What Just Happened? A Polpeo Podcast

Kate Hartley & Tamara Littleton
  • 4.7 (12)
  • Management
  • Updated fortnightly

The podcast that looks at the biggest brand crises of our time.

  1. 18 Jun

    The HMV Live Tweet Meltdown

    What happens when employees turn a company’s own communication channels against it? How should organisations handle redundancies in an era where every meeting can be recorded, every internal message can be leaked and every disgruntled employee has a platform? In this episode of What Just Happened?, Kate Hartley and Tamara Littleton revisit the 2013 HMV redundancy crisis, one of the most famous social media crises of the digital age, and examine why its lessons remain just as relevant today. When employees who were being laid off live-tweeted the process from the company’s official Twitter account, what began as a shocking social media incident quickly became a landmark case study in crisis communication, internal culture and employee trust. The discussion traces HMV’s decline from high street giant to administration, before exploring how a failure to remove social media access allowed departing staff to publicly expose the redundancy process. It explores how employee activism has evolved, from rogue tweets and leaked internal communications to anonymous platforms such as Blind, Glassdoor reviews and viral TikTok videos. Leadership coach Jane Fordham joins the discussion to argue that incidents like HMV are fundamentally culture issues rather than technology failures. She explains how organisations can identify declining employee trust, rebuild damaged relationships and manage redundancies with greater transparency, planning and humanity. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    29 min

  2. 4 Jun

    Spygate

    Ahead of the recent Championship playoff final, with the winners promoted to the Premier League and also set to benefit to the tune of £200 million, Southampton admitted to spying on Middlesbrough’s training sessions in an attempt to gain a competitive edge. What began as a bizarre story involving an analyst intern hiding behind a tree with a camera quickly escalated into a full-scale reputational disaster, culminating in Southampton being expelled from the playoffs by the EFL. In this episode of What Just Happened?, Kate Hartley and Tamara Littleton unpack the fallout that followed one of the most extraordinary and damaging football PR crises in recent memory. They discuss how the story exploded so rapidly, thanks in large part to the aggressive media strategy employed by Middlesbrough, and why Southampton’s response failed to rebuild trust. They also examine the wider consequences beyond football, including furious fans, potential lawsuits, damage to sponsorships and player earnings, and the long-term impact on the club’s reputation. The episode dives into the communications lessons behind the crisis: why apologising while simultaneously disputing punishment undermines credibility, how culture issues often start at leadership level, and the ethical concerns surrounding the use of a junior analyst in the scandal. This is a look at the consequences of trying to gain an unfair advantage when the stakes are high. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    11 min

  3. 28 May

    The Art of the Apology

    What makes an apology believable? And what turns an apology into a crisis of its own? In this episode of What Just Happened?, Kate Hartley and Tamara Littleton revisit themes from their conversation with crisis communications expert Abby Mangold, exploring the messy, highly human territory of public apologies, CEO misconduct and organisational redemption. The discussion looks at the difference between a real apology and a non-apology, reflecting on the work of Dr Harriet Lerner and Brené Brown about why people apologise, what they are really trying to repair and why certain phrases often make things worse. A genuine apology, they argue, requires humility, accountability and meaningful action. The episode also addresses how organisations should prepare for senior leaders behaving badly ahead of time and a focus on culture, values, whistleblowing routes and clear processes. And it examines the role of the board when a crisis involves the executive team. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

  4. 14 May

    The CrowdStrike Outage

    In July 2024, a faulty software update to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform caused around 8.5 million Windows devices to crash. The incident disrupted airlines, hospitals, banks, broadcasters and public services, with the UK economy alone estimated to have lost around £2 billion. In this episode of ‘What Just Happened?’, hosts Tamara Littleton and Kate Hartley are joined by managing partner at Clarity Kristin Ingraham to look at the reputational and legal fallout, including Delta Airlines’ $500 million lawsuit, CrowdStrike’s controversial $10 Uber Eats voucher gesture to vendors, and the wider debate about liability, accountability and apology. We discuss how a small flaw in an update created a major operational crisis, forcing affected machines into the “blue screen of death” and requiring many to be fixed manually. We also explore how Microsoft and CrowdStrike responded, contrasting Microsoft’s collaborative and clear messaging with CrowdStrike’s initially corporate and unemotional statement. The episode explores how crisis communication must balance legal caution with humanity, and discusses how legal, communications, IT and leadership teams must build trust before a crisis hits. We debate how much preparedness, empathy and cross-functional collaboration are essential to reputation recovery. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    32 min

  5. 30 Apr

    WJH Shorts: Lululemon v Mumumelon

    When a fake pop-up shop called Mumumelon appeared just five doors away from a Luluemon store in London, eyebrows were raised. It turned out to be a climate-focused activist campaign focused on exposing a perceived gap between Lululemon’s sustainability messaging and its actual environmental impact. And it left the company in somewhat of a dilemma: start legal action and invite scrutiny, or risk trying to engage constructively with a provocative campaign? In this episode of WJH Shorts, Tamara Littleton and Kate Hartley dissect an emerging crisis for Lululemon and how it should respond. The stunt is intentionally provocative, openly inviting legal action while framing itself as parody. However, the activists are not attempting to compete commercially; instead, they aim to “embarrass” the brand and push it towards meaningful change. Tamara and Kate discuss how this form of activism represents a shift from traditional protest to more strategic, media-savvy tactics designed to force corporate responses. Similar past cases show public opinion often sides with activists when brands appear heavy-handed, and this presents a significant challenge to Lululemon. The situation presents both a reputational risk and an opportunity, particularly with a new CEO in place. Rather than reacting defensively, the company may need to engage constructively and consider whether the campaign highlights legitimate areas for improvement. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    8 min

  6. 16 Apr

    Boeing: Too Big to Fail?

    Reputational damage rarely stems from a single incident, but from patterns of failure that expose deeper cultural issues. In 2024 a door blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight and, while not fatal, this reignited concerns rooted in 2018 and 2019 crashes involving Boeing aircraft that killed 346 people and were linked to design flaws and failures in safety processes. What emerged was not just a technical problem but a systemic one, where safety concerns were known, raised, and in some cases ignored. In this episode of ‘What Just Happened?’, hosts Tamara Littleton and Kate Hartley are joined by aviation expert Dirk Singer to discuss the reputational impact of repeated safety issues for Boeing across a number of years. Subsequent investigations into the company revealed misleading communication with regulators, weak oversight, and a culture where commercial pressures appeared to outweigh engineering judgement. Despite a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement intended to enforce reform, Boeing later breached its terms, pleading guilty in 2024 and paying further fines. Leadership changes followed, alongside commitments to restructure reporting lines and invest heavily in safety and compliance. But did Boeing’s position as one of only two major global aircraft manufacturers mean it was effectively “too big to fail”? The central lesson is clear: crises of this scale are rooted in culture. Organisations must prioritise safety, empower whistleblowers, and ensure that critical risks are never subordinated to profit. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

  7. 26 Mar

    WJH Shorts: The BrewDog Controversy

    After going into administration on 2nd March, the fallout for BrewDog’s investors, employees and reputation has been rapid and calamitous. The collapse led to the company being acquired by US beverage firm Tilray, saving some jobs but leading to 484 redundancies and the closure of 38 UK bars. Crucially, the “equity punks” – around 200,000 crowdfunding investors – have lost their investments, while co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickey had already exited with significant personal gains after selling shares in 2017. In this episode of WJH Shorts, Tamara Littleton and Kate Hartley explore the broader impact of an ever-growing gap between BrewDog’s original narrative and its eventual reality. Once positioned as a disruptive, community-driven brand, it later faced allegations of toxic culture, misleading PR tactics and broken promises. Tamara and Kate discuss early warning signs, including staff whistleblowing and a BBC documentary that exposed deeper issues within the business. The crisis is now unfolding publicly, particularly on LinkedIn, where Watt has been actively responding to criticism and engaging in a visible dispute with Tilray’s CEO. This reflects a broader shift in how corporate crises are now communicated and contested in real time, and the question of the disconnect between words and actions, and who bears the real cost when a brand’s story unravels, need to be addressed. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    12 min

  8. 12 Mar

    WJH Shorts: The Anthropic Trump Feud

    On 27th February, President Donald Trump ordered the US Government to stop using technology from AI company Anthropic, developer of the Claude LLM. “We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!” he wrote in a post on Truth Social. The issue arose when Anthropic refused to accept new terms from the US Department of Defence that would have granted the military unrestricted access to its AI tools. According to Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, the company drew “red lines” around the potential use of AI for domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, citing both ethical concerns and the current limitations of AI technology. In this episode of WJH Shorts, Tamara Littleton and Kate Hartley explore the broader implications of the decision. While companies have the right to define their values and choose who they work with, refusing a government contract can carry significant costs, which may include financial losses, damage to relationships with government clients, and the risk of being labelled a supply chain risk. At the same time, competitors willing to accept the terms may face criticism or boycotts from those who disagree with their decision. Tamara and Kate highlight how quickly business decisions can become politicised, and the importance of organisations preparing for public scrutiny, and understanding the reputational risks that come with major ethical decisions. A full transcript of today’s show is available to read here.

    9 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
12 Ratings

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The podcast that looks at the biggest brand crises of our time.

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