The Only Sensible Policy for Commenting on Rumors

If you’re lucky, you’ll learn a tough lesson about commenting on rumors early in your marketing communications career. It typically unfolds something like this.Someone says you’re shutting down a product that you acquired a few years ago. You know that’s false, so you deny it. Then someone says you’re using customer data to train an AI model. You know that’s false, too, and you deny it.This is easy, you think. The truth shall set you free.Later, a rumor circulates that you’re planning a major layoff. As the director of communications, you know you might not be aware of the plans if the rumor were true. So you stay late, catch the CEO on their way out, and ask. They tell you it’s false. Again, you deny the rumor.Then social media lights up with claims that a private equity (PE) firm wants to buy your company. Competitors bring it up in deals, and salespeople ask what to tell customers. You check with the CEO, who tells you it’s false. Once again, you deny the rumor.This comms stuff is…