Season five of “Rescue Me,” currently my favorite TV show, premiered last week after an 18-month hiatus. This series, which revolves around a group of New York City firefighters in a post-9/11 world, is filled with rough language, adult situations, sophomoric humor, and heartbreaking scenarios that can wreck havoc with your emotions week after week.
For example, last week’s episode ended with the show’s characters doing what they do best – fighting fires. Without giving too much away, the dramatic heart-wrenching final minutes mimicked what we know all too well in life: Despite our best efforts or intentions, tragedies happen.
Now you’ve got to be thinking: “What does this ANY of this have to do with PR or advertising or marketing?” Well, it’s relevant because sometimes real-world dramas and tragedies play out in our own communities, and as marketers and PR professionals, we have to be sensitive to the messages, the timing and the appropriateness of what we’re saying, how we’re saying it and when and if we even should say it.
This “Rescue Me” episode came to mind in a very real way at KGB this week. Earlier in April, we began planning a fire-safety event on behalf of a client. The plan was to hold a press conference this week to discuss fire prevention and our client’s support of this program. However, all of this planning came to sudden halt with the news that greeted us Easter Sunday: Two Houston firefighters were killed in the line of duty, fighting a residential blaze on the city’s southeast side. These two men, 30-year veteran Capt. James Harlow and department rookie Damion Hobbs, died trying to save an elderly couple inside. Unbeknownst to the firefighters, the couple had already made it to safety.
It’s hard to find the words to express the tragedy of this situation, and to properly honor these men who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their communities. But hosting a press conference about fire safety would have been unfathomable and inappropriate.
Fire safety and prevention are obviously extremely important messages that should be reinforced through appropriate means at the appropriate times. But now is not that time. Now we need to mourn the loss of these two heroes, two men who died trying to save the lives of others. Our heartfelt sympathies to their families, their coworkers and to the communities they served. Godspeed to them.
