Public Relations-Keeping your brand positive

After having a great time on Thunder Mountain Railroad we jumped over to Tomorrow land to take a ride on Space Mountain. After a few rides there, we decided to go back to Adventure land and go on Thunder Mountain again. When we got to the area of Thunder Mountain, it was cordoned off for visitors and we were told that there was a malfunction on the ride and it was currently closed.

Well, the public finds out about things faster than the speed of any of the four mountain rides. Television reports were being called in to people on their mobile phones and it was already disclosed that there had been an accident on the ride only thirty minutes after we had a ride. It turned out that one of the train cars had lost its grip on the track. While going through a tunnel one of the guests was thrown up out of his seat. He was killed on contact with the tunnel roof.

Public Relations starts to move quickly at this point. The park wanted to minimize the negative situation so it cordoned off the area in question. Once the death was confirmed they increased the size of the area blocked to guests, as the body was taken away out the back of the park by ambulance. The ride never re-opened for the day, and the brand was not damaged for the day. Of course there were repercussions later from the family losing a loved one, but the park continued to operate as usual in the days ahead. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence.

The park was well prepared ahead of time on who to contact, where to go, what to do, and what to say. All good measures when it comes to a disaster, such as this one. The lesson here, and the operative word, is preparation. Imagine if they were not prepared. It would have been chaos and a public relations nightmare.

What are your challenges when it comes to public relations? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time…