President Donald Trump’s growing administration has taken America by storm in the little over one month that they’ve been in office.
We’ve known Trump to be unethical, spoiled and socially inept. Every day I look at the news and social media and say “well … it can’t possibly get worse.”
I’m proven wrong every single time. The White House PR is unethical and embarrassing. To say I was caught off guard by the White House Instagram would be a dramatic understatement.
If you haven’t taken a look, I suggest you do.
On Valentine’s Day, the administration posted a threatening “valentine,” stating, “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we’ll deport you.”
Still on the topic of immigration, the White House posted an “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight.” It was a satirical ASMR video, making fun of the deportation process. They used metal chains and handcuffs, and put them on someone who appeared to be an undocumented immigrant. The immigrants were chained up by their wrists and ankles.
Both posts weren’t just dark humor, they were a disgusting and unethical use of a professional platform. I haven’t seen such an out-of-touch approach and use of a digital platform this bad since Logan Paul’s infamous forest video.
What’s worse is that this isn’t some random vlogger trying to grow a following, this is the White House Instagram account. It’s meant to provide easily accessible information about current events of the country to its citizens. It’s not meant to be a page for hate and dehumanization, but that’s what it’s turned into.
So many people have been traumatized by their family members being deported. It’s a horrific experience that should be treated with sensitivity and decorum. If not for the people you deem criminals, then their children, friends and family.
As if tasteless parodies mocking pain wasn’t bad enough, our president then referred to himself as a king.
The Instagram account posted a poster-like photo with Trump wearing a crown. “LONG LIVE THE KING.” is written in the bottom left corner.
All of these posts are morally and ethically wrong — especially from a public relations standpoint. Believe it or not, like almost every other profession, there is a widely followed code of ethics for PR.
The Public Relations Society of America’s code of ethics focuses on so many of the things that the White House ignores. It’s meant to maintain professionalism, and limit harm. Quite the opposite result that the page has.
If this was a normal celebrity, this would be a PR nightmare. That celebrity would also get canceled right after they posted something like that. I cannot logically grasp how a PR team could allow for this.
I get it, “Trump isn’t playing by the rules!” I’ve heard it a million times. I know it can be a shocking concept to some, but rules are OK sometimes. No one’s going to suffer because someone said “Don’t make fun of this group’s pain” Sometimes common sense comes in the form of rules.
If this was my PR team approving this, I would tell them, “You’re fired.”
