THE PR VERDICT: “C” (Distinctly OK) for Facebook, regarding mastectomy photos on the site.

Remember Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy story? Of course you do. The attention she garnered propelled Facebook, the Internet’s favorite whipping boy, into a conversation about breast cancer survivors that it never wanted, and from which it could never gain.

A photographer posted dramatic photos of mastectomied women and was temporarily banned from the social network under Facebook’s vague guidelines regarding nudity. His cause was taken up by an activist outraged at Facebook’s seeming insensitivity. The activist, a Stage IV cancer survivor herself, started an online petition calling on Facebook to reverse itself – and got more than 20,000 signatures overnight.

Facebook, to its credit, reached out to the activist and clarified its policy on post-mastectomy photos, which is now its own paragraph on the site’s community standards page. In a statement, Facebook said it had always permitted such photos, but took some down after users complained. The reworded policy made their acceptability on the site explicit. The action should have generated “win-win” type headlines. Instead what emerged were headlines of Facebook “bowing  to consumer pressure.” For Facebook, no good deed goes unpunished.

THE PR VERDICT: “C” (Distinctly OK) for Facebook, for suffering the PR consequences without complaining.

THE PR TAKEAWAY:  A measured response is always best. When you have bigger PR headaches – like allegations that you let the Government spy on your users, for example – it could be tempting to look for a way to deflect  negative attention and polish your public image. But doing so carries risks you look callow and opportunistic. Facebook could have made more noise about its policy change to garner good publicity but recognized that the story was not in their control. Better then to take  your lumps and turn the page. In the world of PR, it’s important not to bring a fly swatter to a gun fight. And don’t bring an F-16, either.

THE PR VERDICT: “D” (PR Problematic) for the UK government. (Pictured: Royal Bank of Scotland’s Stephen Hester)

Government, it seems, is no match for bankers and executives who run the world’s most powerful financial institutions. The world got another reminder of this on Wednesday when Stephen Hester, Chief Executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, abruptly tendered his resignation. The news might have slammed Hester as another wealthy banker too arrogant to work under government supervision. Instead, Hester left his post like a hero, with lavish praise from the folks who fired him and the admiration of shareholders.

News of his departure sent the stock down, triggered headlines about bereft employee morale, and prompted a Treasury minister to address the UK’s House of Commons with a statement full of hyperbole about Hester’s success at getting the job done.

The reason for the departure? Apparently the government wants to “turn the page” on RBS and divest itself of the business it bailed out. Investors in a privatization deal will not view Hester’s leadership favorably, reckoned the bureaucrats. Instead, so their thinking goes, the market wants to see a leader who represents the future, not the past. Fair enough but for the unanswered questions: Who is Hester’s replacement? And if he’s as good as you say, why show your most capable leader the door? Why not let him help you through the “transition?”

THE PR VERDICT: “D” (PR Problematic) for the UK government for badly mishandling an announcement with a communications strategy that begs many questions.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Before firing, have a replacement lined up, or suffer the consequences. The RBS privatization has a chance to succeed, but the government just raised its cost of capital unnecessarily by showing the current CEO the door, with no apparent plan for replacement. Once the press statements were finalized and the polite, politic resignation letter released, Hester told the truth that he’d wanted to stay after all. While he got to appear as though he’d orchestrated an effective career transition, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne et al were left holding a bag of empty words. Next time, think before you pink slip.

PRV Contributor Pen Pendleton is a communications professional with 20 years experience in business and financial public relations. He began his career as a newspaper reporter and now works as a consultant in New York. 

PR WINNER OF THE WEEK: “A” (PR PERFECT) TO Fran and Jane Murnaghan, 

PR LOSER OF THE WEEK: “F” (FULL FIASCO) TO James Clapper, the US Director of National Intelligence, for his explanation of why he lied to Congress about wide-ranging surveillance programs. In March, when asked by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) if the National Security Agency was collecting data on millions of Americans, Clapper responded “No, sir…not wittingly.” As we now know, the NSA was very wittingly doing so. This week, Clapper said he felt trapped by the question so gave the “least untruthful” response. As a general rule, truth is pretty binary – something is either true or it’s not. He also said he misinterpreted the word “collect.” Who knew the Director of Intelligence had such comprehension problems? Interestingly, while Clapper’s inability to understand basic English may sink him from a PR perspective, it may also protect him from perjury charges. Perhaps the director is smarter than he seems.

THE PRV “THERE’S NO ‘THERE’ THERE” AWARD to Kanye West, whose interview this week with The New York Times sets a new standard for unintended self-satire. His narcissistic ramblings on his own “awesomeness” could have appeared, unedited, in The Onion. The self-styled “Michael Jordan of music” has won “the most Grammys of anyone my age” and is “so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things” – like maybe how to conduct an interview? After earning a brief moment of pathos at the mention of his deceased mother, he notes that the “idea of Kanye and vanity are like, synonymous,” and inserts himself in a pantheon of visionaries that includes Miles Davis, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs. Of the latter, he notes: “I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of Internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump.” After more than 4,000 words of Kanye, mostly from his own mouth, one sort of hopes that will be a long jump off a short pier.

THE PR VERDICT: “B” (Good Show) for Vladimir Putin (pictured with soon-to-be-ex-wife Lyudmila).

Russia has always been mysterious, both captivating and confounding the rest of the world. Perhaps that’s why Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s announcement last week that he is divorcing his wife of nearly 30 years, Lyudmila, seemed downright frank. In an “interview” as choreographed as the ballet the Putins had just left, the couple was approached at the Kremlin’s private theater by a journalist who just happened to inquire about their marital status. Dressed in formal wear and referring to each other by their patronymic names, the Putins stiffly confirmed an amicable split.

As strange as it was, the announcement marked a PR milestone for Putin, who has so fiercely guarded his private life that his adult daughters have never been photographed and he allegedly shut down a newspaper that speculated he was having an affair. Why be so open now? Possibly to put this issue to bed well before the next presidential election in five years. With one of the highest divorce rates in the world, Russians are no strangers to separation. Putin, however, is not particularly popular in his homeland, and divorce runs counter to the Russian Orthodox Christian church. He’ll also be the first Russian leader in 300 years to split from his spouse. At least Lyudmila won’t be banished to a nunnery like Peter the Great’s wife (at least, as of press time).

THE PR VERDICT:  “B” (Good Show) for Vladimir Putin. The harsh glare of the spotlight means that even former KGB agents have to practice a bit of glasnost now and then.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Be candid. Don’t resist. Today’s media is borderless and, often, relentless when it comes to the personal lives of public figures. At a certain point, it’s better to be candid about a significant event such as a divorce or affair rather than hoping (or forcing) the lid to stay on the pot. Just ask US President Bill Clinton, who probably wishes he’d handled the question about his involvement with intern Monica Lewinsky a bit differently. For leaders of nations, there is no such thing as a private life – even in Mother Russia.

THE PR VERDICT: “D” (PR Problematic) for Lululemon. (Pictured: Former CEO Christine Day)

Off with their heads! That may have been the cry from yoga apparel maker Lululemon‘s board of directors, which was likely behind the resignation of two key executives after an embarrassing and costly incident. The company had to recall their signature Luon yoga pants after customers complained that they revealed more than just good form in yoga classes. The switch from opaque fabric set Lululemon back to the tune of $140 million, with a drop in stock prices. As the sheer pants exposed more tails, heads were sure to roll.

First to go was Chief Product Officer Sheree Waterson, who left the company in April. And yesterday, Christine Day announced she would be stepping down from her position as Lululemon’s CEO after nearly six years. PR was spun far thicker than the fabric that caused the problems in the first place. Day calmly called the move a “personal decision,” adding that she would stay on until a successor was named. This was, of course, meant to sound like all were in agreement and yogically serene.

The stock market was not quite so zen. Lululemon’s shares fell 12 percent in the wake of the news, which brings up the question of not only when to fire, but if. Yes, this was a costly mistake, and certainly an embarrassment for one of the most successful athletic apparel chains around. But the beheading, following the mistake, may have taken things from bad to worse.

THE PR VERDICT: “D” (PR Problematic) for Lululemon. Too much unrest in this high-end clothing company is making them look bad.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Sometimes, it’s better to let sleeping (downward) dogs lie, at least for a while. A given in any business is that mistakes will be made, and a large part of any good PR department’s work is cleaning up after the initial mess. But once that’s done, why create another mess, just as the public is forgetting about it all? It’s the job of any good PR to advise execs about potential fallout resulting from drastic moves. They won’t want to hear it, but they’re sure to look for someone to blame when they find themselves in an even more painful position.

THE PR VERDICT: “A” (PR Perfect) for Silicon Valley’s tech giants, for keeping it short but not mincing words in response to PRISM allegations.

PRISM, news outlets reported last week, is a clandestine program under which the US National Security Agency obtained “direct” access to the servers of Microsoft, Apple, Google, AOL, and Facebook, all of whom signed on to the program. The disclosure came on the heels of similar revelations about the government obtaining call logs of Verizon customers and spying on journalists. As described by the media, PRISM, an acronym for “Planning Tool for Resource Integration, Synchronization, and Management,” appears to be far more obtrusive and Orwellian than previously thought. One anonymous source said it enabled the NSA to “literally watch you as you type.”

Or does it? Faster than a trending tweet, the companies mentioned as being complicit in the citizen spying issued unambiguous denials. “Outrageous,” said Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. “Never heard of PRISM,” said Apple. Those denials, plus the government’s declassification and disclosure of some PRISM details, cast doubt on the story, which drew surprisingly muted public outrage anyway. Verizon’s response, in contrast, seemed contrived and concerned more with containing PR damage. The Washington Post, one of the outlets that broke the story, appeared later to walk back its initial reporting as other media outlets found experts to assert that the leaked PRISM documents had been misread.

THE PR VERDICT: “A” (PR Perfect) for Silicon Valley’s tech giants, for keeping it short.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Keep it simple. When the story is misleading or just plain wrong, don’t waste a second in responding. Don’t get bogged down in ambiguous language that produces the infamous non-denial denial. Sometimes PR is not just about PR; it’s about setting the record straight, and doing so before a story long on accusations but short on facts spins wildly out of control. Journalists can make mistakes and some – gasp! – have agendas. When the press bites, reach out to your journalism friends (you have made some friends, haven’t you?) to set the story straight. And remember; bonus points for acting aggrieved, not angry.

THE PR VERDICT: “A” (PR Perfect) for John Galliano.

Is John Galliano’s exile from the fashion world over? The designer has finally broken his silence, following his spectacular fall from grace in 2011 after making anti-Semitic rants in Paris. One episode in particular was videotaped, prompting his immediate firing from Dior and later conviction by a French court.

In his first interview since the scandal, Galliano opens up to a very sympathetic Vanity Fair.  His story has the making of an epic novel – the “un-idyllic” childhood in a multi-cultural but rough London neighborhood, where he was bullied for his homosexuality; his ascent into the world of high fashion; and the demons unlocked in fashion’s world of high pressure and unhealthy pampering. En plus, the unclear provenance of the incriminating video, fed to the media before Galliano’s arrest, provides just a hint of conspiracy. Vanity Fair spares no effort to exonerate, consulting and quoting experts to make the case that, when he hissed those spiteful things to people, Galliano just couldn’t help himself: Alcohol and drugs had simply made him insane.

Center stage in the article is Galliano’s contrition. Friends and other supporting sources, such as Jewish leaders he met through an executive of Vanity Fair’s publisher Condé Nast, vouch for the same. He studied the Holocaust, attended service at a synagogue, and is finally making tentative steps back into his profession, supported by fashion royalties such as Oscar de la Renta and Anna Wintour. Shalom, John, welcome back!

THE PR VERDICT: “A” (PR Perfect) for John Galliano. With a little help from influential friends, a comeback is always possible.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: For perfect rebound PR, timing is everything. Prepare the line-up of your supporters carefully, and make sure potential antagonists remain silent; one of the key stakeholders in this saga, Galliano’s former employer LVMH, declined to comment due to ongoing litigation about Galliano’s compensation. (The article hints at a soon-to-be-expected “human-to-human” apology from Galliano to his former bosses.) The glitterati love a tormented, artistic soul, and once confession and amends have been made, one may be pardoned and permitted to go back to work. Our PR advice? Post-comeback, work in silence.

PR WINNER OF THE WEEK: “A” (PR PERFECT) TO New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

PR LOSER OF THE WEEK: “F” (FULL FIASCO) TO Major League Baseball’s latest steroid scandal. Twenty baseball heavyweights, including Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees (left), are under investigation for alleged involvement in a Florida “anti-aging clinic” whose elixir of youth was performance enhancing drugs. A-Rod previously admitted to taking PEDs from 2001-3, but has denied taking them since. If found to be lying, he could face a 100-game suspension. No word on the effect that will have on his 10-year, $275 million contract, especially after a bad season.

THE PRV “THERE’S NO ‘THERE’ THERE” AWARD to The Guardian, the British newspaper that breathlessly reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) issued a “top secret” order for the daily phone records of millions of Verizon customers. The order, the paper said, “shows the scale of surveillance under the Obama administration.” US lawmakers, who can usually find outrage in a cup of coffee, were unmoved. Senior Democrats and Republicans in Congress said they know about it and have no particular problem with it, especially in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. The White House simply said measures are in place to ensure that the program, which does not permit authorities to listen in on phone calls, complies with various laws. It also appears this clandestine order The Guardian stumbled upon may just be a reauthorization of a program that’s gone on for years. Phonegate it’s not. Ho-hum.

THE PR VERDICT: “F” (Full Fiasco) for Michael Douglas.

There isn’t a big enough candelabra in the world right now for Michael Douglas to hide behind. Douglas, currently promoting his starring role as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra, shocked the world by telling a British newspaper that his throat cancer was caused by oral sex. Previously, the cancer had been attributed to smoking and drinking in Douglas’ younger days.

The story played out over multiple news cycles, first with the admission itself and then with a clumsy “clarification” by Douglas, who now maintains that he was speaking more generally about links between human papilloma virus (HPV) and certain cancers – an explanation that doesn’t quite jibe with the journalist’s audio tape of the interview. Imagine the scene chez Douglas, with a livid Catherine Zeta-Jones, the Welsh actress and Douglas’ wife, berating her husband for his loose lips, and what this implies about her.

The great shame here is not the potential cause of Douglas’ cancer, but that he missed a golden opportunity to turn an embarrassing gaffe into a cause celebré. Before his backpedaling, Douglas was being lauded by health experts and pundits the world over for openly discussing the touchy subject of HPV, considered an epidemic yet still a taboo topic because it’s sexually transmitted. Having a major celebrity recount his experience and urge HPV prevention strategies could have prompted a much-needed national conversation, but Douglas wouldn’t put his reputation where his mouth is.

THE PR VERDICT: “F” (Full Fiasco) for Michael Douglas’s clumsy retraction and lost chance to redirect the story toward a good cause.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Everyone makes mistakes, but with the right PR they can be spun. As much as Douglas may not have relished becoming a spokesperson for HPV, the truth is that everyone now believes this is how his cancer was caused. By turning the blunder into a platform, Douglas could have both spun himself out of a PR mess and contributed to the greater good. If a celebrity can’t handle the truth and its consequences, perhaps it’s better for him to keep his mouth shut in the first place.

The PR Verdict: “F” (Full Fiasco) for the IRS.

The United States Internal Revenue Service has never been the most popular government entity, but lately its reputation has taken a severe shellacking. The first problem came to light a few months ago, when it was revealed that the IRS had been targeting the Tea Party and other conservative political groups, putting their finances under close scrutiny. But on the PR embarrassment scale, that was nothing compared to the Star Trek video.

As the IRS finds itself under close scrutiny, a series of mortifying gaffes are now on public display. An astounding $50 million, all taxpayer money, was spent during 2010 and 2012 on 225 IRS conferences. The expenditures included training – or, rather, a rah-rah ha-ha training video with a Star Trek theme. And line dancing classes at the conferences. And baseball tickets, and stays in presidential suites for conference attendees, and a “happiness expert” who cost over $11,000. The list goes on and, unfortunately, on.

The congressional hearings investigating the conservative targeting are the equivalent of an audit for the IRS, and as with anyone else, the unpleasant receipts are being discovered. Daniel Werfel, the new IRS head, said he took the job because he thought he could be helpful. “The IRS is an agency in need right now,” he said in an understatement, in between apologies and explanations that can’t begin to defray the damage.

THE PR VERDICT: “F” (Full Fiasco) for the IRS. The government entity will have a long road of recovery after shooting itself in the foot.

THE PR TAKEAWAY: Think before you line dance – or make a video of it. The scrutiny of conservative groups is now being blamed on orders “from Washington”; if true, the resulting issues were unavoidable. But the silly, expensive training videos, the line dancing, the happiness expert? Someone along the way must have asked what this would look like to the outside world, or should have. In PR, an ounce of prevention is far more effective than ten pounds of damage control. At this point, confession and sincere apologies won’t make a dent in the IRS’s accounts.

To see the IRS Star Trek video, click here.