|
How Wrestlers and Wildlifers Can Help Your Campaign’s Crisis Management
A recent conflict between the environmental and wrestling world is a prime example of crisis management at its finest. It provides a step-by-step method for you to deal with extortion artists who may try to harm you or you campaign. But first a little background.
At issue has been who has the right to the initials “WWF”: the World Wrestling Federation or the World Wildlife Fund. The World Wildlife Fund won the first round and the wrestling organization had to change its name to WWE in May 2002.
Not content with this victory, The Wildlife Fund continued to, in the words of Linda McMahon, CEO of WWE, “harass” the wrestling organization. Most recently, the Wildlifers sued the licensee of WWE video games because those games had the WWF on them at one time.
Then the real reason came out as to why the Wildlifers was harassing the wrestlers: $90 million.
According to WWE, the World Wildlife Fund went to WWE and essentially said the wildlife group would resort “to heavy handed practices such as threatening to have WWE declared in contempt of the English courts for disclosing the $90 million demand and threatening to sue the WWE and its attorney in England for pointing out that The Funds’ extortion demand had been made by Michael Rogers, an English barrister with an extremely questionable past.”
In short, WWE did not cave in to the demands, was willing to fight the group, and went public with demands of the environmental group. In effect, WWE was able to frame the debate and make them appear to be extortionist, thereby damaging their credibility and ability to pursue any other organization.
In short, WWE:
- Did not cave to the initial demand to not market their product nor to the $90 million extortion demand,
- Challenged the wildlifers to prove their point in a public forum, in this case court,
- Conducted an investigation of the group and its lawyer,
- Once the court ruled in favor of the wrestlers, WWE went public with the actions of the wildlife group and painted them as extortionist willing to use threats of harm to a business unless that business caves in to the financial demands.
And the end result: the wildlife group has to pay WWE legal fees in the sum of $100,000.
As you follow similar stories in the media, you’ll see corporations that have the fortitude to defend themselves follow the same pattern.
Case in point: Anheuser-Busch in the early 1980s, the story of which is documented in Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson by Kenneth R. Timmerman. Jesse Jackson. In short, Jackson went to Busch in 1982 to discuss charges of racism by Busch employees, who felt there were too few black distributorships. In the closed door meeting, Jackson apparently threatened lawsuits and boycotts unless Busch awarded more distributorships to blacks.
In response, Busch hired an investigator who conducted an entire investigation into Jackson’s past and present.
When Jackson returned for a follow-up meeting, the results of the investigation were presented to him with an apparent question of whether he would like to pursue his goal.
Jackson declined and left Busch alone for a few years. However, Busch did later award two of Jackson’s sons a distributorship worth $33 million in annual revenue.
This is another example you could incorporate into your crisis response and management:
- Do not succumb to the demand
- Investigate the person or group threatening you
- Make it known you will challenge that person or group on a public forum, such as a debate or court. If the threat borders on personal or criminal, also make known that you will pursue all legal remedies, both civil and criminal,
- That you are willing to go public with the demands and tactics lest they back down.
And be prepared to do all of these in your campaign. In the course of your race you will be faced with these challenges. Be prepared when you are and you will come off way ahead of other organizations that roll right over.
|
