3 PR Lessons from Bad Blood: Theranos Fraud
With all of the buzz around con artists and fraud by former Media Star and perceived wonder kid Elizabeth Holmes, let’s break down the media’s impact on her rising star story.
1. Reputations can be built (up slowly; torn down fast)
2. Social Proof matters (celebrity KOL boards, top talent recruits, brand name university, lure of Palo Alto Unicorns, perceived vetting from KOLs, reviews, word of mouth) – the idea that you can fool some people some of the time yet harder to fool most people all of the time
3. Show business over peer review science? Keep walking buddy; hang onto your wallet.
When prestigious, brand name board members and known talent recruits from Apple and other combine with Holmes time at Stanford, the “fake it til you make it” lure of Silicon Valley’s minimum viable product today turning into tomorrow’s unicorn, the wish for the next Steve Jobs to appear in today’s generation, and even her clothes, voice, and poise seem more show business than scientist inventor. FOMO big time.
3 PR Lessons to be learned?
1) Do Due diligence baby.
Who you work for, stick up for, stand by = your reputation. Guilt by association is real.
2) Don’t ignore the peer-review science.
It exists to Cover Your Ass (CYA) and protect you from posers. Good data doesn’t lie.
3) Get curious about weird Glassdoor reviews: if you read “paranoid employers,” run.
If you join and > 2 good employees “disappear” or you can’t ask questions, go. Now.
Critical thinking 🤔, asking questions, trusting published peer-review research over promises help ensure scientific accuracy. All also help avoid a PR Crisis.
What social proof do you know, like, trust to determine if it’s legit?
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