Greg Simpson, founder of Press For Attention PR, dissects a PR blunder.
They say PR is full of egos. Well…how about an alter-ego?! Meet mine, Doctor Spin!
This month, we head to the MCU — not the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the Media Crisis Universe, where billion-dollar brands and Hollywood egos are currently engaging in the most unheroic of smackdowns.
Here’s the plot:
Justin Baldoni is countersuing Blake Lively (who accused him of sexual harassment), claiming defamation and civil extortion.
Then, in a move that can only be described as Deadpool-adjacent, a character called Nicepool appears in Deadpool & Wolverine, allegedly mocking Baldoni.
Marvel’s now being subpoenaed to reveal internal communications, and they’re not having it. Ryan Reynolds, of course, plays Deadpool and is married to Lively. Swifties are nervously hovering in the background. Hugh Jackman may get dragged into it too.
Doctor Spin’s diagnosis:
This is a textbook case of Brand Collateral Damage — when personal legal battles start bleeding into creative IP, blurring the lines between character and creator.
Marvel’s plea to the court? “Leave us out of it.” But by the time the character’s on-screen and the internet’s doing side-by-sides, it’s too late. The narrative has mutated.
Doctor Spin’s prescription:
1. Don’t let characters speak for you
If you’re involved in legal proceedings, anything you release — a film, a tweet, a passive-aggressive cocktail napkin — will be scrutinised. Let your lawyers talk, not your fictional alter egos.
2. Pre-mortem your PR
Marvel should’ve run a pre-release risk assessment on that character. If someone in legal or PR had said, “Is this a bad idea given the ongoing lawsuit?” we might not be here. Always assume someone will connect the dots — especially if the dots are married.
3. Third parties? Third rail.
Dragging in Taylor Swift? Subpoenaing Hugh Jackman? These side plots only inflate the media oxygen. Every new name becomes a headline. That’s not “narrative control.” That’s a sequel no one greenlit.
4. Own it or ghost it
Marvel’s current move — trying to stay quiet and legally separate — may work, if the courts agree. But silence can also look like evasion. If you’re staying out of it, say so early and clearly, before the speculation spreads faster than a mutant gene.
Until next time, stay super. Stay strategic.
Doctor Spin, signing off.
P.S. Think you spotted a PR blunder worth dissecting? Email me, Doctor Spin might make another house call.
A former business journalist, Greg Simpson is the author of The Small Business Guide to PR and has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 5 PR consultants, having set up Press For Attention PR in 2008.
He has worked for FTSE 100 firms, charities and start-ups and conducted press conferences with Sir Richard Branson and James Caan. His background ensures a deep understanding of every facet of a successful PR campaign – from a journalist’s, client’s, and consultant’s perspective.
See this column in the May issue of East Midlands Business Link Magazine here.
