Exxon's Failing PR Strategy

This Thursday’s issue of the New York Review of Books features a remarkable accusation against ExxonMobil: that the company has engaged in a decades-long effort to cover up what it knows about climate change. The charge, leveled in a 6,000-word essay by David Kaiser and Lee Wasserman of the Rockefeller Family Fund, is the latest salvo in a high-profile campaign funded by the heirs of John D. Rockefeller against the largest successor to the company he founded. It began when the Rockefeller Family Fund announced it would divest from ExxonMobil in March, arguing there was “no sane rationale” to invest in fossil fuels as the world warms. And the push is far from over: In a follow-up essay, Kaiser and Wasserman warn investors that unless the company addresses climate concerns, its share price will “probably decline substantially.”

Addressing this public relations crisis has become critical for Exxon Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson, who is interviewing with Donald Trump this week to be the next U.S. secretary of state. But so far, Exxon is epically mismanaging the problem. Back in March, an Exxon spokesperson responded to the Rockefeller Fund’s concerns by accusing the nonprofit of “funding a conspiracy against us.” If a student proposed this response in my PR 101 class, I’d fail him.