Scottish Companies Prepare for U.S. Boycott

by lisa ~ September 14, 2009

Sept. 14, 2009 - Companies across Scotland, from kilt makers to shortbread purveyors, are bracing for an American boycott due to outrage about their government’s release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi last month.

Harris Tweed, the venerable Scottish fabric maker, has chosen to “de-Scottishify the image of the brand.” “The company plans to use a neutral image of a model in a tweed frock coat reclining on a couch,” said an article published in The Times of London. “It will focus on the brand’s island heritage rather than its Scottish credentials before the launch of its fashion collection in New York.”

The Scotch Whisky Association has criticized al-Megrahi’s release, saying it will negatively impact sales in the U.S., according to an article in The Scotsman. “According to figures from the Scottish Government, America is Scotland’s leading export destination, accounting for £2.765 billion [USD$4.608 billion] worth of sales a year,” it reported.

Despite a web site that explains the outrage, the movement to boycott Scottish products and to re-direct tourism from Scotland apparently to other rainy locales such as Ireland seems to have a muted voice, at least in New York.

I tend to agree with Campbell Evans, the Director of the Scotch Whisky Association. In an attempt to put the boycott into perspective, he told The Telegraph, “We have been faced with other boycotts in the past and found they haven’t lasted.”

I’d also like to think that Americans are sophisticated enough to realize that the decision by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to free the bomber on humanitarian grounds is entirely separate from the makers of Walkers Shortbread and Laphroaig single malt, just as Americans were loathe to be identified with George Bush’s disastrous War on Terror.

Therefore, de-emphasizing a product’s Scottish heritage might make sense in the short term, although it seems to me that the manufacturers are far more sensitive to the issue than Americans. In fact, those I surveyed - albeit rather unscientifically - were unaware of the proposed boycott.

However, companies that are seen as benefiting from increased trade with Libya might face a prolonged backlash. For example, British Petroleum is often singled out because, in 2007, it was given drilling rights in Libya in an area that The Telegraph calls “as big as Kuwait and Belgium.” A Reuters article identifies additional oil companies as well as BNP Paribas and some other banks as having made deals with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

For these companies, the best thing their PR staffs can do is to prepare appropriate answers to the tough questions that will inevitably be asked.

Lisa Tibbitts  is the principal of Tibbitts Creative, a public relations and marketing service that emphasizes corporate communications. She has an extensive background in financial services and an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.

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