Reputation Armor

The most reputation repair needy for 2010 so far is Toyota - Tiger Woods - iPhone & BP. Each of these companies ended up helping the other without even knowing it or at least planning it.

All you heard in the news was Toyota and Tiger Woods a few short weeks ago, now they seem to be over shadowed with negative press about the BP Oil Spill & The iPhone 4 Antenna Issue.  So can one bad reputation crisis help another? I think so.

When the media turns their pack of wolves on to a new story they seem to let the other trending stories fizzle out. It is bad to wish a crisis on anyone or any company, but what if you could hide your crisis or reputation issue in the media with another unrelated issue? Was the oil spill good for Tiger Woods online reputation? I would hate to say that anything is good about the BP oil Spill that is hurting our beautiful oceans and sea life, but Tiger’s camp most likely see the new bad news, good news for them and Tigers reputation. The BP Spill has taken the spotlight off of other stories like Tiger Woods and Toyota. The iPhone 4 bad buzz going around is pitching in on the reputation diversion also.

What will happen next that will make the current stories “old news”? Will people forget about what they read last month? How long can negative press really affect a brand name or individual?