Has PwC put its reputation at risk with the high-profile flub at the Oscars?
LONDON — For 82 years, accounting and consulting firm PwC has enjoyed a reputational boon from handling the balloting process at the Academy Awards.
Now its hard-won image as a dependable partner is under threat.
The company has apologized for a colossal mistake at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday when actors Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty wrongly announced the top Oscar went to “La La Land,” instead of “Moonlight.”
The presenters, it turned out, had been given the wrong envelope by tabulators PwC, in this case the one awarding Emma Stone for best actress for her role in “La La Land.” The representatives from PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, eventually corrected the mistake on air, but it’s not clear yet how the wrong envelope ended up in the hands of the “Bonnie and Clyde” stars.
Not funny to PwC
Whatever the reason, it’s been a cue for endless jokes and hilarity around the world. For London-headquartered PwC, it’s anything but funny.
Brands go to extraordinary lengths to protect their image and reputation and to be seen as good corporate citizens. History is littered by examples when a hard-won reputation nosedives — from sporting legends Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong to business giants like BP following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and Volkswagen after its emissions cheating scandal.
Crisis managers say PwC has no other option than to explain exactly what happened to contain the damage to its reputation and brand and plot a way forward where there’s no repeat.
PwC, which originated in London over a century ago, was quick to apologize to the movies involved, Beatty, Dunaway and viewers, but it has yet to fully explain what happened.
“The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and, when discovered, was immediately corrected,” it said in a statement. “We are currently investigating how this could have happened and deeply regret that this occurred.”
In fact, it took over two minutes on air, during which time the “La La Land” team gave three acceptance speeches, before PwC corrected the mistake onstage.
PwC’s representatives were Brian Cullinan, a partner at the firm — and, according to his bio on the company’s website, a Matt Damon look-alike — and Martha Ruiz.
Cullinan is the lead partner for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, including the annual balloting for the Oscars ceremony. He has been part of the balloting team since 2014.
Ruiz, a 19-year veteran at PwC who specializes in tax compliance and advisory services to entertainment clients in Southern California, joined Cullinan as the Oscars balloting co-leader in 2015.
The only two In a promotional video on the company’s website ahead of Sunday’s show, Cullinan said he and Ruiz are the only two who knew who the winners were on the night of the awards.
“There are 24 categories. We have the winners in sealed envelopes that we hold and maintain throughout the evening and hand those to the presenters before they walk out on stage,” he said.
PwC declined comment Monday on whether Cullinan’s social-media use might have contributed to the fiasco.
In his remarks before the show, Cullinan had said PwC’s relationship with the Academy Awards is testament to the firm’s reputation in the market for being “a firm of integrity, of accuracy and confidentiality.”
Jeremy Robinson-Leon, chief operating officer at New York-based public relations firm Group Gordon, said it was important to remember that counting ballots is not PwC’s core business but that it will have to be serious about dealing with the aftermath of Sunday’s embarrassment and media fallout.
“This can happen once and there will be relative forgiveness, but it can’t happen twice,” RobinsonLeon said. “If they were to do this again, that could have an impact on the brand. If this is an isolated incident, the long-term impact on the brand will be minimal.”