RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Comms pros tell me Neutrogena botched its response to a sensitive reputational crisis around its alleged treatment of Hayden Panettiere, a former longtime brand ambassador who died earlier this month .
Neutrogena issued a statement on Instagram on Thursday acknowledging that it had made the actor "feel unsupported during a very difficult time."
The statement came following fan backlash over a resurfaced podcast interview, in which Panettiere said she believed Neutrogena dropped her in 2015 after she spoke publicly about experiencing postpartum depression.
PR pros told me that Neutrogena responded too late, took too little responsibility, and scored an own goal by disabling comments on the post.
"By acknowledging that they made Hayden feel unsupported without saying what it believes the company actually got wrong, Neutrogena's statement invited more questions than it answered," said Bradley Akubuiro, a partner at the PR firm Bully Pulpit International, who formerly led communications at Boeing as it navigated its 737 Max crisis.
Neutrogena's parent company, Kenvue, didn't respond to a request for comment.
Disabling comments on the post sent its own message.
"We don't care what you have to say about this situation," Michelle Lawless, VP at PR firm Media Minefield, said of how audiences could interpret the decision. "This isn't a conversation."
It also didn't stop consumers from criticizing the brand elsewhere, with online calls for a boycott continuing into this week.
Neutrogena said in its statement that it is making "a significant investment to a long-standing community health partner to help give more women access to the support they need, including care for postpartum depression." It said it would share more details when the plans were in place, but it hasn't yet provided further information.
PR consultant Christina Nicholson said she hoped Neutrogena would provide more transparency on the work the organization will be doing and share the results publicly. Nicholson added that Neutrogena should review the morals clauses in its ambassador contracts and assess whether they need to be revised for current and future spokespeople.
Akubuiro drew parallels between Neutrogena's situation and Nike after Allyson Felix and other athletes publicly challenged the company's treatment of women during pregnancy. Nike updated its maternity policies to waive performance-pay reductions for an 18-month window if an athlete became pregnant.
"Neutrogena faces a similar test," Akubuiro said. "If it believes supporting women through mental health, pregnancy, and postpartum challenges is part of its values, those values should be reflected in how it structures and manages its relationships with spokespeople."
The fallout comes during an already awkward month for Neutrogena's marketing team.
Current Neutrogena brand ambassador Tate McRae faced criticism after she posted a sponsored "post-show" skincare routine on TikTok. Eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that she appeared to be mimicking the use of its makeup remover wipes without actually removing makeup from her face. Neutrogena later responded on Instagram with a self-aware post featuring its wipes as a character thanking everyone for the sudden attention.
"I see you, and I hear you, girl," the "wipes" said in the video. "I think I have some reflecting to do too, you know?
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