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| Casey at Bat |
This public
relations proposal has been prepared by Allyson M. Allo, junior public
relations
officer, for the firm Major Enterprises, Inc. (hereinafter called
“the Firm”).
SUMMARY
As requested by the
Firm, the following public relations proposal for accepting or rejecting a
client has been devised in order to assist the Firm in determining ultimately
whether or not proceed with developing and maintaining a public relations
strategy to promote professional baseball player Mighty Casey (hereinafter
called “Casey”) in a positive light to the media and general public. I am of
the opinion that the Firm should not take the account and will lay out the
justification for such a position.
SITUATION ANALYSIS
What is presently
known about the proposed client, Casey, is that he has been under contract with
the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team as their pitcher for the past three
years. He is currently under suspicion
of having used steroids and other performance enhancing drugs, but to date has
not been charged. There is currently
also intense media interest in the case.
The circumstances
affecting Casey appear to be as follows:
The attitudes of the
general public towards professional sports players suspected of breaking the
rules and using performance enhancing drugs (or drugs in general), are very dependent
upon circumstances. For example,
baseball player Alex Rodriguez was “branded a cheater for his steroid use,”
while Josh Hamilton “received sympathy for his struggles with addiction”
(Vaccaro, 2015). It appears the public sympathizes with addiction and is
willing to offer support to one suffering with it, but is highly critical of
those cheating the system with performance enhancing drugs.
Although Casey’s
personal statistics as a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers are impressive and a
key strength in a potential PR campaign, his alleged weakness in needing the
boost of performance enhancing drugs to excel in his sport may likely outweigh
his strengths in the public eye.
The American public
has long held romantic and patriotic notions of baseball and its players.
Baseball is a uniquely American sport, and equated on a pure level with apple
pie and “Mom.” When a professional
baseball player is given the opportunity to compete in the Major Leagues, the
American public does not want to see their illusions of the American way (hard
work paying off with success) destroyed, and would rather throw their weight
behind someone with addiction challenges who is open about it, than an alleged
cheater. Cheaters in the world of professional sports are held in practically
the same regard as cowards in the military. The stigma of being known (or even
suspected) for such action is detrimental to any future faith the public may
have in Casey.
And what of the
ethical considerations of agreeing to represent Casey in a positive public
relations campaign prior to either formal charges being made, or complete
exoneration? As this proposal is between
partners at the Firm (who observe strict non-disclosure standards when
considering a potential client), all known circumstances surrounding the client
must be disclosed among the partners in order for proper consideration to his
acceptance or rejection. To this end, I believe it is within the privacy laws
to share that Casey’s agent spoke with me in confidentiality and stated that Casey
has admitted to taking “some substance” that was “unknown” to him, but may have
been steroids. This admission must be
considered as deliberations are made among the partners of the Firm.
If such allegations
are confirmed and formal charges made, our Firm may be seen almost as complicit
in attempting to cover up Casey’s actions.
Consider the situation with Alex Rodriguez, wherein he denied steroid
use, and it was later revealed that he paid for a cover-up and did, indeed,
take performance enhancing drugs, per his own admission to the DEA. It is noteworthy, that a public relations
campaign was launched during the investigation in this case, where Alex
Rodriguez toured Boys & Girls Clubs, middle schools, and high schools, and
gave a message of learning his less proved “disingenuous to say the least”
(ESPN, 2014), and that his apology and subsequent actions “weren’t very
genuine.” In my opinion, this reflected
badly on the public relations firm handling Mr. Rodriguez’s campaign.
In light of the
above similar situational example (which is only one of several potential
examples), I believe our Firm would be walking a very fine line in taking Casey
on as a client. The Firm has prided itself on holding to a high standard of
ethical practices, and promoting organizations and people of similar character.
Should we proceed to showcase him in a favorable light in the media, perhaps
doing charitable work, being a family man, or speaking out against the use of
performance enhancing drugs, and then it is revealed that he is, indeed,
guilty, I do not believe the damage control necessary will be worth the fee
paid by Casey to the Firm, nor the cost in loss of character and standing among
our peers and among our own publics and clients.
CONCLUSION
In public relations,
we must consider not only what is in the best interest of the client, but also
his publics, and what our obligation may be.
In this regard, I believe we must look at the professional values of the
Firm (specifically Responsible Advocacy, Honesty/Integrity, and
Independence/Objective Counsel) (Cameron, et al, 2008), and follow the code of
ethics to which we expect our staff to adhere, and which our clients expect us
to uphold. The Firm has always maintained a high level of trust with their
chosen clients, and in light of the examples given, in good conscience, I do
not believe it is in the best interest of the firm to promote Casey as a
client. Also, as “adherence to professional standards of conduct…is the chief
measure of a public relations person” (Cameron, Wilcox, Reber, & Shin,
2008, p. 209), I do not support a decision to take Casey on as a client.
As we are being
asked to handle Casey’s public relations campaign after allegations have been
made towards a presumed unethical code of conduct on his part, I am persuaded
this is not a good course of action to take. Therefore I submit my opinion to
reject Mighty Casey as a client with the Firm of Major Enterprises, Inc.
Thank you for your
consideration.
References
Vaccaro,
M. (2015, February). A-Rod, Josh Hamilton and the hypocrisies of drug
forgiveness. New York Times.
Retrieved from:
http://nypost.com/2015/02/26/a-rod-josh-hamilton-and-the-hypocrisies-of-drug-forgiveness/
ESPN
(2014, November). A-Rod confessed in DEA meeting. ESPN New York. Retrieved from:
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/11825652/alex-rodriguez-new-york-yankees-admitted-dea-used-peds
Cameron,
G. T., Wilcox, D. L., Reber, B. H., & Shin, J. (2008). Public relations today: Managing competition and conflict. Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
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