Our telephone has been ringing off the hook today…so pardon the delay in the obvious follow-up. Paula Deen violated one of the golden rules of managing a crisis: “do no more harm”. While the social media meters are suggesting that she did not move the meter one way or the other after the interview, her publisher reports cookbook sales are up. We want to focus on the teachable moments from this media mess.
It was not clear this morning why she did the interview with Matt Lauer. To make up for her no-show last week? What was the point? If your point and purpose aren’t clear you end up at the mercy of the interviewer–just answering his/her questions. The bigger mistake came when Deen claimed that in her 66 years of life she only used that “N” word one time. Well, in her sworn deposition she mentioned using it at least twice. Then we all learned today, she apparently used it when she came up with that crazy scheme to hire middle-aged black men to work as servers at her brother’s wedding. O.k., the lesson here is NEVER use the words: never, impossible or absolutely (especially if it is not true). The absolutes will get you all the time. Don’t be surprised if the plaintiff’s lawyers use this interview to attack her credibility or attempt to leverage a settlement.
Finally, did Deen really invoke the name of Rev. Jesse Jackson? Jackson you may recall has some experience in this area having offended the entire Jewish community during his 1984 bid for President. His advice to Deen–show people by your actions that you have changed. That might be hard given Ms. Deen’s now infamous quote this morning -“I is what I is, and I’m not changing.” Okay, that’s fine, that’s her choice. Caesars Entertainment made its choice too. The Caesars Entertainment company has released a statement saying it had “reached an agreement with Paula Deen Enterprises not to renew the business relationship.” The company said it is “in the best interest” to part ways. Caesars said it intends to rebrand the current Paula Deen-themed restaurants in the coming months. QVC is still weighing its options.
The best advice we can offer Ms. Deen at this point is to immediately pull back, find a quiet space and replay today’s interview with Matt. Take a note tablet and count the number of times you use the word “I”. It is a pretty good bet that if you offended people, the focus should be on their pain, not yours.
Watch here and then come back and comment below.
