Chapter 12
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following was a public relations problem for the University of Missouri after
they fired a communications professor for comments she made about photographers at a protest
on campus?
a. The administration allowed a conflict to grow without dealing with it while it was still an on–
campus issue.
b. The administration did not communicate well with the public or the press during the protests.
c. The administration did not have a good relationship with the state legislature.
d. All of the above were public relations problems for the university.
2. According to PR professional Chris Martin, the biggest challenge facing her in conducting
public relations for a major university is ______.
a. keeping track of everything that happens on campus
b. the huge number of stories that have to be produced when the university’s sports teams go to a
major tournament or bowl game
c. dealing with the wide range of internal and external publics
d. stopping negative stories from being published or broadcast
3. Ivy Lee suggested that the best way for the railroads to deal with accidents, in terms of the
company’s image, was to do which of the following?
a. deal with the press openly
b. hide the evidence
c. bribe reporters not to write about them
d. all of the above
4. Edward L. Bernays is remembered for which of the following reasons?
a. He invented the press release.
b. He handled the public relations for O. J. Simpson following his criminal trial.
c. He wrote the first book about public relations and taught early public relations courses.
d. He made Elvis a star.
5. During World War I, the job of the “Four–Minute Men” was to do which of the following?
a. be prepared to give a series of four-minute speeches
b. show up at a meeting with “four minutes notice”
c. quickly brief the president on a variety of issues
d. warn the public of possible air attacks
6. According to your text, public relations is which of the following?
a. a marketing function
b. a manufacturing function
c. an advertising function
d. a management function
7. According Edward Bernays, public relations campaigns should be designed to do which of the
following?
a. primarily help the client
b. primarily help the press
c. primarily serve the general public
d. establish mutually beneficial relationships for the company and various publics
8. The term focus group means which of the following?
a. a group of PR professionals hired to get the public to focus on a product, organization, or issue
b. a group of people brought together to talk about how they perceive an organization, product,
or issue
b. a group of products, or issues that a PR campaign will focus on
d. a group of specific goals and objectives to focus on in a PR campaign
9. Many organizations have started intranets, which can be described as which of the following?
a. e-mail systems set up to communicate more quickly with clients
b. messaging systems whereby an employee can leave notes only for himself or herself
c. networks that let companies get feedback from its customers
d. networks that are only open to members of the organization
10. People who buy your company’s products would be which of the following?
a. internal publics
b. external publics
c. media outlet
d. none of the above
11. An intranet is a tool to communicate with which of the following?
a. internal publics
b. external publics
c. the media
d. none of the above
12. An employee newsletter is a tool to communicate with which of the following?
a. internal publics
b. external publics
c. the media
d. none of the above
13. A press conference is a tool primarily to communicate with which of the following?
a. internal publics
b. external publics
c. the media
d. none of the above
14. Domino’s Pizza had a major public relations crisis in 2009 when ______.
a. the television news program 60 Minutes investigated the company for racial discrimination
b. employees posted a prank video to YouTube showing them tampering with pizza and
sandwiches
c. several people were sickened after eating a pizza from the chain
d. the company lost a “taste test” to Papa John’s Pizza
15. President Barack Obama helped control news about his college drug use by doing which of
the following?
a. denying that it had ever happened
b. acknowledging that he “experimented” with drugs
c. admitting it in a memoir early in his political career
d. not using drugs in college
16. The “cheesepocalypse” was ______.
a. a large-scale shortage of cheddar cheese that created problems for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in
marketing to children
b. a shortage of mozzarella cheese that created a production problem for Red Baron pizzas
c. a social media campaign by Kraft based on a spot shortage of Velveeta during football playoff
season
d. you’ve got to be kidding; cheesepocalypse doesn’t exist!
17. Press agentry differed from more contemporary forms of public relations, in that it did which
of the following?
a. It gave press agents more opportunity to be creative.
b. It was less offensive to newspaper writers.
c. It had a one-directional flow of information from the agent to the press.
d. It was not used to promote serious political causes.
18. The railroads in the 1870s managed their image by doing which of the following?
a. dealing with the press openly and honestly
b. bribing reporters and editors with cash and travel
c. bringing in large numbers of PR professionals
d. bringing in public speakers
19. P. T. Barnum accused himself of fraud, under a fake name in order to do which of the
following?
a. get publicity
b. gain sympathy
c. avoid a lawsuit
d. test his employees’ loyalty
20. Bernays used the term opinion leadership to refer to which of the following?
a. leading the public to an opinion with advertising
b. using respected individuals to influence members of the community
c. electing local leaders based on the opinions they promote
d. feeding opinions to the media to lead public opinion
21. The ROPES model of public relations is primarily concerned with ______.
a. shaping and controlling the “spin” media outlets give to stories concerning the product or
organization
b. creating, developing, and nurturing relationships between an organization and its key publics
c. handling a major a crisis facing a corporation or organization
d. you can’t fool me; ROPES isn’t a model for public relations
22. Relations between a company and the media should be which of the following?
a. a two-way dialogue
b. a one-way flow of information from the company to the press
c. handled entirely by company spokespeople
d. only conducted when there is good news
23. When the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded and sank in 2010, many people
compared BP PLC’s public relations effort to that of ______.
a. Domino’s Pizza’s handling of the gross-out video
b. Johnson & Johnson’s handling of the Tylenol tampering case
c. Exxon’s handling of the Exxon Valdez sinking
d. the Occupy Wall Street movement
24. In public relations terms, a “crisis” is which of the following?
a. damage to a client’s reputation that cannot be repaired
b. a communication breakdown between the client and the public
c. an attack on the client by the media
d. an event that is perceived by the public as damaging to the client’s image
25. Which of the following statements about the PR campaign that followed the Tylenol
tampering is true?
a. It was successful because it succeeded in covering up what had happened.
b. It was successful because it was immediate and honest.
c. It was a failure because afterward people viewed the manufacturer as cold and uncaring.
d. It was a failure because the company tried to handle media relations with a one-person office.
26. Which of the following statements about the PR campaign that followed the Exxon Valdez oil
spill problem is true?
a. It was successful because it succeeded in covering up what had happened.
b. It was successful because it was immediate and honest.
c. It was a failure because the company initially claimed that ship was attacked by terrorists.
d. It was a failure because the company tried to handle media relations with a one-person office.
27. Companies facing an online crisis from negative information spreading on the Internet should
do which of the following?
a. Ignore the press and communicate directly with the public using the Web and social media.
b. Say no more than is absolutely necessary because anything your say will just help spread the
negative information.
c. Track the blogosphere and social media to see what people are saying about your company or
organizations.
d. Take their time in responding so that they are certain they are sending out just the right
message.
28. According to presidential adviser Lanny Davis, politicians facing rumors/news about a sexual
scandal should do which of the following?
a. “Threaten massive lawsuits against anyone repeating the charges.”
b. “Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it early, tell it yourself.”
c. “Start a high-profile project that will force the bad news off the talk shows.”
d. “Deny it early. Deny it often.”