BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industry sectors, we recently sat down with former Congressman Michael A. Andrews, who now maintains his own private law practice in Washington, D.C., to discuss the public policy challenges facing the renewable energy industry. As an enthusiastic champion of renewable energy’s role in achieving American energy independence, Congressman Andrews discussed the steps that industry leaders and policy makers ... READ MORE

Earlier this month, PepsiCo launched a new blog that created considerable online buzz, but for all the wrong reasons.  When it first came online, Food Frontiers, which covered developments in nutrition science and health policy, while making frequent mention of “healthy” PepsiCo products, was roundly criticized for failing to adequately inform readers that PepsiCo was the blog’s sole sponsor and content provider. Other bloggers on the ScienceBlogs network, which hosted Food Frontiers, were up in ... READ MORE

Do toys make kids fat? That’s what a public health watchdog group would have you believe. This week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) sent a letter to McDonald’s calling on the fast food giant to remove toys from all packaged meals or face the prospect of litigation. According to the CSPI, the toys included in McDonald’s Happy Meals encourage kids to eat fast food and, thus, are a contributing factor to what ... READ MORE

Every time you tune in to a morning show, open an Internet browser, or pick up a newspaper these days, it seems there is some “scientific” study claiming to find a new health hazard related to products we all use every day. Two weeks ago, it was a new study blaming high fructose corn syrup for obesity. Last month, it was a study warning of the addictive nature of junk food. For us non-scientists, this is all ... READ MORE

As part of a continuing series of Bulletproof Blog™ video interviews with thought leaders across multiple disciplines and industry sectors, I sat down with Donna Cryer, the CEO of Cryer Health, to discuss the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) and its role in helping its  more than 5,000 members better understand the  transformational issues facing the healthcare industry today. The HBA’s mission is to help women in the healthcare industry engage the key issues and individuals driving ... READ MORE

Last week, President Obama promised $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees for the first two new nuclear power reactors to be constructed in the United States in more than 30 years. The announcement, spurred by a continuing turnaround in nuclear energy industry’s reputation, was cheered by supporters as a “good first step” that will allow the industry to expand more rapidly. But before the champions of an American nuclear renaissance pop the corks on all those ... READ MORE

In tough economic times, corporate social responsibility often takes a back seat to corporate survival. But, as The New York Times reported last week, that is definitely not the case at the global pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. CEO Andrew Witty has made access to life-saving drugs in the poorest corners of the globe his company’s mission. In the process, he is changing the face of an industry once widely criticized for charging prohibitively high prices while millions ... READ MORE

A recent article in the New York Times makes the interesting point that Fox News makes more money than all its competitors combined. As if we needed further proof that this is no longer your parents’ media landscape, the commercial success of Fox demonstrates that the television news audience now gets most of what we used to understand as “hard news” from outlets other than traditional news organizations. These days, by the time we sit down ... READ MORE

As the dust settles on the Tiger Woods drama, all eyes are turning to the disgraced golfer’s long list of lucrative product endorsements. Some have dropped Tiger while others are staying the course. None appear to be willing to ignore his notorious fall from grace. It’s just the latest example of risks you take when you wrap your brand around a celebrity. When the going is good everyone wins. When something suddenly goes wrong, the brand ... READ MORE

With the so-called “climate-gate” controversy putting global warming back in the news, companies with big carbon footprints might be tempted to revive the argument that global warming simply isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. They should think twice. For those who still doubt that global warming is a man made phenomenon, those e-mail messages leaked by a hacker who broke into some climate researcher’s computers make for great reading. But for big business to try ... READ MORE