From a business perspective, Manny Pacquiao aggressively making his stance against gay people and same sex matrimony was just a dumb thing to do. The blunder also shows some of the fighter?s rough edges as a politician as he easily could?ve done a better job of stating his beliefs without the incendiary ?worse than animals? talk.
Yes, there was a way to make everyone happy. Pacquiao could?ve gotten his opinion across as a congressman running for Senate without whipping up any unnecessary negative publicity that would harm his salability as a fighter and/or businessman.
Ideally, no businessman dealing with sales to the public should be dangling his politics out over the shark tank of public opinion. For instance, for those who recall the controversy, there was no reason for the public to know the anti-gay sentiment of Chick-fil-A?s chief operating officer. Needless waves of controversy washed over the company, turning the purchase of a chicken sandwich into a political statement. The company soon realized the mistake of mixing business with social politics and vowed to ?leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.? It was the smartest of all decisions to make for a smart company with an eye on selling their products to the public.
But that ship has sailed for Manny Pacquiao and, worst of all for all other parties involved in the Manny Pacquiao business, he doesn?t even seem to care anymore.
The former multi-division world champ is rich and at the end of a Hall of Fame career. Obviously, his primary focus these days is not on building long-term consumer good will anymore. Actually, from the way this promotion for a third Tim Bradley bout has gone, one gets the feeling that Pacquiao is barely there at all.
So, what can you do if you have a lot at stake in selling Pacquiao?s April 9 bout, but the main headliner doesn?t really seem to care one bit about it?
Promoter Bob Arum has the right idea.
Since the controversy erupted, the Hall of Fame promoter first chose to distance himself from the views of his fighter and has since circled back to stress why that controversy should have nothing to do with a fan?s decision to purchase the fight.
?The only way you do damage control is he apologized and we move away from the possibility that anybody would think we or Bradley or anyone connected to the fight believes in what he did say,? Arum told reporters. ?And if [Pacquiao] believes it, it?s unfortunate but that?s his belief. You can?t really affect somebody who is saying things that you don?t believe in but is part of their religious beliefs.
?I?m putting a fight on,? Arum affirmed. ?I?m not promoting a politician.?
Pacquiao-Bradley 3 was already a tough sell before the controversy and the added burden of dealing with bad publicity and possible protests certainly won?t help. But the only way to save this fight from tanking in a major way, unfortunately, is to keep Pacquiao away from actually being part of the promotion.
It?s a sure thing that whenever the Filipino icon gets questioned by the media, he will be asked about his anti-gay remarks and, given his unwillingness to really filter himself, he will push the entire promotion back into the stormy waters. Therefore, the best bet is to just keep him as far away from a media microphone as possible and keep his mic time reserved only to ?friendly? sources.
Keeping the main draw out of the promotion as much as possible is a major gamble, but those involved with Pacquiao-Bradley will simply have to roll the dice and hope that Manny?s loyal fan base and the combined charismas of Bradley, Freddie Roach, and Teddy Atlas can stir up enough interest to attract the casual fan.
