On Saturday, Nov. 9, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean went on-air and hosted their famous weekly segment, Coach’s Corner. Cherry took this opportunity to single out immigrants in Mississauga for not wearing poppies in support of veterans.
“You people… you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that,” Cherry said on the segment. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”
The comments quickly turned into a public relations crisis as Cherry received an ample amount of backlash from the public, including from politicians and the National Hockey League.
Sportsnet released a statement on Twitter the following Monday announcing that after discussions with Cherry, it had been decided it was “the right time” for him to go.
“Sports brings people together — it unites us, not divides us,” said the statement from Bart Yabsley, Sportsnet president. “Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down.”
Cherry received support online as soon as Tuesday morning. Hashtags including #BoycottSportsnet and #DonCherryIsRight began trending in Toronto. Even hockey legend Bobby Orr stepped up to defend his former coach.
Later, Cherry issued a statement saying that he would not apologize for his comments and explained, “The problem is if I have to watch everything I say, it isn’t Coach’s Corner.”
Cherry has always been controversial, which has kept viewers tuning in every Saturday night for years. The key in this crisis is Cherry’s refusal to apologize. He did not acknowledge that he did something wrong or try to follow his behavior with an action to show sincerity, which led to the decision to cut ties with him.
The power of a sincere apology in a crisis can be the difference between sinking or swimming as an organization. We’ve seen it again and again through countless public relations case studies, including the Maple Leaf Foods listeria crisis and the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol murders.
For instance, when Maple Leaf Foods confirmed the presence of listeriosis in their products, they acted by immediately recalling all their products from affected plants, and offered a full apology, accepting that Maple Leaf Foods was solely responsible for the outbreak.
Johnson & Johnson took responsibility upon realizing somebody had tampered with their Tylenol by poisoning it with potassium cyanide and pulled their products from shelves immediately. Then, they created packaging that was harder to tamper with to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
Both companies apologized and followed their apologies with an action that regained the trust of their consumers, and their market share.
After Cherry’s comment, many fans of the Sportsnet segment were offended by his behavior, and lost trust in the brand. His comments were a misrepresentation of the values that Sportsnet holds. Sportsnet ultimately decided to issue a statement apologizing and cut ties with Cherry to show that they were sincere.
A sincere apology can make or break an organization in a time of crisis. Using cases such as the Maple Leaf Foods listeria crisis and the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol murders as precedent, it only makes sense that without Don Cherry’s apology, Sportsnet could not continue with Coach’s Corner.
Madison Mills, Editor
