Former Toyota PR Exec Takes Golden Mic
Words of the Day
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein
Top U.S. Spokesman Urged Automaker To Come Clean
Toyota’s PR guy did the right thing – and tried to dodge a huge crisis communications black eye – and for his message of truth and clarity, Irv Miller win’s this week’s Golden Mic.
As the aftershocks of Toyota’s crisis communications earthquake continue to shake the automaker’s crumbling reputation, news came out earlier this month that the company’s top U.S. public relations executive warned in January that Toyota needed to “come clean” about faulty gas pedals that could trigger sudden acceleration – and that the company “was not protecting our customers by keeping quiet.”
The terrible tremors on the reputation Richter Scale have continued much of the month as the brand with the sterling identity continues to tarnish amidst further recalls, denials and finger-pointing!
According to the Detroit Free Press, the e-mail from Irv Miller came five days before Toyota launched a recall of 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. to fix gas pedals. The Obama administration said in early April that Toyota hid the problem from U.S. auto safety officials for at least four months and slapped Toyota with a $16.4-million fine, the largest ever for a vehicle defect.
“We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet. The time to hide on this one is over,” Miller wrote in a Jan. 16 e-mail obtained by the Free Press. The e-mail was among the 70,000 pages of documents the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has collected as part of its investigation. Several congressional committees also are probing Toyota’s response, and the disclosures could lead to another round of hearings on Capitol Hill.
Miller has since retired from Toyota, and may have taken the last great hope for clarity and accuracy with him!
Meanwhile, the crisis communications collisions continue to pile-up for Toyota.
Just today, the venerable vehicle manufacturer announced a recall of its 2010 model year Lexus GX 460 SUVs due to an increased risk of rollover. The most recent recall covers about 9,400 SUVs in the United States. The automaker recently suspended sales of the luxury SUV after a report last week by the magazine Consumer Reports. The magazine said its test drivers uncovered a problem during routine tests.
The SUV’s electronic stability control program failed to keep the vehicle in line during a severe handling maneuver, allowing it to slide almost completely sideways, the magazine said. That situation could lead to a rollover, Consumer Reports spokesman Doug Love said.
The magazine urged car shoppers not to buy the GX 460 until the problem is remedied. Toyota says Lexus dealers will update software which controls the Vehicle Stability Control, or VSC. VSC, also commonly called Electronic Stability Control (ESC), is a computerized system that controls the brakes and accelerator to help maintain vehicle control in abrupt maneuvers. If only they could do the same with PR!
Lexus dealers will have the VSC program updates by the end of April, at which time owners will be asked to bring their vehicles in for the software to be changed, Toyota said. The work is expected to take no more than one hour per vehicle.
In the meantime, Toyota is offering free loaner vehicles to GX 460 owners who do not want to drive their vehicles because of the problem.
Whew, WordSmith is relieved! It’s time for Toyota – computer malfunctions and all – to steer into the closest reputation repair shop and get at total makeover.
Golden Mic
Each week, Wordsmith will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned … and step-up to the mic!
The WordSmith News Bureau is based at Deane Smith Media Innovations, a full-service PR, marketing and advertising agency. Got PR? Need marketing strategy? Ad consulting? Message Wordsmithing? Creative & online initiatives? Reach the WordSmith at wordsmith@deanesmithmedia.com