Why deleting a post that receives huge backlash isn't enough

Yesterday, I witnessed a PR disaster of epic proportions from Jonny Clark in a since-deleted post.?It was a PR disaster for the following reasons...?

Whilst he happily pointed out that an alternative therapy was being 'peddled' by Dragons Den and founder of Acuseeds Giselle, he failed to mention the other alternative therapy brand founded by Liam Brown that was invested also in during that episode.

He also missed the huge levels of effort and thought Giselle put into the branding and packaging of Acuseeds. She has created a viable business model that has huge scalability potential across the retail, wholesale and beauty industries too.

What Jonny didn't tell you is that his blog contains an article titled King of Pentacles, which for those of you who don't know, is a card from a Tarot Deck. Though the blog has very little to do with Tarot, it does tell us about the importance of adequate funding for early-stage founders. Highlighting the various factors that create a pentacle-styled visual approach. Ultimately though, the title of that blog is actually the title of a card found in an ancient spiritual guidance method.

Jonny also highlighted cherry-picked facts about how Acuseeds can be purchased for a few pounds on the likes of Temu. He quoted over-inflated profit margins, stating them as facts rather than his personal opinion, to back up his accusation that Acuseeds were ripping people off whilst peddling so-called unproven ancient holistic therapies. But he failed to see the scalability of the whole business model and the fact that there are several products packaged alongside the gold and silver options vs the brown, basic cheap versions on Temu.

This leads me to the combined PR faux pa that pushed him to delete his post. Jonny is a seed angel investor who attacked an early-stage female-led business. He failed to see that he was attacking the very things he preaches about and supports in early-stage and seed founders. He completely missed the business structures, the purpose and the instability that drove all six dragons to make her an offer. Yet nothing in his post was useful feedback. It just read like a targeted post that made him sound bitter and uneducated. It singlehandedly undid all the work he's done to establish himself as an industry expert.

The biggest problem he missed in his since-deleted rant is that his post is exactly why women don't go for investment, or they go for less funding than their male counterparts. Jonny did not attack Liam Brown, whose homoeopathic full power Cacao brand also received high levels of praise and backing from the Dragons. He simply singled out Giselle and Acuseeds.

As a woman looking into getting seed investment for my brand, the PR Mastery Apps Limited, what he did was play out my biggest fear in real life. That level of public ridicule in front of thousands of followers in professional space is why I and many other women crack on in our own way using other means of funding or we give up completely.?

There are so many levels to how this was contradictory to what he has previously stated he stands for. Though he attempted to appear as an industry expert with a controversial opinion, it was so ill thought-out that it was simply a PR disaster for him and with whom he is associated. Which was clearly why he deleted his rant which read like nothing more than an unprovoked personal attack.

I teach how this is avoidable in the Industry Expert Club. With a well thought out strategy, it's possible to be critical without targeting a subject on a personal level. You can use your Industry Expertise to establish yourself and become a respected individual, even with a controversial opinion. You simply need to research both sides of the topic, make sure you are prepared for backlash and word it to focus on the facts and avoid personal attacks. In the Industry Expert Club, I also teach the supporting strategies that will help you leverage your expertise to grow your presence and develop a trustworthy reputation without the risk of creating a PR disaster.

But for Jonny Clark, there's been no strategy to recover from this. There's been no apology or mention as to why he’s deleted his post. I can only assume that was due to the huge backlash he received and how it was glaringly obvious to everyone that it wasn't a good look for an investor to single out the female founder.

From a crisis comms perspective, he should explain his actions. He should apologise. He should publicly accept he was wrong and that his post contradicts everything both he and his associated company stand for. He should also back up his apology by showcasing the positive things in business and investment that he stands for. He should highlight what work he’s doing to correct the gaps in gender-based equality in investment sectors that led to the Rose Review and Invest in Women Code.

But he went for the 'quick fix' and simply deleted his post. But the damage has been done to his reputation, traces of his post are still online and the damage and impact on female founders lingers without any accountability or attempt to put it right.

This sort of attitude and behaviour has a huge impact on women raising investment and it needs to change.