PR Risk or Reward?

Not that there aren’t already enough reality TV shows out there, CBS has decided to introduce “Undercover Boss”, a reality show that takes a CEO undercover to perform ground level tasks. Originally I thought this would be a hilarious show on how upper level management often times do not understand what is going on in their very own companies. After watching the first

two episodes I realized that while intriguing, this show could definitely either help or hurt a companies image.

Episode one featured Waste Management and show cased CEO Larry O’Donnell getting down to the nitty gritty of what his company really entails. It also show cased how caring and down to earth his company really is. Although there were some times where it seemed like workers felt unappreciated overall I believe Waste Management was shown in a positive light.

Episode two was a whole different ballpark. Hooters was the second company featured in “Undercover Boss”. Not only did this episode show just how much the women really are objectified by working there, it also showed that, that is exactly how a majority of people feel about the company. CEO Coby Brooks was the one light of hope of good PR for this company. He showed just how much he cared about this company and the people working for him. He also seemed to have had a change of heart about how the company is currently viewed, but having a revelation of sorts does nothing unless something is really done to create change that will make a difference. The change that Hooters had gotten out of the experience is that they want to highlight all that they do for the community. I think they missed the boat on this one. I understand wanting to keep the Hooter girl image, but what about taking some of the response from people on the street. What about an image update that keeps its sexiness without vulgarity, an image update that really is what their slogan states, “Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined”