Consumers are Not Crash Test Dummies

Toyota’s PR initiative to aggressively discredit drivers who have encountered apparent problems with Toyota cars and to complain that the news media has not treated the company fairly is big bully PR from a bygone era.

It reveals how an enormously wealthy corporation flexes its muscle when it cannot completely make a problem go away by spreading wealth around Washington. Safety issues with Toyota cars is nothing new. The problems has been going on for years but it has mostly been kept quiet … until now.

When other car companies discover a problem with a particular model, they work through government channels and a recall is issued. When Toyota has a problem, the company spends millions of dollars with Washington lobbying firms that quietly spread the wealth around Capital Hill and government agencies … and the problem has often gone away, the American driving public be damned. Toyota’s strategy is not about reassuring the public; it’s about spending money to make a problem go away.

With Toyota, their strategy reveals that it is not about listening to their customers or engaging with customers, and really, it’s not about safety.

So, now, Toyota is going around the country in a form of corporate witch hunt to discredit drivers who have encountered safety issues with Toyota cars. And, woe be the reporter who writes a word to question what the company is doing. Not very reassuring for the American driving public, in my book.

Here’s the signal Toyota is sending – if you have a problem with one of their cars, it’s your fault. Buyer beware.

Tags: Crisis Communications, Featured

Category: Crisis Communications, Featured