Parental Misguidance: A Very Special PR/ER
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
FAMILY IN CRISIS Famous parents
It's been a piss poor week for the Missouri couple allegedly responsible for using a fake online profile to trick young Megan Meier into thinking they were a teen boy, an act which ended in the fragile girl's suicide. Mind you, the deceptive duo won't even begin to reach the level of misery felt by Megan's actual relatives—they haven't had a good week since the 13-year-old's passing. But as is typically the case with oddball tragedies, the media would rather heap its cracker-jack justice on the offenders while the victims quietly fade away. So press outlets have been skitting about releasing the names of the deadly charade-playing Ohio couple under the pretense of protecting their own daughter. (Folks on the Internet aren't so passive-aggressive.)
Clearly, these bad parents need to be taught a lesson. But law enforcement admits it can't make any charges stick. And media shame only goes so far. So Radar did the only thing left to do: called in a PR pro to advise John and Jane Drew Doe on how, if at all, they could change the general perception that they're "callous, heartless embodiments of evil whose lack of scruple and compassion resulted in a young girl's suicide" to something more restrained (and ultimately better for their own parenting) like "marginally better parents than incest-enforcing cannibals." Who better than Howard Bragman of 15 Minutes PR to help the dastardly Missouri twosome clear the fog of bad press and find their way to healthier parenting?
Worst role models in the galaxy, you're in the PR/ER!
