From the embarrassing to the scandalous, personalities and companies faced the wrath of the public as they dominated headlines this year.
Straight out of the (jacket) gate in January, was Amber Sherlock, through to winding up 2017 with the disappointing pre-Christmas absence of Amazon Australia.
Here's a roundup of some of the PR fails that stirred the nation and sidelined reputations at varying degrees, reports News.com.au.
AMAZON
Announced as the retail giant to rock shopping as we know it, Amazon's failure to communicate a formal opening date and be operational ahead of peak buying seasons of Christmas and Black Friday has disillusioned Australian consumers.
While a pull strategy has been known to work effectively for some brands, at this point the effect has pulled Aussies right back to their regular favourites.
PR fails certainly breed an audience. The immediacy of social media and Google's inability to sleep or for that matter, forget, means even the most innocent blunders can quickly escalate and be entrenched in public memories.
#JACKETGATE
2017 kicked off nicely with the amusing and viral wave of attention towards Nine's news and weather presenter, Amber Sherlock.
This screen grab summed up just how we all felt about #jacketgate. Photo / Screengrab
Leaked footage surfaced of the spat between her and colleague Julie Snook as they battled out, in front of a guest presenter, the unfathomable wardrobe malfunction of three women appearing in the same frame in white.
It appears Amber's since become a little less hot under the collar with another wardrobe mishap occurring six months later between her and entertainment reporter both appearing in the same tone of green.
DELTA GOODREM
Prob time to get back in the car Delta. Photo / Apple Music
The golden girl of the charts had her license suspended for speeding offences. While this chipped away at her wholesome image, she was caught in another incident that same month, this time for failing to wear a seatbelt while driving in the Apple Music ad she fronted.
Perhaps it just might be time for Delta to take a back seat and form the face of Uber?
POSTAL PLEBISCITE
Misinformation, a lack of transparency, shameful attacks on both sides and an allocated budget of $122 million, the same-sex marriage plebiscite resulted in completely ineffective communication campaigns.
The one positive outcome was the respondent rate with over 12.7 million Australians participating in the survey and the involvement of the younger generation in our continued political elections.
SEXUAL SCANDALS
The world-over has been savaged with scandals from within the media and entertainment industry. The severe allegations against Weinstein in the US, right back to incidents on our own shores.
This year saw the unfolding of the regrettable office affair of Seven West Media's CEO, through to the arrest of A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack and now reports surfacing against gardening guru Don Burke from the investigation led by Tracey Spicer that is set to unveil an underworld of harassment, abuse and predatory behaviour.
YOUFOODZ
A young boy portraying foul-mouthed chef Gordon Ramsey — who at last count swears every 20 seconds — proclaimed 'Unforkin believable' in a Youfoodz advertisement.
Airing in prime time for the food delivery company where children can easily hear and imitate, it was deemed in poor taste in the eyes of the public and the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) which banned the ad in October. A later attempt by the company to air an edited version attracted 170 complaints to the ASB.
THE CHEESECAKE SHOP
This dessert chain was forced to eat humble pie with its news-jacking attempt that backfired.
When Qantas boss Alan Joyce had a pie shoved in his face by an audience member for his stance on same-sex marriage, The Cheesecake Shop took to social media with an open letter stating it was somewhat concerned the lemon meringue pie "was not appreciated to its full sweetness". The company later apologised for its insensitivity.
• Nicole Reaney is a leading PR commentator and founder of InsideOut PR.
