"Brands often use current events to try to do some 'real-time marketing' in social media, but many were quiet on Joe Biden’s win in the presidential race, or at least pretty oblique about it." - Nat Ives, Deloitte sponsored content, as published in The Wall Street Journal, November9, 2020.
The examples Deloitte provides include pop culture brand Oreo. On Twitter Saturday, Oreo exclaimed that it was a Double Stuf kind of day.
Yes, that signaled a celebratory sort of mood. So, sure, it's time to treat oneself to more Oreos.
But the language didn't make it impossible to double back - pun intended - to be part of other political and social ideologies. Yes, brands are being squeezed to take stands on social issues on social networks. But they are also sophisticated enough to play that game carefully.
Law firms should be equally cautious.
Their business interests are too complex to embrace any one political bill of goods. Recall that it wasn't representing Harvey Weinstein per se that tarnished the David Boies' brand. It was the how, detailed by Ronan Farrow in The New Yorker, which put Boies and his firm Boies Schiller Flexner on a downward trajectory. Partners began fleeing.
Currently, it is not uncommon for a law firm to develop a signature for social justice and to defend clients who allegedly were bad actors with minorities.
From the get-go when COVID-19 became a reality, Paul Weiss chairperson Brad Karp was on the front lines creating unique help strategies. One had been the Coronavirus Resource Center. To pull that together, Karp had to get myriad other lawyers at myriad other law firms to cooperate. Yes, like herding a bunch of cats. But that he did.
Right now, a Paul Weiss partner and woman of color Loretta Lynch is defending McDonald's USA in the class action lawsuit "Christine Crawford, et al. v. McDonald's USA." Here is a copy of the complaint.
The more than 50 former black franchisees allege racial bias on the part of the defendant impaired their ability to succeed. Lynch, in arguing to dismiss, contended that it was in McDonald's USA's financial self-interest to help not neglect black franchisees. In addition, she pushed contract law. There had been nothing in the contract guaranteeing success.
This lawsuit, along with the media coverage, has legs. Bloomberg reports that a second similar lawsuit was filed by current franchisees. The lawsuit is "Byrd v. McDonald's USA." Yes, there could be additional lawsuit filings, with the same kinds of allegations about racial bias.
This McDonald's USA cluster could attract as much attention as the gender bias lawsuit "Tolton, et al. v. Jones Day." Here is one version of the complaint. There have been several amendments. That means that every entity in the defense loop could be put under a media microscope. Those include law firm Paul Weiss itself, Lynch (and her team) and Karp.
Returning to the now-infamous "Tolton." The court of public opinion became so riled up with the issues embedded in "Tolton" that the normally circumspect Jones Day posted an extensive statement about it on its website. Here is it.
It seems obvious that since law firms are brands - quite powerful ones - they have to be as wise as consumer ones in how they position and package their political opinions. Look at it this way: Oreo recognized that conservatives here in northwest Ohio love dunking their double stuf in milk as much as progressives on the coasts. Neither could be alienated.
On the other hand, there could be a disconnect between The Brand and The Business. At least for some law firms. The classic example of that has been Jones Day's representation of issues related to Donald Trump. More recently, it, along with Porter Wright, is filing lawsuits in Pennsylvania contesting the election results. Its brand has taken hits. But not its business.
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