Spare a thought for the Elizabeth Arden comms team.
I’ve been involved in many crisis communication meetings during my career and they’ve often discussed some uncomfortable and unfortunate stories.
But none of them involved crown jewels.
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So, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall as the skincare brand tried to decide how to respond to some astonishing revelations in the book everyone has been talking about.
Amid tales of fights with his brother, drug taking and Taliban killing, Prince Harry has divulged, in some detail, that he used an unorthodox remedy for an intimate area that had suffered frostbite – something that has taken the internet by storm.
The injury had been suffered during a fund raising expedition to the North Pole and the company’s cream was suggested as a possible treatment by a friend.
An extract from his book, Spare, reads: "I'd been trying some home remedies, including one recommended by a friend, she'd urged me to apply Elizabeth Arden cream.
"'My mum used that on her lips, you want me to put that on my todger?!', 'It works Harry, trust me'."
What a time to be alive.
How you can complain about a lack of privacy after making such personal information public is an issue for others to debate.
But at least you now know how to treat a frostbitten penis – handy as we enter another cold snap.
Who says you don’t learn anything from our blogs?
But it seems unlikely a premium skincare brand, with a traditional, conservative reputation, would want to become known as a willy repair cream, royal or otherwise.
The comms team may well have questioned the “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” narrative.
And it shows, as we stress during our crisis communication training, you can never be completely sure how and when a crisis will strike. Who would include a frozen royal member on their crisis horizon scanning or risk register?
So, how has it responded?
Well, it has largely kept quiet – I mean, what would it say?
But it did a post about one of its products that many had interpreted as a subtle reference to Harry’s revelations.
It said: “You’ve heard all the buzz about plumping Hyaluronic Acid, but did you know it’s extremely helpful during the colder months ❄️?
“The trick is to apply it to damp skin—HA pulls the moisture 💧 from the environment into the skin.”
You’ve heard all the buzz about plumping Hyaluronic Acid, but did you know it’s extremely helpful during the colder months ❄️?
— Elizabeth Arden (@ElizabethArden) January 9, 2023
The trick is to apply it to damp skin—HA pulls the moisture 💧 from the environment into the skin.
Shop now: https://t.co/uaomV6aFdP pic.twitter.com/dIERmwlip5
And that seems to have gone down well, judging by the replies. One Twitter user asked if the company could confirm the product “works with a freezing todger”.
Another said the “best reaction is to jump on the furore”.
By Royal appointment eh🤣
— 🌼🍋Helencello🍋🌼 (@Helencello) January 12, 2023
Give your marketing team a raise for this!
— Shanay22 (@Shanay22A) January 13, 2023
Beautifully done 👏
— Sarah BW (@TheBearSBW) January 12, 2023
That response was also well received by the media.
Royal fans go wild over Elizabeth Arden’s cheeky post after Prince Harry’s ‘frozen todger’ revelations Daily Mail
Skincare brand Elizabeth Arden breaks silence after Prince Harry’s frozen penis claim The Mirror
Prince Harry: Elizabeth Arden goes close to the bone with cold-weather reference More About Advertising
TK Maxx is another company that has found itself responding to unexpected revelations from the bombshell book.
The Duke of Sussex claimed to buy his “everyday casual clothes” from the retailer and was “particularly fond” of its “once-a-year-sale” to grab bargains.
But the brand has moved quickly to correct the record, saying it does not have sales.
“Whilst we’re delighted Prince Harry is a big fan, we thought we should explain we don’t actually do sales,” it said.
“Instead, we offer great value, style, and savings all year round.”
The problem for the brand is that social media users have subsequently flooded channels with images appearing to show sales in TXX Maxx stores.
Um, this you @TKMaxx_UK? https://t.co/QwIOIj7ZLl pic.twitter.com/b0wsu6SnvW
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) January 12, 2023
So the latest attack on Prince Harry is that his book claim about liking the sales at TK Maxx is a ‘lie’ because apparently they ‘don’t do sales.’ Really? pic.twitter.com/z3gu0A3BE2
— Simon Harris - Man Behaving Dadly (THAT’S DADLY) (@simonharris_mbd) January 12, 2023
But not all companies have found themselves on the back foot over the release of the book. Some have used it as an opportunity.
Take Bert’s Books.
The independent bookstore’s cheeky window display, which saw it place copies of Spare alongside Bella Mackie's novel How To Kill Your Family, has seen it go viral.
Anyway, we do have some spare copies of Spare if you want one pic.twitter.com/uOFbiPdMaW
— Bert’s Books (@bertsbooks) January 10, 2023
And create precious media coverage.
Its owner Alex Call told Sky News: “(How To Kill Your Family) was already in our window because it was our bestselling book of 2022.
"Then when we saw it there, we thought it would be quite funny to put it next to Spare and would be quite light-hearted and make a few people smile."
Harry's memoir Spare displayed beside How to Kill Your Family novel BBC News
Cheeky book shop display sits Prince Harry's Spare next to How To Kill Your Family Sky News
Book Shop Goes Viral After Its Cheeky Display Of Prince Harry's Memoir Huff Post
Ms Mackie responded to the display on Instagram, where she told her 200,000 followers, “Thank you to the 8000 people who’ve sent me this today. And thank you @bertsbooks, what an honour.”
Her husband, radio presenter Greg James, was also among those who shared the post.
I really hope Harry’s been sent this as many times as Bella has today https://t.co/sstOKcVria
— Greg James (@gregjames) January 10, 2023
Why are we telling you about this?
Well, because an entire blog about willy treatment would be a bit weird.
And more importantly, because Bert’s Books creative window display is a great example of the power of newsjacking.
We've added 'ask the expert' surgery sessions to our learning and development programme for 2023. These can be used to probe the knowledge of our journalists, communication experts, and leadership coaches to overcome problems and nurture skills. Click here to learn more.
This is an increasingly valuable part of the communications arsenal and is something we often discuss during our media training and social media courses.
Also referred to as ‘piggybacking’, it a great way to secure coverage just by keeping an eye on current events and trends.
Sometimes, as the Wiltshire bookstore did, it can be as simple as a brand joining in a popular conversation on social media. Thames Valley Police did this a while ago when it posted a tweet reassuring motorists that a mysterious road sign was not directing people to Squid Game – at a time when everyone was talking about the TV series.
On other occasions, it can be more orchestrated. To keep with the Harry theme, Madame Tussaud secured media coverage after removing him and his wife from its wax display of the Royal family after that infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Newsjacking can be much more subtle, serious and niche.
We’ll be looking at newsjacking in more detail, including how you can identify relevant angles for your brand, during a masterclass for members of The Media Team Academy later this year - you can find out more about the learning and development programme here.
We promise there will not be any discussion of alternative willy remedies during that session.
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.
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