eChaser: November 2014 / p2

THIS MONTH IN PR/MARKETING HISTORY BY JEFF RODRIGUEZ

An irreverent look at the people and events that keep us up at night

Pardon Me

When Sarah Palin Visited a Turkey Farm, It Set Feathers Flying

Politicians know that pardoning someone can be controversial. What they don't typically consider is that it can be just as problematic to pardon a bird. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin discovered this Nov. 20, 2008, when she went home to Wasilla to pardon a turkey before Thanksgiving and ended up walking into a buzz saw of media criticism.

Palin first went to a hatchery, where, surrounded by heedless gobblers, she read her pardon. She said Alaska did not have a death penalty, the bird had not received a fair trial, and “turkey” was now considered a term of endearment.

Then she described herself as a "friend to all creatures great and small,” a line that would hurt her worse than bad giblets later.

After pardoning a bird, Palin stepped outside the hatchery to take questions from reporters, on camera. In the background, a farmer toiled away at the seasonal slaughter, placing turkeys one by one in a "killing cone," which decapitates the bird, filling a trough with blood. It was not the best juxtaposition (especially for the turkeys).

The media flocked to the story, highlighting it as further proof that the former vice presidential candidate lacked astuteness. The Washington Post incorrectly reported that the birds were being put into a grinder, and The New York Times posted on a blog, “A Sarah Palin Thanksgiving”: “You don’t have to be a huge animal lover to question why Governor Palin chose to be interviewed — while issuing a traditional seasonal pardon of a turkey — while turkeys were being executed in the background.” (You don't have to be a huge vegetarian to wonder why the Times used the word executed.)

It also was reported that Palin had been asked about being interviewed in front of the proceedings, and had agreed to it. Indeed, while the camera was rolling, it appears that she does glance back at the farmer, but perhaps she just wanted to place her order.

While liberal media basted — rather, lambasted — Palin, conservative writers came to her defense. Columnist Michelle Malkin wrote, “You’d think Palin was standing in front of the camera soaked in blood like Sissy Spacek in ‘Carrie.’ ” Another positive for Palin was that the background activity drew attention from what she was actually saying. Asked for her plans now that the presidential campaign was over, she responded:

“Plans just include getting through the budget process that we’re going through right now, building the state’s budget based on the price of oil that has plummeted so greatly, and reigning in the growth of government, and plans like that, that have to do with helping to govern this state, and building this team that is continually being built to provide good service to Alaskans. So in my role as a governor, that’s what my plans are all around.”

Even easier to miss is what happened next, when the reporter, asking a follow-up question about potential budget cuts, innocently used the term “chopping block.” Who says subliminal advertising doesn't work?

So was Palin being a birdbrain, or did the media lose their heads over nothing? How someone answers that question will probably reflect on his politics. But regardless of which wing you associate with, one thing is certain: In public relations, it’s all too easy to fowl up.

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