Not such a Weiner

At the Click 5.0 Digital Marketing Summit I raised the topic of the Anthony Weiner scandal in the United States.   With care, of course.  The issues the matter raises, if you will pardon the double entendre, are not suitable for polite conversation.

The scandal reminded me of a fundamental truth - that the core element of every reputation is trust.   (The recent Edelman Trust Barometer reinforces, with evidence, that trusted companies and organisations fare better in a storm).

And so it was with Congressman Weiner.

If you don't know the story, here it is in a nutshell.  Mr Weiner is a Democrat Congressman.  He's married.  His very beautiful wife is an adviser to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and she's expecting a baby.  He was planning to run for Mayor of New York, a huge political office. Mr Weiner is chatting to a young woman online.  He tweets directly to her an indecent picture of himself, or so he thinks.  But to his horror, he realises he's tweeted it to all his followers, and tries to get it back.  But it's out there, and it's a story.   He gives interviews, such as this one, in which he denies sending the picture

The problem is that he is not telling the truth.  And in an instant, he has changed the central focus of the story: from whether he sent an indecent picture of himself, at best a misjudgement, to whether he is a truthful person.  In other words, can he be trusted?   And as a legislator, that is a very important question for the American public.   It is about his core reputation.  Who votes for someone they don't trust?

As the days go on, Mr Weiner clings on to his version of events and to his seat in Congress.  He makes enemies of the media by berating them for daring to keep raising the subject (it's impossible to write this summary and avoid double entendre throughout, you will have to stay with me, please).

Of course, the inevitable happens and more evidence of chats online with other women and even more explicit pictures come to light.

Mr Weiner decides to hold a press conference in which he confesses to sending the picture and to other incidents, some before he was married and some after.  It is a humiliating and degrading spectacle.  Watch how he breaks down after he says the words "I haven't told the truth....".

By now, this major US story has become a global spectacle and the press conference is packed and the atmosphere frenzied.  It's carried on all the news networks.

Mr Weiner still tries to cling on to his seat, and when the controversy refuses to die down, he announces he is seeking treatment.  Given that the central issue in this story is that he has not been telling the truth, it is not clear what he is to be treated for.

There are multiple calls for his resignation, but then finally the President is asked in a press conference if he thinks Mr Weiner should resign and Mr Obama says if he were him, he would.  Mr Weiner resigns and gives another press conference (he appears by now to be addicted to press conferences).

Here is a good timeline  of the crisis for the Congressman (warning: contains image and material of an adult nature).

There has been much nonsense written about the quality of the PR advice Mr Weiner was given.

 Here is my summary.

1.  It's a fundamental rule when you are in trouble that you must be open and tell the truth.  That way, you might survive, and people might accept you've made a mistake but still trust you.

2.  If you don't tell the truth, you are entirely to blame for the consequences.  Not your advisers.

3.  Failure to tell the truth changes any issue to one of your integrity and that is potentially fatal to your reputation.

4.  Think very carefully about whether you should give a press conference if you are likely to be questioned about phone sex, your genitals, or people in the audience are likely to shout out insults of a sexual nature at you.   Keep your dignity.   Can you imagine preparing your client for questions about his underwear and what's underneath it?   It should make alarm bells ring very loudly.

5.  The public on the whole are generous when you make a mistake, if you apologise and tell them what you are going to do to put it right.   That generosity evaporates when they realise they are not being told the truth.

The saga has been a gift to American comedians.  My favourite line was this from a comedian in New York (sadly I can't find the clip): "Have you seen the Weiner pictures.  Oh!....  Oh!.... (think of the way Joan Rivers says Oh!... to get the picture).  I want a man like that running my city."

Finally, Mr Weiner made some terrible mistakes and he has paid a heavy price.  But he eventually did the right thing.  His wife appears to be standing by him.  She is an extraordinarily generous and loving person.   I wish him well.


(Posted from Mumbai, India)