APR's Maggie Holben Shares PR Perspective with ArgusLeader on YouTube Protests

Absolutely PR's Maggie Holben shared PR perspective yesterday with Thom Gabrukiewicz of the Sioux Falls ArgusLeader. Thoughts from Holben:

"And viral efforts such as this one can be disastrous for companies, especially in the age of instant information, said Maggie Holben, a public relations expert from Lakewood, Colo.

'That's what we fondly call a crisis,' she said of YouTube protests such as Hadrick's. 'You have to circle the wagons, you have to respond and you have to tell people who you are. Is there a trick remedy? No. It's honesty.'"

The YouTube protest involves a South Dakota rancher who takes issue with a Yellow Tail wine PR campaign that raises funds for the Humane Society of the United States. Details from Gabrukiewicz' report:

"My concern is with the Humane Society of the United States, which isn't connected at all with the dog and cat shelters in our local communities," the fifth-generation Vale rancher said Thursday. "This is an organization that's pushing a vegan agenda in this country, and that concerns me. That donation is going to go to efforts to try and put me out of business, and I'm just not going to support a company that does that."

Link to the ArgusLeader

Take a look at the YouTube protest:

Absolutely PR's Maggie Holben Shares Expert PR Perspective with Boulder Daily Camera

Maggie Holben provided expert PR perspective to Reporter Heath Urie in the March 19th article in the Boulder Daily Camera, "Feds: BCH wasn't told to withhold information about dirty needles."

In part she said: "Obviously there is a huge amount of liability in a situation like this, so PR people -- who are really the voice of the top management -- they are going to be very careful about what they say and what they do," said Holben, who is not involved in the Boulder case..."It would be common sense if something that serious was going on that you would get with your CEO and your legal person and say, 'woo hoo, this is potentially publicly embarrassing or a public health concern and we better figure out a response that is both in good conscience and legal.'"

Link to the article