IBM's #HackAHairDryer

As a Public Relations student, one of my most prominent fears about my career is having to deal with a huge crisis. It is part of the job and mess-ups in companies happen everywhere. One specific mess-up that I remember is IBM’s #HackAHairDryer advertisement.

This PR issue is not a huge one, but if you are not familiar with the upset over the #HackAHairDryer advertisement, it was a 2015 advertisement to promote STEM jobs to women, according to IBM. The ad discusses blowing through stereotypes in the science fields for women, using a hair dryer as a metaphor, but the public looked at the hair dryer as a stereotype.

IBM did have good intentions but their #HackAHairDryer advertisement gained lots of criticism. Newspapers and magazines like The Guardian and The Huffington Post had articles written over this advertisement.

The ad got a lot of criticism on twitter quickly following its release, with people like Stephanie Evans saying, “That’s ok @IBM, I’d rather build satellites instead, but good luck with that whole #HackAHairDryer thing.”

The most important part in Public Relations is to know how to act in any situation, and to act fast. The IBM #HackAHairDryer advertisement upset was handled professionally by IBM. As soon as twitter blew up, IBM went to work and a statement was released, “The videos were part of a larger campaign to promote STEM careers. It missed the mark for some and we apologize. It is being discontinued.” What is interesting about their statement is that they do not just apologize, they also show that they had good intentions, and that the ad was perceived differently.

I have personally learned a lot just by researching how IBM handled this issue, and I think that a lesson to learn from this upset, is how important it is to react fast. They did not wait around for people to get even more upset, they apologized immediately and took care of the situation. IBM also took ownership for the ill perceived ad, which shows great professionalism.