Lowe’s: Let’s Build Some Better Public Relations Together

Lowe’s nailed itself into a corner. The company stopped advertising on a show called “All-American Muslim.” The show airs on TLC. According to TLC’s website, the show “takes a look at life in Dearborn, Michigan–home to the largest mosque in the United States–through the lens of five Muslim American families.” The L.A. Times says a group called Florida Family Association pressured Lowe’s into pulling the ads. The group’s website says its goal is “improving America’s moral environment” and educating people “on what they can do to defend, protect and promote traditional, biblical values.” Their website says “All-American Muslim is propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda. 65 companies pull off the show. Please send your email to recent advertisers.”

After pulling its advertising, a California senator talked about boycotting Lowe’s. He asked the “chain to apologize to American Muslims for ‘bigoted, shameful’ actions” and wrote a letter to Lowe’s CEO.

On Monday night, Russell Simmons and Mia Farrow joined the discussion on Twitter debating Lowe’s decision. Someone Tweeted that a friend cancelled a big flooring order. Someone called the marketing folks at Lowe’s “complete idiots.” Another asked “whose ur PR person?” A Texas man whose Twitter bio says “Just an angry man with internet access” wrote “heaven forbid a company does what it wants with its own advertising money!” Lowe’s Tweeted “Please see our Facebook page for an updated statement on our recent advertising.”

We went to Lowe’s Facebook page. Its profile picture states “It’s the season of joy.” The page’s debate wasn’t so joyous. On Facebook, Lowe’s released the following statement. As of Monday night, it received more than 7,800 comments.

“It appears that we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective – social, political and otherwise – and we’ve managed to make some people very unhappy. We are sincerely sorry. We have a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, across our workforce and our customers, and we’re proud of that longstanding commitment. Lowe’s has received a significant amount of communication on this program, from every perspective possible. Individuals and groups have strong political and societal views on this topic, and this program became a lighting rod for many of those views. As a result we did pull our advertising on this program. We believe it is best to respectfully defer to communities, individuals and groups to discuss and consider such issues of importance. We strongly support and respect the right of our customers, the community at large, and our employees to have different views. If we have made anyone question that commitment, we apologize. Thank you for allowing us to further explain our position.”

We have some questions:

1. What types of discussions took place at Lowe’s before deciding whether or not to advertise during “All-American Muslim?”
2. Has anyone at Lowe’s regularly watched the show to draw their own conclusions?
3. Did critics of the show catch Lowe’s off guard?
4. If Florida Family Association played a key role in Lowe’s decision, did the company thoroughly research the group?
5. Did Lowe’s understand pulling its ads would build even a bigger backlash? Did it care?
6. Does Lowe’s have confidence the same people at the company that got them into this mess can get them out?
7. Does Lowe’s make decisions such as these based on potential financial ramifications or do their decisions reflect the company’s core values?

These questions can apply to any company big or small. How do you think Lowe’s could have improved its handling of this? Do you think this debate goes beyond public relations and is simply an issue of right and wrong?