Jon Pritchett's Dream of Reviving AstroTurf Became a PR Nightmare

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Yet doing so risked heightening the unwanted scrutiny on AstroTurf and making the brand an even bigger lightning rod. GSV wasn't responsible and could be forgiven for keeping quiet, it was pointed out. And though some GSV executives wanted to come out swinging, Michael Dennis argued for taking the high road. "We all took it personally," says sales and marketing manager Philip Primato. "We had put so much into building this brand back that we were not going to let something like this stop us."

The Decision Pritchett opted for going on the offensive. GSV spent the next 10 days planning a major press conference for May 5, at which four company-retained scientists would present their findings. The venue, the New York Public Library for Science, Industry and Business, was chosen to reinforce the scientists' message. The team worked hard to distill the data to a form the public could easily absorb. No one disputed the source of the lead: the pigment that gives artificial turf its green-grass color and that the industry has been trying to eliminate. But GSV's panel argued that, even in older turf, the lead compound was encapsulated before being extruded into the fibers. So it would be impossible for lead to leach from an AstroTurf-covered field. Even if those fibers were somehow ingested, the amount of lead they contained was much too small to be dangerous. A 100-pound child would have to eat 23 pounds of AstroTurf before it would pose a health hazard, they said.

The press conference attracted reporters from more than two dozen media outlets, including USA Today. That night, sitting with Pritchett on the patio of Dennis's home in Chester, New Jersey, Primato pulled up the newspaper's website on his laptop. The front page of the sports section featured a story about the press conference and a photo showing the 23 pounds of AstroTurf GSV had dumped in front of the podium for effect. For at least a moment, the company had seized control of the spotlight.

In the following days, press reports were less alarmist. Pritchett says he believes GSV's willingness to confront the issue head on defused the PR fallout. And when the final results from the state's tests on the three fields with high lead levels came out, in early June, the findings seemed to support GSV's position, showing an even smaller threat of lead exposure than GSV's estimates.

GSV was even chosen to replace the field in Newark that had started it all, after Dennis lobbied for the contract. "Our reputation was on the line," says Dennis, now the company's majority shareholder. "I was not going to let it be replaced with a competitive product." Still, the fight isn't over. In June, the Centers for Disease Control issued a health advisory, urging caution before letting children play on artificial turf. Earlier, the Consumer Product Safety Commission began a separate investigation.

Pritchett maintains that by taking the initiative in the lead scare, GSV positioned itself as more than just the caretaker of an aging brand. "It tested us," he says. "I wouldn't want to do it again, but I do think it helped us."

The Experts Weigh In

Change the name

In many cases, you want to shut up and not say anything. But GSV took the right action. It needed to put its case forward and protect its investment. Unfortunately, scientific verification isn't believed by a lot of people. Going forward, if Pritchett and his team haven't considered changing the name of AstroTurf, they're crazy. They need it to be AstroTurf Pure, AstroTurf Prime, AstroTurf whatever. And they need to use Archie Manning. If they can't get him, get a soccer mom, somebody who has a vested interest. They need a spokesperson -- besides one of their suits.

Terry Hemeyer
Senior Counsel
Pierpont Communications
Houston

Brace for a long fight

When I was spokeswoman for Odwalla, which suffered an E. coli outbreak in 1996, our humility went a long way to helping sustain the brand through a really tough situation. I'm not sure New York City was the best venue for a press conference. I would have done it on a field, maybe in New Jersey. But that was just one step in the process. Every time something comes up in the future, even if it's a good thing, this crisis is going to be brought up in every story. It will linger for a long time, and you just have to gird yourself for that and incorporate that into your strategy.

Sydney Fisher Bernier
Former Spokeswoman
Odwalla
Half Moon Bay, California

Use the Web

GSV was not as proactive in using Internet-based communications tools as it could have been. Steps as simple as making its press release friendlier for Web-based media or using search-engine marketing to promote its side of the story would have gone a long way toward defusing the controversy. GSV blew hard on it early with some traditional methods, but in today's environment, wildfires spread on the Internet. Businesses like GSV could learn from the approaches political candidates are taking to fight the spread of misinformation.

John Ellett
CEO
nFusion Group
Austin

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