Business Public Relations Communication

Glass Jaw: A Manifesto for Defending Fragile Reputations in an Age of Instant Scandal (Summary)

by Eric Dezenhall

Imagine you're the CEO of a beloved company. One morning, you wake up to a viral video accusing you of a heinous crime. Your PR team’s advice? 'Be transparent, apologize, and take the high road.' According to crisis expert Eric Dezenhall, that advice is a death sentence. The mob isn't looking for an apology; they're looking for a public execution, and your apology is just the confession they need to justify it.

The Apology Is a Weapon Used Against You

In a modern scandal, an apology is not viewed as a sign of strength or sincerity. Instead, it serves as an admission of guilt that fuels the outrage, validates the attackers, and invites further demands and retribution.

A celebrity issues a carefully worded apology for an off-color joke made a decade ago. Activists don't accept it; they use the apology as proof of wrongdoing to lobby for the celebrity to be fired from their current projects, turning an act of contrition into career suicide.

Facts Don't Matter in a Feelings War

Reputation attacks are rarely about objective truth. They are driven by narrative and emotion. Trying to counter a viral, emotionally-charged accusation with a spreadsheet of facts is like bringing a calculator to a knife fight.

A corporation accused of polluting a river can release reams of scientific data proving their water discharge is cleaner than federal standards require. The media will ignore the data and instead run a heart-wrenching story of a single family who believes the plant made their child sick. The feeling will always triumph over the facts.

Your Attackers Aren't Your Customers

Companies mistakenly treat their attackers—activists, short-sellers, or political opponents—like disgruntled customers who can be appeased. Dezenhall categorizes them as 'witches, grifters, and bullies' who have no interest in compromise, only in your destruction.

An animal rights group picketing a food company isn't looking for better standards in animal welfare; their stated mission is the total abolition of that industry. Engaging with them on 'improving standards' is a fool's errand because you are negotiating with someone whose victory requires your complete annihilation.

Taking the High Road Leads to the Gallows

The passive strategy of 'taking the high road' and waiting for the storm to pass is a fatal error. In the age of instant scandal, you must actively fight back by disrupting the narrative, exposing the motives of your accusers, and creating consequences for their attacks.

Instead of just denying an allegation from a partisan 'watchdog' group, a targeted company might launch its own campaign exposing the group's questionable funding sources and history of politically motivated, baseless attacks. This shifts the spotlight and forces the accuser to defend themselves.

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