In the U.S. Marines there are specialist soldiers called 'Scout Snipers.'

Their job is to provide close reconnaissance and surveillance to their unit, warn of upcoming threats or danger, and take care of that danger before it becomes a problem for the main body of men.

In the business world Public Relations practitioners are the scout snipers. Their job – among other duties – is to protect the reputation of their client (sometimes protecting the client from themselves), warn of potential media danger and to swing into action to turn a threat into something positive; to head off the trouble before it becomes something that could hurt the organization as a whole.

With this in mind there is a lesson to be learned by looking at what happened to one of the world’s largest company’s last week, Hewlett Packard (HP).

HP recently launched their new touch screen called SmartTouch. They put an ad together – visually stunning – with a great sound track “Do you wanna touch?” sung by Joan Jett. A solid piece of advertising work.

The ad’s soundtrack was a cover for the original which was written and performed by UK Glam Rocker Gary Glitter.   Royalties for his music have keep Glitter flush with cash long after his star-power has faded. A reported 100,000 pounds ($165,000) from HP.  Good for HP; good for Glitter. Right? Not so fast. One crucial piece of important information was overlooked.

Glitter is a convicted pedophile and a child sex abuser. Further, Glitter has been in the news recently having been slung out of Cambodia; jailed and released in Thailand for having sex with children; been threaten with a 1 million pound bounty on his head in Spain and banned from any number of countries. It’s no secret.

Some years back the major sports leagues stopped using the famed "Rock n' Roll" and other songs when it was discovered the source of the popular sports chants was Glitter.

A child abuse prevention group in Florida – Child AbuseWatch.net (abusewatch.net) (CAN) – noticed the ad on TV. Their President, Evin Daly, wrote a note to Hewlett Packard’s CEO, Mark Hurd, on October 14 (again on Oct 18),  and their board of directors, informing them of their oversight and asking that they remove the track.

This is where the PR specialist is meant to swing into action and calm the brewing storm. A quick apology about what HP now refers to as a ‘mistake’, pull the ad or redo the music, a publicity photo handing a check to a children’s charity and HP would have turned a bitter lemon into lemonade. Everyone, except Gary Glitter would be happy. Textbook response. Back slaps all around. The end.

Unfortunately that’s not what happened.

Hewlett Packard ignored Child AbuseWatch’s communications and the ad continued to run until October 30th when the whole event blew up in HPs face. What happened?

Child AbuseWatch issued a press release to the media calling for a boycott of HP’s products for the Holiday Season in an effort to get the commercial's music changed. A copy of the release was sent to HP and it was posted on CAN’s website (www.abusewatch.net). It was run by the ButlerReport.com. A week went by. Nothing. No word from HP.

On the morning of October 29th however things changed.

All the major British media outlets ran the story; in headlines. News outlets all over the world from Australia, India, Thailand and Malaysia carried the article. Child AbuseWatch was interviewed. What could have been solved with a phone call became a world media circus; a public relations disaster.

Under media pressure HP pulled the commercial internationally and changed the music in the States. Their action was too little too late; the call for a boycott had already hit the news and spread, not just in the U.S., but worldwide.

Hewlett Packard has a bigger problem now however. As a public company HP is obliged to inform their shareholders and investors of anything that could potentially harm revenues and earnings.  Perhaps that disclosure to investors will instead be learned on the news.

What have we learned?

First the ad agency or the marketing department at HP should have checked the songs provenance – all readily available on the Internet. If they did and HP management went ahead anyway, shame on them.

When the first communication was received from Child AbuseWatch an alarm bell should have gone off at HP and the PR company should have kicked in. This wasn’t a communication that was slipped on a Post-It under the door in the shipping department; all of CAN’s correspondence went right to top management.

So there you have it. A David and Goliath story of sorts. Except that there were no winners.

Want to see how much publicity this generated? Take at look at CAN’s website, here.

HP did finally respond to Child AbuseWatch by email late Friday, Oct 31. Not a message, as you might expect, from Mark Hurd or the HP board to whom CAN's communications had been addressed. No, a note from the Director of Global Media relations, a tad aloof and never mentioning Glitter, the email referred to...oh what the heck, here's the email so you can see for yourself. A poor attempt at damage control long after the ship has sailed.

"Thank you for your message and follow up. We take this issue seriously, and have withdrawn the commercial and sales promotion video using the Joan Jett song. I have included HP’s official statement on this issue and believe it will address your concerns and the issues raised by Child Abuse Watch.
HP has a 60-year reputation for doing good – and doing the right thing – in the communities where we operate. I hope you will consult our recent Global Citizenship Report (available at http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/) for a look at what we are doing in this regard.
We appreciate your suggestion with regard to making a donation to an appropriate not-for-profit providing for the welfare of children. I am pleased to tell you that historically HP has donated significant amounts to organizations working to protect children, such as the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
I am happy to discuss this with you further if you have additional questions or concerns. In the meantime, please know that we appreciate your message and your efforts on behalf of children.
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In response to questions about HP’s use of a Joan Jett song in a sales promotion video, HP made the following statement:
“HP licensed the 1982 song by Joan Jett "Do You Wanna Touch Me" in 2008, paying licensing fees to Jett's music company (Blackheart) and the music publisher (Universal Music). The song was chosen to help convey the touch technology used in a PC.“
HP no longer uses the Joan Jett song in its sales promotion commercial and sales promotion video.

This is one for the text books.

Maui Pete.

References:
Write to HP’s board of directors here (bod@hp.com) or call (650) 857-1501
Visit Child AbuseWatch.net here www.abusewatch.net
See the commercial here on YouTube
Glitter's original recording here or here