This week’s 78^th Primetime Emmy’s saw a dark horse sweep the comedy categories. The Apple TV hit “Widow’s Bay” won a historic 14 awards, breaking the record for most awards won in a single night by a freshman comedy.

For those who haven’t yet tuned in, the series centers around a fictional New England island community afflicted by a strange curse that manifests in different supernatural occurrences terrorizing residents. We follow Mayor Tom Loftis—played by Matthew Rhys, who nabbed two lead acting awards at the Emmy’s this year—as he tries to turn the town into a tourist hot-spot and bring the island into the 21^st century.

The show’s inciting incident is a familiar set up for PR professionals. Miraculously, Rhys’ character secures a visit from a New York Times travel reporter to profile the town. However, we quickly see the idyllic charm presented to the writer is only a veneer for something much more sinister. The mayor’s endeavors, while often misguided, offer a look at the power of earned media and how leading with false promises can end badly. 

The Value in Third Party Validation  

Widow’s Bay invites viewers to witness how off-putting the mayor’s aggressive self-promotion appears. It isn’t until The New York Times, a well-known and trusted publication verifies the town’s potential as a charming, coastal getaway that the tourism floodgates fully open. 

Fans of the show watch as the reporter enjoys a picturesque Cape Cod-like experience on the island, while any threat to image the mayor is promoting is snuffed out or concealed. Consequently, an idyllic experience is what the reporter conveys to readers, resulting in a flock of visitors to the island. The show accurately represents the hoped-for or intended outcome of earned media—building trust and credibility to ultimately affect peoples’ perceptions and behavior. We take issue with the deception or concealed realities—always something to be avoided in public relations—but the impact, especially in a world where consumers rely on AI search results fueled by earned media along with online reviews, aligns with the core function of good public relations.

Unfortunately, once the tourists arrived, the island’s penchant for the macabre begins to seep through. Earned media lends brands a sense of credibility, but it’s up to the organization and its leadership to deliver the proof. 

Reputational Risk

From the beginning, Rhys’s portrayal of the mayor is of someone frequently trying to cover up the town’s sordid past from being exposed, first to the reporter and later the tourists themselves. In his attempt to boast Widow’s Bay as a dream destination, the mayor turns a blind eye to the reputational risk the island faces by welcoming tourists when a dangerous supernatural awakening is afoot. Eventually, this deferred reality puts residents’ and tourists’ safety at risk. 

While most organizations are unlikely to withhold a supernatural curse from the public, transparency should still be part of any communications strategy. 

Skeletons in the closet? Share them with your public relations team. This means being open with your communications partner about any potential risks. The PR team can only help to address issues of concern if they are shared, with recommendations to resolve them and maintain control over the narrative. When management views are shaded through rose-colored glasses, a good PR team can come in with a strategic view looking at how the company and its news could be viewed from a variety of perspectives. But the organization has to be willing to acknowledge where perception and reality fail to meet and act to resolve those gaps.

Crisis Communications 

Without diving too deeply into spoiler territory, the final episode of the season sees Mayor Tom Loftis reckoning with the warning signs he tried to ignore. In his attempt to modernize the community and revive their struggling economy, he let the town’s warnings mushroom into a full-blown threat, risking the safety of everyone on the island. As a result, other members of his office are left to navigate a crisis with minimal framework and little guidance from their leader, further souring tourists’ impression of the town. 

The best time to start planning your crisis communications is well before a crisis happens. The Widow’s Bay mayor failed to acknowledge a crisis, despite all the warning signs. Business leaders can’t afford to make that mistake. Working with communications partners to see where and how they can get ahead of issues before they escalate into full-blown reputational threats is often challenging, but ultimately goes a long way to protect all those involved. A good PR team will help you prepare thoughtful messaging that leads with empathy and focuses on the facts. 

It remains to be seen how Tom Loftis’ bungled PR strategy will impact the fictional town’s fate in the next season. In the meantime, we can learn from his missteps and point to the value of a comprehensive communications strategy that respects the value of third-party validation, considers reputational risk from every angle and prepares for the worst.  

What does Widow’s Bay teach us about PR? Good PR can put your business on the map, but make sure you understand just what could rise up from below before you summon its power.