Companies increasingly debut their Super Bowl commercials online a week early not just for hype, but as a crucial risk management tactic. By monitoring social media comments and public sentiment, brands can gauge reactions and pull an ad if it's unexpectedly controversial, preventing a potential PR disaster and protecting their massive investment.

Instead of passively monitoring communities like Reddit for brand mentions, Breeze's founder advocates for actively joining the conversation. This means responding directly to negative feedback and using it as a real-time tool to improve the business, fostering a more authentic and resilient brand.

Auntie Anne's founder Anne Beiler intentionally shared a damaging personal story on national TV. This preemptive move neutralized the information's power, ensuring future journalists couldn't use it as a "salacious" exposé. This strategy of "taking the air out of the balloon" protects long-term brand reputation by controlling the narrative from the start.

The common instinct in a brand crisis is to repeatedly apologize. However, after acknowledging the mistake and the fix, the best path is to stop talking about it. Loyal customers want the brand to return to being trustworthy, and over-apologizing keeps the focus on the failure.

During a Twitter crisis, the Royal Mail team could only watch a flood of complaints on TweetDeck. Lacking tools to manage volume and provide templated responses, they were unable to engage. This transforms a professional team from active responders into helpless spectators during a critical event.

The Royal Mail team was on a free trial of a social listening tool when a PR crisis erupted. This highlights a critical flaw: crisis management infrastructure must be fully implemented and operational *before* it's needed, as there is no time for setup or contract negotiation once a crisis begins.

The CMO behind a controversial Sydney Sweeney campaign treated the public backlash not as a crisis, but an opportunity. Instead of apologizing or changing course, he stopped reading social media, referred back to his core strategy and data, and ultimately chose to double down on the partnership.

The risk of a malicious deepfake video targeting an executive is high enough that it requires a formal protocol in your crisis communications plan. This plan should detail contacts at social platforms and outline the immediate response to mitigate reputational damage.

During the Sydney Sweeney ad controversy, American Eagle's marketing team intentionally remained silent, contrary to typical crisis management advice. This allowed them to assess internal data and let the negative sentiment cycle burn out, which ultimately proved successful as public opinion swung back in their favor.