial media outlets or videos, depending on who has seen and reported the incident, it may be necessary to make a public statement condemning the views expressed near your ad.

Final Thoughts

Election season comes with a lot of pitfalls that don’t necessarily apply throughout the rest of the year. However, some of these tips are good policy no matter what time of year it is. Hopefully with the help of these tips, you can protect your company and clients and prevent a PR disaster in 2024.

If you would like help working on your campaigns during major news cycles like the US elections, feel free to set up a free consultation with us. We’ll have a look at your strategy and help you avoid pitfalls.