British Broadcasting Corporation

Crisis Analysis

Who is BBC

• Public Service broadcaster in London, England

• Over 23,000 employees

• Largest Broadcaster in the world

• Mission: Enrich people’s lives with programs and services that inform, educate, and entertain

• Vision: Be the most creative organization in the world

• Values: Trust, value, quality, respect, and creativity

History

• Established in 1922 by 6 telecommunication companies for experimental radio signals

• 1927 became public service provider by Royal Charter

• Adopted Coat of Arms and phrase “Nation shall speak peace unto nation”

Services Today

• Expanded to radio, TV, internet, and commercial business

• Services paid by license fee

• License fee is set by government and everyone who watches or records TV are required to pay

BBC International

• 1932 began broadcasting internationally

• BBC World in 32 languages

• BBC’s World Service funded through grants and broadcasts 24/7 to 188 million

• BBC Worldwide is BBC’s commercial media outlet

BBC Management

• BBC Trust-12 trustees appointed by British monarch. Develops strategy and oversees executive board

• Executive Board- Turns trust vision into reality through operational management. The director-general is Michael Thompson

Top Gear

• Popular British TV show on BBC

• Presenters- Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May

• Showcase cars and other motor vehicles

• Presenters rely on crude humor

Crisis

• Controversy began when presenters discussed launch of Mexican sports car “the tortilla”

• Criticized Mexicans

• “lazy fleckless, flatulent, overweight, leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat”

• “refried sick”“because at the Mexican embassy, the ambassador’s going to be there asleep with a remote control”

Ambassador Response

• Wrote letter to BBC calling statements “offensive, xenophobic, and humiliating”

• Demanded apology

Verbal Response

• Apologized to ambassador 5 days later calling comments “rude and mischievous” but no “vindictiveness”

• Response to viewer complaints said the comments were clearly exaggerated and Top Gear regulars would understand the British Humor used.

• Responses were sarcastic and unapologetic

• Under pressure edited clips for international broadcast and blocked them from YouTube

Non- Verbal Response

• BBC ultimately denied doing anything wrong so did little internally to fix the problem

Media Response

• Started in UK and went international

• Media critical of BBC

• Thought comments over the top

• Believed a publicity stunt

Stakeholder Response

• British regulator OfCom said BBC was in the right

• Small backlash in UK because of population

• Mexican government leaders unify to make statement demanding apology

• Mexicans boycott British

• Board and other Mexican companies consider suing

• Social Media goes crazy over controversy, mostly critical

Recommendations

• Immediately apologize for statements in a sincere manner

• Apologize to ambassador personally

• News Conference

• BBC officials visit Mexico personally

• Top Gear commentary approved before airing