Is Joe Lycett in your crisis comms plan?

Let’s take you back to the start.

The comedian had called on “gay icon” Mr Beckham to end his relationship with Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal - the former footballer has a deal with the Gulf state some value at £150m.

If he agreed to step down from the role before the tournament started, Mr Lycett offered to donate the money to “charities that support queer people in football”.

If he didn’t, the cash would be destroyed. “Not just the money, but also your status as gay icon will be shredded,” Mr Lycett said.

And, after a week of posts about the ultimatum, that’s what he did, throwing the cash into an industrial shredder just before the tournament kicked off on Sunday.

A 50-second video of the money appearing to be shredded has received more than 66,000 likes on social media and over 12,000 retweets.

The original post where he introduced the #BendersLikeBeckham stunt has had more than 93,000 likes.

https://t.co/FqoC3hSFM8 🌈 pic.twitter.com/EPLVNwmnvV

— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 13, 2022

 

And here is a taste of the media coverage:

In short, the campaign has achieved vast publicity and arguably generated more coverage of LGBT+ issues than £10,000 could buy.

But the stunt also divided opinion.

Amid the praise, there has also been criticism of destroying money when people battle the cost-of-living crisis.

Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary, posted on Twitter: “Shredding 10k will earn Joe Lycett far more than it will cost him and is in effect a paid-for publicity stunt which has worked.

“Job done. No one will think any worse of him now if he changes his mind at the last minute and donates it to a homeless shelter in time for Christmas.”

It has since emerged the money was fake. In a final media post on the subject, My Lycett said yesterday: “I haven’t quite told you the whole truth – the truth is the money that went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out was fake. I would never destroy real money.

“I would never be so irresponsible, in fact, the 10 grand had already been donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even pressed send on the initial tweet last week. I never expected to hear from you, it was an empty threat designed to get people talking. In many ways it was like your deal with Qatar David – total bulls**t from the start.”

While Mr Lycett has had plenty to say, what about the other man at the centre of the story?

Well, Mr Beckham has opted for radio silence – not an approach we would recommend during our crisis communication training.

He had not acknowledged the campaign or the comedian.

That may seem like an odd approach when his reputation is under attack.

But it is a gamble that may work in this instance.

Firstly, brand Beckham is far bigger globally than the comedian.  And his reputation was enhanced just a few months ago when he queued with ‘normal people’ to pay his respects to the Queen – unlike some others in the public eye.

And secondly, there has probably been a prediction the media attention will quickly move to the other stories emerging from the World Cup.

The Qatar World Cup is the gift that keeps on giving for journalists as it stumbles from one crisis media management incident to another, with a succession of own goals.

Even Sepp Blatter, the man who awarded the country the tournament, has labelled that decision “a mistake.”

As I write this crisis communication blog, the focus is on England, Wales and five other nations confirming they will not wear OneLove armbands – a gesture of solidarity with the LGBT+ community – because of the threat of sporting sanctions.

By the time the blog is published, another damaging story will probably have emerged.

But Mr Beckham’s silence will only hold for so long. As an extremely well-paid World Cup ambassador, he will surely be expected to face the media soon.

And when he does, questions will be asked about the issues raised by this campaign.

He will need to be extremely well-briefed to handle those.

But what can other organisations learn from this?

To answer that, it is worth looking at other examples of Joe Lycett’s attention-grabbing activism.

You may remember the comedian once legally changed his name to Hugo Boss in protest at the fashion brand sending cease-and-desist letters to small businesses using the word “boss” in their names, including Swansea brewery Boss Brewing.

The company responded with a dry corporate statement – although it did “welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family."

A month, and much media attention later, he changed his name back.

He also ruffled corporate feathers at Shell, dousing himself in grey paint (to represent oil) outside the company’s London HQ to protest against ‘greenwashing’.

The company responded by saying that while it was “investing billions of dollars in lower-carbon energy” the “world still needs oil and gas for years to come”.

Activism, whether led by My Lycett or consumers, is on the rise. And new ways are being found to amplify voices more effectively.

And that makes brands vulnerable, particularly on social media, where there can be a lot of noise and calls for boycotts.

A nuanced approach is needed and that involves asking yourself some questions in advance.

Are you prepared?

Do you know your vulnerabilities?

What do your customers care about?

Do you know your company’s position on key issues?

Is it prepared to speak out on political and social issues?

Would you be able to respond quickly and effectively?

Do you need to respond every time you are called out?

And is Joe Lycett part of your crisis communication plan?

Media First are media and communications training specialists with more than 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. 

Click here to find out more about our crisis communication training.