When Good PR Goes Bad

Abstract

In the 1970s Mafia boss Joseph Colombo launched a successful public relations campaign to persuade media, industry, and federal and state elected officials to stop using the terms Mafia and La Cosa Nostra. He claimed that the Mafia was a myth and the words discriminated against Italian Americans. Colombo's campaign used public relations tactics, including publicity, special events, fundraising, media relations, relationship development, and public policy influence. He also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for his newly created organization, the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Colombo's efforts came to an abrupt end when he was shot at one of his rallies by an unknown gunman who also was killed. Colombo suffered permanent brain damage, lapsed into a coma, and died in 1978, an apparent victim of his own PR. In failing to consider the wants and needs of one of his key internal publics, other Mafia leaders, he may have contributed to his own murder.