What was Volkswagen thinking?

On September 18, 2015, not even one week ago, perhaps what could be the biggest automotive scandal of all time was revealed.  Volkswagen, one of the most popular and powerful companies in the world, has been accused – and thus has admitted – to deliberately cheating emissions standards on close to 11 million of their cars worldwide. 

One may think that an automotive scandal that involves loss of life would most definitely be worse than one that only involves faulty emission reports.  For example, Toyota received a significant amount of bad press regarding failing breaks in their Prius model.  It caused serious injury and even death to some drivers.  However, that was not a deliberate attempt to circumvent authorities and standards in order to sell more cars, or to falsely advertise to the public and gain a competitive advantage over other companies.

In order to falsify emissions, Volkswagen fitted some of their production models with software that was designed to fool emissions tests.  The engines of said models were designed so they could sense when tests were occurring by measuring factors such as speed, air pressure, the positioning of the steering wheel and engine operation.

Although this “defeat device” has only been discovered in Untied States thus far, Italy, South Korea and France have already opened their own investigations into Volkswagen models being sold domestically. 

For Volkswagen, aside from the enormous PR crisis and the tremendous damage to their company image, they are facing potentially massive fines by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Deceit of this magnitude can result in fines of up to $37,500 per car, and with Volkswagen recalling almost 500,000 cars in the United States alone, fines could be as high as $18 billion, and this does not include the costs of recalling vehicles, just fines.

To make matters worse, company CEO Martin Winterkorn has resigned.  He had run the company since 2007.  To read more about his resignation, click here.  

The never-ending saga of the New England Patriots

It will just not end.  The New England Patriots, perhaps the NFL’s most polarizing franchise, has been accused of cheating once again.  If this is your first time hearing about this you may want to get out from under that rock in which you’ve been living. 

“Deflategate” – the new controversy the Patriots have found themselves embroiled in – involves deflating footballs below the acceptable amount to gain an illegal competitive advantage in games.  This occurred in their conference championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.  Despite the final score of 45-7, many people doubt what kind of effect it really had on the game. 

A subsequent investigation was launched into the incident to see if deflating the footballs was a deliberate action or an unintended result of bad weather or simple human error.

After a series punishments handed down by the NFL onto the Patriots and star quarterback Tom Brady were protested in federal court, the patriots went away unscathed.  This decision, much like the Patriots franchise, has been polarizing.  Some are overjoyed, while others are furious.

However, although the Patriots being involved in another cheating scandal (after their “spygate” scandal in the early 2000s) may seem like a PR nightmare, the real loser of this case has been NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the man who decided and handed down the punishments onto Brady and the Patriots.

Brady was initially suspended 4 games without pay, a very harsh punishment to say the least, especially when regarding past disciplinary actions put in place by the NFL. 

For example, when Ray Rice was caught on video physically assaulting his fiancé, he was only suspended 2 games.  The problem here for the NFL is the complete lack of consistency in the punishments handed down to players. 

If there were justifiable reasons to distinguish why a player who beat his fiancé to receive a lesser suspension than someone who may have tampered with footballs, then Brady may not have had his suspension overturned by a judge. 

The problem is it seems Goodell comes up with his disciplinary actions by whim.  There is no concrete decision making behind them, making everyone second-guess his authority and then appeal his rulings, several of which have thus been overturned. 

Goodell is on thin ice as the NFL Commissioner.  He needs to establish his credibility – along with the credibility of the league – in the eyes of the public and media because as of the moment, he and the league are in question.

Now whatever you do, please don’t take this article as me being a supporter of the Patriots.  If it weren’t for Goodell and his inconsistent decision-making, the spotlight would still be on the Patriots and their credibility.  Luckily for them, they have a “savior” in the name of Roger Goodell.

The curious case of Donald Trump

Even though the 2016 Presidential Elections are over a year away, an abundance of hype and controversy has begun through campaigns, debates and scandals involving certain presidential hopefuls. 

One of these hopefuls, Hilary Clinton, is currently trying to explain (although some might say cover her tracks) her role in security breaches from using unsafe servers.  However, she still remains the heavy favorite for the Democratic party.  Other potential nominees, such as Donald Trump, have taken people aback in other ways – much more “in your face” ways.

Prior to the 2012 Presidential election, Trump announced he would be running for president, but nothing ever formulated from his claims.  However, this time things have been very different.  Trump has taken his abrasive and boisterous personality in front of the entire nation and has vaulted to the top of the Republican candidate polls by a significant margin. 

Essentially, he’s become the quintessential case of “love him or hate him.”  There is simply no in between with Trump.  Maybe that’s how it should be.  Based on what he’s already said in his brief campaign, Trump himself sees many things that way himself. 

His remarks on Mexican immigrants have been heavily criticized.  Trump claims that Mexicans who cross the border into the United States are full of problems, such as drugs and other crimes such as rape, and goes as far to call them rapists.  A divisive statement to say the least, one many campaign managers would cringe to hear their candidate say.  However, it’s comments like this that have given Trump momentum.  Some people love Trump for his boldness in saying for these remarks, and others despise him for it. 

From a PR standpoint, having a candidate say something like this – something not just offensive and derogatory, but divisive – could be considered a crisis all in its own.  However, this is the curious case of Trump.  He is gaining momentum and power for his outlandish and bombastic remarks. 

Yes, he is receiving his very fair share of flack, but as of the moment, that doesn’t seem to be hurting him as he sits atop the Republican polls.  We will have to wait and see whether or not statements like this will work for Trump as his campaign continues and if he is fortunate to win the republican nomination. 

Appealing to one party is different than appealing to the entire nation.  His approach may have to change.  Depending on how well he does this election, it would be a very interesting case study – from a public relations standpoint – to examine what worked and what didn’t for Trump.