Mind F*ing Blown: How to Respond When Your CEO “Inadvertently” Makes a Nazi Salute
Note: This is a satirical post, meant to critique and highlight the absurdity of a real-life situation that clashes with my personal values. While it introduces sarcasm and humour, I want to be clear: I condemn all forms of hate, extremism and intolerance.
Let’s set a ‘hypothetical’ scene, something so outrageous it’s completely unthinkable, and one might question how I could conceive of such a thing: It’s a regular day in corporate PR land when you glance at Twitter, and there it is—a video of your CEO doing something that looks, well, a lot like a Nazi salute—twice—on stage at a very prominent speaking engagement! Naturally, you panic.
As a PR professional, your instincts kick in. You’ve been trained for crises. You know exactly what to do.
You Might Feel Inclined To...
Issue an immediate statement clarifying that the gesture was unintentional and taken out of context.
Highlight your CEO’s unwavering commitment to condemning hate, extremism and anything associated with Nazism or the Holocaust.
Roll out a proactive initiative to demonstrate the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Emphasize your CEO’s dedication to learning from this moment and doing better moving forward.
All reasonable, professional responses, right?
But No, That’s Not Going to Work.
Why take the route of accountability and compassion when you can double down and make things infinitely worse? Welcome to 2025 Reputation Management for Mavericks. Instead of doing the right thing, here’s what you do:
You Gaslight.
Flip the script! The problem isn’t the action itself—it’s that people are stupid for noticing it. Try something like:
“This is just a smear campaign orchestrated by my enemies.”
“It’s a silly misunderstanding. People really need to lighten up.”
“I can’t believe people would even think to draw parallels between my actions and something so obviously terrible. That says more about them than me.”
“FAKE NEWS!!!”
The goal here is to make the public question their own eyes and ears. Turn the focus away from the CEO’s actions and toward how unreasonable everyone else is being. This approach works so well—if your only goal is to light your reputation on fire.
Sample Statement of the Right Thing to Do:
Just for fun, here’s what a responsible PR response could look like in this ‘hypothetical’ situation:
“We understand that recent images of [HYPOTHETICAL CEO] have caused concern and led to harmful interpretations, and we apologize unreservedly. While this gesture was entirely unintentional, we deeply regret any pain or offence caused. [HYPOTHETICAL CEO] condemns hate and extremism in all its forms and recognizes the responsibility of leaders to communicate with sensitivity. We are committed to using this moment as a learning opportunity and as a reminder to lead with awareness, empathy, respect and integrity.”
See how easy that was? Takes about 15 seconds to write, sets a clear course to restore trust and moves the conversation in a positive direction. (Note: this also passes my “sentence check,” ensuring that every sentence in an issues statement stands alone—ready to be picked apart for inclusion in media coverage, as discussed in my recent post here.)
But No, Instead You Make Holocaust Jokes.
Because why stop at a PR dumpster fire when you can turn it into a raging inferno? Just head over to Twitter and start cracking jokes about Nazis. Bonus points for puns using the names of prominent Nazi figures. Don’t forget to add a laughing emoji at the end—nothing says respect for history like a “😂.”
Examples:
“Don’t say Hess to Nazi accusations!”
“Some people will Goebbels anything down!”
“Stop Gőring your enemies!”
“His pronouns would’ve been He/Himmler!”
“Bet you did nazi that coming 😂”
Hypothetical tweet from a hypothetical CEO.
Will these jokes trivialize the Holocaust and offend a huge portion of the population? Absolutely. Will they raise valid concerns about your CEO’s judgment, character and basic sense of decency? 100%.
But hey, at least it keeps you trending, right? And isn’t that what it’s all about? After all, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Verdict: Crashed—Total Disaster (New to the blog? My tomatometer is explained here.)
This situation has compelled me to introduce a new rating: Crashed. Much like the tragic aviation disasters where pilots, impaired or neglectful, ignored essential training, protocols and norms, leading to catastrophic outcomes, this scenario represents a total loss—a complete and utter disaster. It’s a stark reminder of the devastation that ensues when responsibility is abandoned.
While my post is written with sarcasm, this playbook certainly seems to be working for some, and I suspect it will only grow in popularity in certain circles over the next four years. Of course, it’s likely reserved for the billionaire class—meanwhile, the rest of us will continue to be held to social norms (as we ALL should be!), a true double standard. But let’s take a wait-and-see approach.
Maybe one day, we too, as communicators, can just say “fuck it” and fully embrace gaslighting, childishness and general tomfoolery (read: assholery) as part of our practice—including this gem of a press alias auto-reply: 💩. Ironically, while I’ve just drafted this entire post, I truly have no words!
Foregoing My Pitch: Free Advice Instead.
Normally, this is where I include a pitch paragraph about how I can help with your communications and marketing needs. But if you’re on the HYPOTHETICAL CEO train, and any of what he's doing resonates with you, here’s my most invaluable counsel, completely free of charge: “Just don’t.”
On another note, if I were a billionaire (or even a humble millionaire), I wouldn’t just focus on being a good person in my business dealings—I’d dedicate my time and wealth to genuinely making the world a better place.
As I reflect on the current state of the world, I’m committing my time to help a charity or non-profit in need. Learn more about The Helping Hand Project here, and let me know if you know an organization that could benefit from my services. This is my way of adding a little positivity and goodwill into the world—because we could all use more of that right now.
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