PR “Winners and Sinners” in 2007

It’s auld lang syne time, and at the end of the year, communications counselor extraordinaire Fraser Seitel, president of Emerald Partners, likes to offer his list of the past 12 months’ “PR Winners and Sinners.” Thanks to the Internet, the gaffes and missteps of high-profile people and companies are magnified and shared ‘round the world in the blink of an eye—so it’s no surprise that Seitel has so much material to choose from.

“Tap, tap, tappin’ on the stallroom door” Award: The winner of Seitel’s “PR Sinner of the Year 2007” award is Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who changed the guilty plea he entered on charges of disorderly conduct, stemming from an incident where he allegedly tried to solicit sex from an undercover police officer in a men’s room stall.

“Nobody likes someone who keeps changing his mind publicly,” says Seitel, referring to Craig’s flip-flopping on his initial guilty plea, and his decision to resign from the Senate. (As of mid-October, Craig was telling the media he wanted to serve the rest of his Senate term.)

“Craig is prolonging the agony—now he won’t go away,” says Seitel.