Clorox
In a White House briefing on Thursday, President Trump suggested that an “injection inside” the human body with a disinfectant like bleach or isopropyl alcohol could help combat the coronavirus (COVID-19). The resulting alarm was swift: according to the New York Times, so many callers flooded a Maryland health hotline that the state’s Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning that “under no circumstances should any disinfectant be taken to treat the virus.” Officials in Washington State urged against consuming detergent capsules, and the medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System warned that injecting bleach or rubbing alcohol “can definitely be a fatal event.” (The CDC was more circumspect, but did quickly Tweet that “household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly.”)
Brands were likewise in a position of needing to step up and move quickly to correct Trump’s dangerously erroneous statements during this crisis – a trend I suspect will continue. Executives haven’t been shy about pushing back on misstatements or criticism in the past (3M CEO Mike Roman called the president’s suggestion that the company wasn’t doing all it could to provide masks “absurd” and “nothing further from the truth” earlier this month), and Trump has been known to attempt to get ahead of such backlash by gathering high-profile CEOs and other executives for conference calls about controversial plans.
The good news is that, in this case, there’s much to admire and emulate about the speed, content and distribution of the response.
Immediately after Trump’s staggering statements, Clorox and Lysol were trending on social media. Lysol and parent company Reckitt Benckiser wasted no time releasing statements rebutting Trump’s claims, saying “we must be clear that under no circumstances should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body through injection, ingestion or any other route.” Clorox likewise said in a statement (and added to their FAQs) that “bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances.”
These speedy responses, coupled with matter-of-fact language and dissemination via channels that ensured maximum impact in a short period of time (Twitter, company landing pages and FAQs) served to mitigate the potentially dangerous impact of the initial misinformation. The common approach – rooted in fact, and unwavering in its emphatic language – was made all the more resonant as White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany attempted to walk back Trump’s statements by suggesting they were taken out of context (judge for yourself).
Such nimbleness and courage of conviction will continue to be critical to brands and leaders alike as the coronavirus pandemic continues alongside disinformation from our nation’s top executive. The good news is that brands are handling the nonstop barrage and constant changes in direction intelligently and admirably, a confidence that’s serving them and us, well.
