Saturday, March 10, 2012

Woman Kills Polar Bear Hunting Then Posts Photos and Story on Internet - Big Game Hunting Woman a Public Relations Nightmare?

UPDATE BELOW


A good company and public image is so very important. Here's a true story that's going on right now. 



But first, since this blog is often about marketing, imagine this with me, if you will:

Imagine if you ran a world-famous company. Imagine that your company is deeply concerned about so-called "Corporate Social Responsibility." Imagine if your company makes an effort to be genuinely concerned about protecting the environment... I'm not talking about Global Warming; I'm talking about a genuine concern for not polluting the air, lakes, oceans, and keeping our world cleaner and nicer for our children and our children's children.

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Imagine then, if you had an employee (or executive) who was a big game hunter and killed an endangered species of animal and then posted it all over the Internet. 

I think I might be a tad bit upset and wonder about that employee's lack of common sense.



My Japanese wife saw this picture and heard the entire story. 
Her reaction? "Is this woman dumb?"


Well that's what happened and it is just now, as you read, becoming a topic on Facebook.


Her name is Michele Leqve. I name her publicly as she is a already a public figure and has announced on the Internet through her Facebook community, and with articles she writes - that include photos - of the animals she kills on her hunts. 


Here is public information about her hobby on a site called, Women Hunters - For Women, About Women, By Women:


Michele Leqve has only been bow hunting for the past 11 years, and in that time, she has taken many, big game animals and has 9 different species!...
...To date, Michele has hunted for 10 North American Big Game species which include: Elk, Antelope, Mule Deer, Whitetail Deer, Coues Deer, Black Bear, Polar Bear, Quebec Labrador Caribou, Central Canadian Caribou and Woodland Caribou (this does not include any of the African species she has hunted.) 


Think she could ever get or keep a job at Disney? No? 
How about other companies that serve all ages and groups? 


Unfortunately, for her and her company, besides showing photos that are sure to upset a lot of people, Michele names her employer on Linkedin! I can bet that this might become a nightmare for that company. The noise is brewing and building up over at Facebook. 
Now, I have no problem with hunting. I did it when I was a kid. But we always ate what we hunted. I do though have a bit of a problem believing that this white woman eats the polar bear she hunts. If she were an eskimo then maybe. Someone correct me if I have a double standard here.

You know this lady would hunt elephant or Rhino if it were legal.  

Why is this woman's "hobby" a possible public relations nightmare? Well, check this out the chatter that is starting on Facebook:

This is Michelle Leqve an air hostess, who judging by the amount of self publicity is relishing her new found notoriety and proud achievement of being one of the first women to slaughter a polar bear with a High Powered Bow and a lot of help from dogs.

The exhausted Polar Bear was chased across Miles of open snow and finally brought to Bay by a team of Husky’s on her hunting trip to Canada.

According to Michelle’s own Publicity and testimony she loves animals but unfortunately this alone was not enough to save the Polar Bear so she decided instead to shoot a number of arrows into his body, While the Bear was trying to fend off the dogs.

The Polar Bear Died amidst the onslaught and is now a stuffed exhibit in a Sport shop in Canada

Canada is the only country in the world to legally allow Trophy Hunting of Polar Bears.

The Facebook poster who uploaded this picture and comment has asked that people complain and raise hell about this woman. There is also a listing of how to complain to her employer. 


There's all sorts of things people do that some people don't like. People can do as they please, I believe... (I have a problem with killing endangered species, though...) But this post is not about personal freedoms or the rights of humans. It is about corporate public image, stupidity and the sh*t storm that follows when someone puts photos like this up on public forums like Facebook. This is like those fools who take videos of themselves doing 250 mph in their cars then load it up to Youtube then get upset when they get arrested later on.


If I were her employer, I would certainly demand that she cease placing photos like this on the internet and making this "hobby" public domain - or at least demand that she have enough brains to not list me as her employer...


Yes, dear, this woman is dumb to place photos like this on the Internet.


Like I said, I can imagine that this could become a public relations nightmare for her company which is probably one of the biggest and most famous companies in America!


So, her employer does a great job upping their public image... Michelle then posts photos on the Internet that are sure to piss off the masses. Her employer is a good company I wonder how such as person like Michelle who shows zero common sense ever got a job there?


I just wrote yesterday how people need to do more to protect their privacy. That this woman would place photos like this on the Internet, just shows, to me, a total lack or common sense. And why brag to people she doesn't even know at Facebook?


There's a heck of a lot more people reading about this over at Facebook than read this blog! If I were her employer, I'd be furious. I wonder how this is going to turn out? If you were PR director of her company, how would you handle this?


UPDATE: I mentioned the dummies who take videos of themselves speeding then posting on Youtube? What timing! I just saw this right now:





A doctor in Japan has landed himself in trouble with the police after posting footage of his drive in a Ferrari sports car on YouTube. He is facing charges of exceeding the speed limit after the footage showed him driving at 124km/h (77mph) in a 40km/h zone, police say. The 50-year-old doctor, from Okawa in Fukuoka Prefecture, was reported to police by angry YouTube users. He reportedly said he "wanted people to understand the beauty of a Ferrari". (BBC)

UPDATE 2: The timing couldn't be better. Now, just four days after I wrote this article criticizing this woman's judgement and common sense for placing photos of herself with a polar bear she killed on the Internet, here's a scandal about the Trump boys doing the exact same thing that I wrote about. If this doesn't prove that my point is 100% correct, I don't know what does! 

Yahoo! reports in: Donald Trump’s sons criticized after brutal hunting photos released


At least Donald Trump's sons don't have to worry what employer's think.

36 comments:

  1. Thanks for not going the cheap pc road of 'crying crocodile tears', or the cheap un-pc road of feigned angst that anyone would dare question this woman's 'God-given-right to kill any darn thing she wants'.

    It's unnecessary for me to explain why I think hunting today should just be called killing, and is really unimpressive. Tantamount to using dynamite for fishing.

    But I do think it's a creepy thing when someone feels the need to prove her 'manhood' by falsely portraying her kill as more dangerous than it really is, as evidenced by the prominent positioning of her crossbow in the picture. It seems to say 'hey I'm more manly than you since I used this crossbow, which is only one step from using my bare hands to kill this giant ferocious bear. While you would have to use a shotgun. You coward.'

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  2. KR... Yes. I stopped hunting by choice when I shot a peasant when I was a kid. It wasn't sport for me. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. My father got mad at me, but I never hunted again. I don't have problems with people hunting game birds or food to eat... But hunting animals like this Polar Bear that is endangered is outrageous. I also think it doesn't matter that, in that part of Canada, hunting polar bear is not illegal... Would she hunt Panda bears if it weren't illegal in some part of China, too? I imagine that it is not illegal to hunt these animals per se as the natives do hunt and eat them... But some big game hunter from the USA?!

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  3. "Shot a peasant"? Maybe Freud was right. Tell us Mike, what do you think of the average American ie. peasant?

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    Replies
    1. Obviously Mike meant pheasant. Why are you attacking Mike? That isn't what this thread is about.

      Delete
  4. Dear Anonymous!
    "Shot a peasant"!!! No!!! Pheasant! Pheasant!!!! Thanks for pointing that one out. I will repair immediately. Wouldn't want the mundanes to complain! ;)

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  5. Polar bears are a cute furry symbol of global warming these days, and therefore it is impossible to have a rational conversation about them.
    But the Canadian government hands out an annual quota to Inuit villages who have hunted polar bears for thousands of years. The hunt is part of the traditional ecosystem. As part of the political compromise, the quota is set at levels that will sustain the numbers. Same as seals, another symbol of something-or-other on the left.
    There are enough wealthy non-Inuit individuals out there willing to pay $25k or more to participate in the hunt that many of the Inuit villages set aside a part of their quota annually, and this brings in a quarter-million in annual revenue to the village, which makes a huge difference to the lives of the Inuit.
    So yes, posting films of yourself driving recklessly, stupid. Posting pictures of yourself participating in a traditional ecologically-sustainable hunt, a bit more ambivalent.
    Of course, the US government thinks it knows better, so has taken it upon itself to ban its subjects (or as you say, peasants) from participating. The decision to do so was made by people who have probably never lived outside a large metropolitan area, and who prefer not to think about where meat comes from.

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  6. I catch that, Boo. Makes sense.
    A couple of questions: 1) If it costs that much, how in the hell do two air stewards pay for that?
    2) Do you agree with my take that, good reason or not, putting those photos up can become a major headache for her employer?

    Mike

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  7. Hi Mike,
    Yes, I agree this is a potential PR nightmare.
    However, as to how she got the money, probably some corporation sponsored her. So clearly not everyone thinks it's a PR nightmare.

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  8. You have no idea what the hell you are talking about. 1. This hunt took palace at least 6 years ago. 2. It is/was legal to hunt polar bear. 3. That bear fed the Inuit village that hosted her hunt. 4. She did not go on this to keep the bear as a trophy. She went for an amazing experience that you are smearing. Get you damn facts straight (oh, and learn how to spell) before you go spreading shit all over the Internet. Michele is a very good person, as well as intelligent, unlike you.

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  9. Dear Anonymous,

    
1) Thanks for the advice on spelling. By the way, "place" is spelled p-l-a-c-e. Not "palace" like you spelled it.


    2) I wasn't talking about her "amazing" experience at all. Please read the article again: I was talking only from the viewpoint of public relations of her employer who needs a good public image of protecting the environment (in a very PC world) and this employee placing photos on the internet that are sure to inflame the masses... As it has done by the looks of the numbers of readers to this post, the Facebook links and comments like yours. I personally don't like her hobby but that is not the point and it doesn't matter if I like it or not (please stop huffing and read carefully) - I was talking about her placing photos of her killing endangered animals on the internet. I clearly wrote:

    "There's all sorts of things people do that some people don't like. People can do as they please, I believe... (I have a problem with killing endangered species, though...) But this post is not about personal freedoms or the rights of humans. It is about corporate public image, stupidity and the sh*t storm that follows when someone puts photos like this up on public forums like Facebook."

    I question the wisdom - or extreme lack thereof - of having photos like this on the Internet... That's all.

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  10. PS: My regular readers will know that:
    1) I am not PC at all
    2) I believe in individual rights.
    Once again, I merely question the common sense of placing photos like this on the internet and making an employers name public domain. That shouldn't be too hard to understand.

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  11. Not sure why a hunting picture should be considered a nightmare for public perception of a company. I have much less respect for someone who cheats on their spouse, drinks heavily, does hard core drugs, or beats their family. Yet that should not reflect on a company either. It only becomes something when someone tries to make it into something and has to press hard to get it there.

    I don't suppose the hate mail and death threats to someone means these organizations on facebook should shut down, does it? Well, Michele has recieved them and they are still spreading this crap all over the place so it can appear on blogs like yours.

    Just sayin'

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  12. Right wing gun crazy morons! The Anonymous poster above says it was an amazing experience! Typical American twat! Killing has become an amazing experience for a nation of beasts... Probably that US soldier that killed 16 Agfhanis thought it was an amazing experience for you Yanks, eh?

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    Replies
    1. I just need to respond to you. It is just a plain lack of intelligence to compare a hunt to the crazy man that killed 16 innocent people. That is just plain silly. When you post on a blog I am all for your freedom of speech but at least have some intelligence in what you say. Take some time to think before you write. Think clearly and be responsible. This only makes you look and sound stupid. You can do this. You can sound intelligent even though it is clear you are truly not very smart. So give it another shot and try to do the best you can.

      Delete
  13. Why is it assumed that posting hunting photos on a social media is showing a lack of wisdom? By that logic, parents posting photos of their children is also akin to a lack of judgement. Yet, FB is overrun with parents posting photos of their child's most recent accomplishment with nary a whisper. If you don't like hunting and find these photos unpleasant, then there is something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door" as you so aptly put. You don't have to look at them, nor do you have to seek them out for condemnation.

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  14. I've written endlessly on this blog about foolish people and recommending that they do not place private info on the Internet and ESPECIALLY on Facebook. This blog is replete with them. Again people miss the point: I didn't search out this photo. It is a row starting on Facebook and I found the topic useful from a corporate perspective.
    STUPID PEOPLE PLACE PHOTOS AND PRIVATE INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET AND FACEBOOK! TRY NOT TO BE STUPID! Be those photos of their kids or killing endangered animals that will inflame the public. Simple to understand, no?

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  15. About the japans comment when they don't like to see polar bears killed
    will Japan slaughter any kind of animals like sharks whales etc..We eat Polar Bears for food since southern food is sooo expensive if the greenpeace or animal lovers could help the poor all over northern reign like russia greenland alaska and canada to lower the high price of food..then killing bears for food would be lower and then more killing cows ,chicken lambs would increase.also more Polar Bears less seals Polar Bears are meat eaters like seals when really hungry they can atack humans...

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  16. Anonymous,
    Trust that the Japanese eat whales, dolphins and everything they kill... You'd be surprised what they eat. But missing the point again! You'll be hard pressed to find a Japanese dumb enough to place a photo of themselves on the Internet after killing an animal like you speak of. Japanese fishing companies don't place photos of whale catches on the internet for obvious reasons (should be obvious to anyone but it seems it is not)... And Japanese do eat whale meat. You can buy it at many restaurants in Japan.

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  17. Polar bears are not an endangered
    species legally. In Nunavit, where they have a quota to hunt polar bears, its based on their overpopulation and the amount of bears that have threatened villagers. So they offer the quota to outsiders and the local people get jobs as guides. Everyone wins in the deal. The hunter can't take the meat out of the country...the meat goes to the village that has the guides on the hunt. The fur is sometimes taxidermeried, but cannot leave Canada. The hunter gets a photo of themselves in the hunt.
    Since this is a Japanese audience, I wouldn't think Japanese would care since they hunt all over Asia and even hunt Whales which are illegal.

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  18. 1) Whale hunting is not illegal at all. Get your facts straight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whaling#Japan
    1) Mike makes a good point. To compare with the murder of 16 Afghanis is silly. But I will say that people in the USA need to understand perceptions much better than they do. This is an excellent lesson on what this blog is partially about: Marketing. To the international audience Americans are increasingly viewed as war-loving crazed killers. Afghanistan doesn't help that nor does placing photos of dead polar bears on the Internet help dampen that image. Agreed?

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  19. PS: More than 80% of all readers to this blog are from outside Japan. With half of those from the USA.

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  20. He made a website that his wife saw, not himself..maybe if we tell him what we saw he would make another website? why don't you come to where polar bears live, eat and hunt, so you'll know first hand what it is in the arctic, and i don't like you blaming the lady that caught a bear, you have to blame Nunavut Government because they are the ones who approves whoever wants to hunt in out territory

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    1. Please retread the article. No one blames the lady for anything excepting allowing a photo of herself with a dead polar bear become public domain. That she has received even death threats proves my point.

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  21. That point is a good one. Yet, as I go back through your article, it is rife with personal ridicule and attacks at Michelle's PERSON. You've recklessly called her "stupid" and promoted factual error by calling this a hunt of an endangered species (it was NOT at the time of the hunt). Social media is fraught with peril, especially facebook when after the umpteenth upgrade, new uploads require resetting of the share feature to private,not public. We have Zuckerberg to thank for that. But to suggest that only facebook created this is absurd. Michelle's polar bear hunt was featured previously in print and video media. It's been out there long before it ever hit facebook.

    When I google my name, all sorts of information is available that I personally never created. One thing I noticed: I'm a competitive trap shooter, so all my competition scores are visible. Should I never venture out of my house for fear of personal information being available?

    I fail to see the point that images of hunting would automatically be cause for "giving someone the pink slip". Now, if the photos show an illegal hunt or stringing entrails up or being disrespectful to the animal, then I'd agree. But to promote in your article that hunting alone is cause for retribution from an employer suggests to me a possible anti-hunting bias.

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  22. I would be more concerned with priests and coaches who molest young children than a woman who was guided by an Inuit tribe to harvest a polar bear with an archery bow. If you actually do your homework on legal hunting laws this animal was taken legally and before Polar Bears were put on the protected animal list. It also explained how her one bear went to feed the Inuit village for quite a while. Nothing was wasted. This is their way of life up there. They look at a polar bear the way most Americans look at a beef cow. Just because you do not enjoy one of the most natural and legal outdoor adventures that take a lot of skill and passion don't start attacking someone until you have met them or know the truth behind their experiences and travels.

    Get a life and worry about your own life and problems. Go pick on someone else, maybe yourself and go improve your life. Attacking someone you know nothing about is so childish and mean spirited.

    I think you would be surprised what public people enjoy the outdoors through hunting. There is much more to it than what you see and read.

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    Replies
    1. I'd call a priest dumb to if he put photos of young boys "his trophies" on the Internet.

      Delete
  23. Thanks. I don't like hunting and said that clearly. I own an internet company and think it is stupid to put inflammatory photos and info on the Internet at all. If you are self-employed or rich, do as you wish. Employees of big public companies that have a public image to protect need to keep their private life as secret as possible... To not do that is stupid.

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  24. I missed the part where you stated you didn't like hunting. I thought you wrote "Now, I have no problem with hunting. I did it when I was a kid."

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  25. Someone also mentioned this woman received death threats? I'm sorry about that. She certainly didn't get them from me.

    See? I told you placing photos like this in the public domain was stupid... I'm sure there are many people who do this hunt who do not receive heaps of scorn nor threats. Why has Michelle? Because of the exact reasons I wrote! My case rests, your honor.

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  26. Another factual correction for your article: hunting elephant and rhino is legal...in Africa. Not the black rhino, though.

    Just say it, this is all just an attack at a hunter, and a fine woman, who you don't even know. 14 million Americans hunt. Most employers/supervisors know their employees hunt. They take time off during deer season. And if Delta is all so keen about environmental issues as you suggest, then isn't that a bit hypocritical for a large petrol guzzling company that emits its fair share of hydro-carbons?

    The firestorm is pure and simple just an anti-hunting hate machine gone viral.

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  27. This is more than about a woman posting a photo. The slant to your article makes that clear. That wacko's are making death threats does not prove your point, but does show how emotional people are about hunting and how they use all means necessary to smear someone for doing something legal. Hmm, maybe they should stand and protest at abortion clinics and help out Greenpeace on the open seas too. Jeez.....

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  28. "its stupid to put inflammatory photos and info on the internet"

    isnt that exactly what you did by calling her "stupid"? seems inflammatory to me? I know it upsets me.
    seems she did everything leagal, followed hunter ethics, and morally as she fed alot of people.

    she promotes safe hunting, and wildlife management, and has the opportunity and the resources to go on these hunts and educates and entertain hunter like me who may never the opportunity to do what she does

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  29. I sure seem to have a lot of readers who have difficulty understanding what they read it seems. The repetition of complaints about "she followed the rules," "fed the animals," "it is legal," "What about the Japanese?" all are not my issue and fails to address the real point of the article: don't make public photos of yourself doing something that might cause you grief in the future...
    It's simple. That so many Americans fail to grasp this just shows how far down the crapper American public education has gone.

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  30. "You know this lady would hunt elephant if it were legal"

    Hunting of elephant is legal.

    Sales of rhino horns to Asian countries is not. Asians buy bear gall bladders from poachers. Hope your next blog can attack what is really wrong in the world.

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  31. japan and china import all of the illegal shit. If you don't like what you see don't look ? Your all broke and cannot afford a 30, 000 plus airfare!

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Comments must be succinct & relevant to the story. Comments are checked frequently and abusive, rude or profane comments will be deleted. I’m just one of many bloggers who answer questions online and sometimes for the press. I usually handle questions about Japan, marketing or the economy, so in those areas I’m more likely to make sense and less likely to say something really stupid. If I post something here that you find helpful or interesting, that’s wonderful. This is my personal blog. If you don't like what you have read here then, just like when you go into a restaurant or bar that allows smoking, if you don't like it, there's something at the front that has hinges on it and it is called a "door."