When you are building a brand or making a name for yourself, eventually you will have a rough couple of weeks according to Ronn Torossian 5WPR CEO. Worst case scenario, something from the past catches up with you or an honest mistake gets misrepresented. Suddenly sponsors are dropping off left and right even as others call to renew their contracts. Sometimes the logistics make no sense. Quick decisions are made in marketing departments and boardrooms across the country as a myriad of companies tied to your brand choose their fate.

If only you had a Magic 8 Ball of PR. See, public perception and buying habits can look a bit like a ball of yarn. At first it seems rather uniform, one loop over another over another, but a single pull in the wrong place at the wrong time and you end up with chaos.

It’s been a difficult few years for Carnival Cruise Line. Earlier this year, one of its ships, Triumph, got stranded at sea and eventually towed back to port by four tug boats.  Passengers were quick to share horror stories about their “poop cruise” – five days on a boat without electricity, running water, or working toilets –  a Crisis Public Relations nightmare!  Last year, Carnival’s Costa Concordia ran aground off of Italy, killing 32 passengers. Its Captain “tripped and fell into a lifeboat” that seemingly rowed itself safely to shore while 4,228 passengers were left to fend for themselves.  And just a month later, the Carnival-owned Costa Allegra’s engine caught fire, lost power and “was set adrift in pirate-infested waters in the Indian Ocean.” (CNN)

Actions to placate passengers and assume control of the company’s reputation have been ineffective. Of the Triumph, efforts were everything but triumphant.  The CEO apologized, both at a company organized press conference as well over the ship’s PA system as filthy, weary passengers deboarded.  Surely at the time, this was not music to their ears – not the best travel pr either.  Many of these same passengers then experienced a second stranding by Carnival when the cruise line-hired buses in which they were riding broke down somewhere between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. If it didn’t actually happen, we’d think this was a scene out of the latest Zach Galifianakis movie. Ultimately,  traumatized passengers were offered only a refund and $500 compensation, less than cost of the cruise itself.   As for the tragedy of the Costa Concordia, last week, it was announced that the Captain will  be tried for Manslaughter and faces up to 20 years in prison.  No refund or gift certificate can ever heal those wounds, especially for the families of those who died.