Food Fight: An Ethical Look at Paula Deen’s Public Relations Issue

We’ve all heard the age-old saying “you are what you eat” and Paula Deen’s recent health issues are perhaps evidence that there is a lot of truth to that colloquialism. Recently, Paula Deen—the queen of southern meals and antithesis of fat free cooking—announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. According to an article in Time magazine, Deen has known about having Diabetes for three years but did not share that information with her loyal fan base until January of this year.  Her disclosure came after she had become the paid spokesperson for the manufacturer of a diabetes drug. 

The issue here is not that Paula Deen promotes and makes money off of shows and recipes that will likely cause most people to struggle with zipping up their favorite pair of jeans.  The question is whether Paula Deen’s three-year delay of revealing her health issues amount to withholding the truth. What obligation did she have to inform the public, especially those loyal to her cooking style

As we examine these ethical questions, let’s be clear: Paula Deen is not a PRSA member, which means she does not have to adhere to the PRSA Code of Ethics. But let’s examine what we as PRSA members would have to consider if we were going to counsel Deen on how to handle the situation. We will follow the six steps in PRSA’s ethical decision-making guide:

Define the specific ethical issue—When a PRSA practitioner signs the code of ethics pledge, they are agreeing to be truthful and responsible to their publics. One could argue that Deen may not have been completely truthful or responsible to her audience by waiting so long to reveal her diabetes diagnosis.

Consider the internal and external factors—Disclosing a serious health problem is a private decision that could affect Deen’s family and reputation.  There may have also been legal and financial implications from a health revelation that could theoretically tarnish her money making brand that is built on recipes saturated in fat.

Consider key values—Was Deen honest with her fans even though it took her three years to admit that she had diabetes, a disease that can be linked to obesity and unhealthy eating habits?  How loyal was Deen to her fans when she made the decision to talk about diabetes only after she benefited from it financially as the spokesperson of a diabetes drug company?

Consider parties who might be affected by the decision—1) Deen supporters, who for three years did not see the potential consequences of indulging in Deen’s popular recipes 2) The diabetes drug company, who stands to gain financially from Deen’s celebrity status and endorsement of their product. 3) Employees of the Deen brand. Are they at risk if Deen’s health announcement results in push back from the public?  These are just a few of the audiences to consider, there are definitely other groups that would affected.

Consider ethical principles to guide the decision making process—Did Paula Deen have an ethical responsibility to fully disclose information to her fans sooner rather than later?  Is there a conflict of interest with Deen promoting and making money off of high fat, high caloric recipes while at the same time endorsing a diabetes drug manufacturer?  Could Deen have done more to maintain the integrity of the relationship with her audience by enabling the free flow of accurate and truthful information about her battle with diabetes before she became the spokesperson for a diabetes drug company

Make a decision and justify it—If I were counseling Deen and trying to adhere to the disclosure of information, conflict of interest and free flow of information PRSA code provisions, my advice would’ve been simple: Go to the press sooner. The diabetes revelation is bound to seep out in the news anyway, so it’s in Deen’s best interest to take the high road and come clean before the drug endorsements.

This is not an argument about healthy cooking versus Deen’s love affair with deep fried dishes, but rather this food fight is about maintaining integrity with a loyal audience by giving them all the information they need to make important health decisions about their food choices. You can’t help but love Paula Deen for her southern charm and care-free attitude about good ole’ fashioned home cooking that seems to rebel against our calorie obsessed society. But had she been more forthcoming about how her cooking preferences affected her own health-it would have left the brand she’s serving us with a better taste in our mouth.

Ethics Chair Tiffany Woods submitted this article. She welcomes your feedback and suggestions for future topics to address ethics in the practice of public relations. Contact her at tdwoods@rcps.info.