United Air: Putting "Hospital" Back Into Hospitality. How NOT to deal with a PR catastroph

You'd think a large company with an experienced marketing and public relations staff and a budget into the millions of dollars would be much smarter. With resources like that, one might think they would tend to handle a potentially explosive public relations situation correctly. But, as we've repeatedly seen, things don't always work out to plan. In this age of "alternative facts," big companies are pulling the Trump card and attempting to stretch the truth as far as it will go until it breaks, resulting in yet another a little too late apology.

United's small-minded security team made a terrible error in judgment. What's worse is its PR team and CEO failed to respond professionally. Regardless of your policy and the situation at hand, always remember almost everyone has a video recording device. And an instantly viral video provides indisputable truth. It didn't matter who this guy was, what he did, or whatever nonsense may have been in his past, this poorly handled situation has caused serious damage to United's brand and reputation. And more importantly, its stock price will take a temporary hit.

Fortunately, the public has a short memory. United will fully recover from this idiocy just as Chipotle, Pepsi, and countless other big companies have recovered from theirs. But your small company might not have the resources to bury a story like this. United is entrenched in the airline industry. People who now hate United may still be forced to use its services. One bad story can devastate a small local business.

So how does a small business handle a potentially devastating PR situation? You have two choices. One, suck it up and eat crow. Don't let anything get out of hand in the first place. Let your worst customers walk all over you and just deal with it.

Or, take a chance and take a stand. But be prepared to deal with it. Never attempt to justify your mistake because that always comes off badly. Apologize immediately and repeatedly, and bask in the glow of all that publicity you could never afford. Someone once said "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right." Apparently, there's some alternative truth in that statement.