Crisis Management Examples: What Worked, What Did Not, and Why

How These Examples Were Picked

Each case is a public company, a documented event and a result you can check. We left out rumors and anything covered by a single outlet.

Most lists of crisis management examples repeat the same two stories and call them lessons. We wanted more. Each case here has a dated timeline, two outlet citations and one takeaway you can use if the crisis is online.

We do not guess at intent. We say what the company did and what was reported, and we mark the points where reports differ. Facts about the cases come from the coverage linked in the sources. If you need the step-by-step method behind the lessons, read our guide to crisis communication best practices.

Crisis Examples Compared in One Table

Four of these eight responses held up well. Four show what to avoid. Each row names the single move that mattered most.

Examples of Good Crisis Management

The strongest responses put people first, acted before being forced to and told the public what they were doing.

1. Johnson & Johnson and the Tylenol poisonings, 1982

What happened: in the fall of 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. Johnson & Johnson stopped capsule production and recalled the product nationwide. When it returned, it came in tamper-resistant packaging. Congress later passed a federal anti-tampering law. History.com tells the timeline, and The Washington Post reported the new packaging plan in October 1982.

Why it worked: the company acted on safety before it knew the cause, and the public could see the cost it accepted. The case remains unsolved, and the response is still taught as a model.

Lesson for an online crisis: when people may be harmed, protect them first and say what you are doing. Reputation follows the action.

2. Samsung and the Galaxy Note 7, 2016

What happened: Samsung announced a global recall of about 2.5 million Note 7 phones on September 2, 2016, citing faulty batteries. Replacement phones also caught fire. On October 10 it halted sales and exchanges, and on October 11 it ended production. Fortune kept a running timeline, and Reuters reported the decision to scrap the phone.

Why it counts: the first fix failed, and that cost more than the first recall. Ending the product was the response that stopped the loop. Reuters reported that the company's stock exchange filing cited consumer safety.

Lesson for an online crisis: a half-fix that fails becomes a second crisis. Test your fix before you announce it as done.

3. Chipotle and its 2015 outbreaks

What happened: after outbreaks of E. coli and norovirus linked to its restaurants, the company's founder ran a full-page apology in newspapers in December 2015. Fortune reported on the ad and what it promised, and The Boston Globe covered the full-page ads.

Why it worked as a first step: the apology came in the same places customers read, and it was tied to named safety steps. An apology with no change behind it fades fast.

Lesson for an online crisis: put the apology where your audience already looks, and pair it with a specific fix.

4. CrowdStrike and the July 2024 outage

What happened: on July 19, 2024, a faulty content update from CrowdStrike crashed Windows machines worldwide. Its CEO apologized that day and again on television. A senior executive later apologized to a House subcommittee on September 24, 2024. Fortune covered the CEO's response, and VOA reported the congressional apology.

What was criticized: reports noted that the CEO's first post said the issue had been fixed but did not apologize. The apology came soon after, and it was plain.

Lesson for an online crisis: lead with the harm to people, not the technical fix. Your first post is the one that gets screenshotted.

For hospitals, see the guide to crisis communications for hospitals.

Examples of Poor Crisis Management

Poor responses share three habits: defending first, fixing late and talking about the company instead of the people affected.

5. United Airlines and the 2017 passenger removal

What happened: in April 2017 video spread of a passenger being removed from a full United flight in Chicago. Early statements defended staff and described the passenger as disruptive. Within days the CEO apologized and promised a review of policies. NPR described the shift to a deeper apology after unsatisfying answers, and CNBC covered the CEO's apology.

Why it did not work: the first statement answered the company's question, not the public's. The video showed something else, and it was already everywhere.

Lesson for an online crisis: if there is video, assume everyone has seen it. Respond to what it shows.

6. Wells Fargo and accounts opened without permission, 2016

What happened: in September 2016 regulators announced a combined penalty of 185 million dollars, including 100 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Investigators said employees had opened accounts without customer authorization, and reports said 5,300 employees had been fired. Marketplace covered the penalty, and The Dallas Morning News reported the fine.

Why it did not work: the response arrived with the regulators, not before them. Firing staff did not answer the question of why the targets rewarded the behavior.

Lesson for an online crisis: if the cause is in how you run the business, a statement about individuals will not close the story.

7. Equifax and the 2017 data breach

What happened: regulators said the breach affected about 147 million consumers and that the company failed to patch a vulnerability it was alerted to in March 2017. In 2019 Equifax agreed to pay up to 700 million dollars to the CFPB, other regulators and states. The CFPB announced the settlement, and CBS News reported the terms.

Why it did not work: the cause was a known item that had not been fixed. Communication could not fix that.

Lesson for an online crisis: the cause is the story. Fix it, then say so with proof.

8. Southwest Airlines and the 2022 holiday cancellations

What happened: a holiday meltdown stranded more than 2 million passengers, with as many as 16,900 flights canceled. In December 2023 the Department of Transportation announced a 140 million dollar penalty. Stars and Stripes carried the report, and Fox Business covered the settlement.

Why it did not work: the department said customers did not get enough service or timely alerts. Help came late, so the story got a second headline a year later.

Lesson for an online crisis: a crisis does not end when the news cycle does. A regulator, a court or a reporter can reopen it.

What Stays Findable After a Crisis

Most guides stop at the apology. Searchers do not. They find what stayed on the record, and much of it is held by someone other than the company.

We did not run live search tests for these cases, because results change daily and vary by person. What we can show is the durable record behind each one: the kind of page that exists, who owns it and whether the company can change it.

The pattern is plain. In the cases with a regulator or a congressional hearing, the longest-lived pages sit on sites the company does not own. No firm can remove those, and one that says otherwise is not telling you the truth.

What does help is accurate material of your own: a clear statement page, a dated timeline of what you fixed and honest profiles. AI tools summarize what they find, so a clear, well-sourced account of the fix gives them better material. See our guide to crisis PR firms versus online crisis response for who does which part.

Cases like these often start with a breach or a recall, covered in the guide to crisis communication for data breaches and recalls.

What Every Good Response Had in Common

Across the cases, the good responses shared the same five moves. The poor ones skipped at least two.

• Acted on safety or the cause before arguing about blame
• Said what happened in plain words, with dates
• Apologized for the harm, not for the feelings it caused
• Gave people one place to get updates
• Made a change you can point to, and said when it was done

If you are a startup, these moves matter even more, because you have no history to lean on. Our list of the best crisis communications agencies for startups scores firms for that stage.

Charities that want to use these lessons can start with the best crisis management services for nonprofits.

Applying These Lessons to an Online Crisis

If your crisis is a viral post, a review wave or a damaging search result, the examples translate into three jobs: respond, report and repair.

Reputation Resolutions offers crisis management for people and companies facing a crisis online. Its pitch: results-based services for repairing, improving and protecting online reputations on Google and AI. Payment is only required after results are achieved. It is A+ BBB Accredited, has been in business since 2013 and serves clients in 40+ countries. Removals typically take 30 to 60 days. No firm can promise an outcome, and the work depends on the content and the platform's rules.

To compare firms on a scored sheet, see the best crisis management firms for online crises.

Banks and listed companies have their own guide to crisis communications for financial institutions.

Reviewed by

Anthony Will

Founder and CEO, Reputation Resolutions

Anthony Will founded Reputation Resolutions, the publisher of this site, and has worked in online reputation management since 2013. He reviews the methodology and every scoring change.

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