Mark Pack

That’s the question PR Week has asked this week, printing answers to what advice people in PR would have given over the situation Neal’s Yard Remedies found itself in:

The Guardian invited Neal’s Yard Remedies to be the focus of one of its regular ‘You Ask They Answer’ slots in May. It agreed and sat back to wait for the comments to flow in. But when many bloggers became highly critical of the company’s homeopathic remedies and demanded proof of their efficacy, the company froze and ultimately refused to make any response.

Here’s the response from myself which PR Week carried:

If there is one thing worse than refusing to respond to lots of comments, it is saying you will respond – and then refusing to do so. So having made the commitment to The Guardian to respond, Neal’s Yard should have done so. After all, if they had – would we still be talking about them now?

You can read the full set here.