Editor's Note: This feature first appeared in our companion service, The Archery Wire(www.archerywire.com).

In the manufacturing business, product-design and engineering fiascos occur with some regularity. But sometimes a product failure emerges that one would swear emanated directly from the mischievous devil himself.

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Among public relations professionals and marketing types, the term "damage control," refers to the steps a company spokesperson or leader takes in the early stages of a particularly disruptive incident that could have potential negative impact on the image or reputation of a business. Such incidents come in a variety of forms, including product failures, financial reorganizations, embarrassing personnel or management actions or other unfortunate and unanticipated business-related manifestations.

We don't know what was discussed among the marketing and management team in Rocky Brands Nelsonville, Ohio headquarters in recent days, but we can only surmise they more than likely didn't have a plan in place for the likelihood of the event they faced.

According to a May 19 statement issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Rocky Brands is recalling the latest entry in its line of "snake-proof" boots after a contractor hired to demonstrate the footwear's effectiveness was bitten by a snake (also contracted for the demonstration, we assume), sustaining non life-threatening injuries in the process.

Manufactured in China and sold under the Rocky Brands name, the Men's 16 Silent Hunter Snake Boot (product number RKYS153) was offered online and in selected retail stores beginning in March for around $200.

To their credit and giving something of a clinic on how to react under pressure to professionally handle a potentially volatile (not to mention, embarrassing) situation, Rocky Brands moved quickly to address the recall.

"At Rocky Brands, we pride ourselves on providing our customers with quality products that – where applicable – provide consumers with necessary protection," CEO David Sharp said is a company statement released last week. "This is especially true in the snake boot market segment where our Rocky brand has been a leader and innovator. With this particular style, we utilized a vendor whose snake-bite resistant fabric failed when in use in a demonstration. Fortunately, no one was hurt and we immediately pulled the product from the market."

According to the company statement, fewer than 1,000 pairs were sold and approximately 90 percent of those have already been returned.

"We will continue to seek to gather the remaining outstanding pairs," Sharp said. "Internally, we are reviewing our product testing and approval procedures to ensure this does not happen again."

The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission announcement noted that consumers should stop wearing the recalled boots immediately and contact Rocky Brands for a full refund or a free pair of replacement snakebite-proof hunting boots in one of the following models: Lynx Snake, Classic Lynx Snake, Prolight Snake in lace-up, pull-on or side-zip styles.

In retrospect, anyone who has ever been called upon to handle a difficult PR situation for a company, business or municipality can certainly relate to the pressure placed upon the executives in Nelsonville. And, while the incident will be the brunt of smirks, jokes and watercooler discussions across the industry, you have to admire Rocky Brands for its decisive and immediate response – something that experts note as key in any damage control situation.

In case you were wondering, no details were made available regarding when or where the unfortunate testing incident took place, or what kind of demonstration snake chomped through the boot. But if a video ever surfaces on YouTube, we promise Archery Wire readers will be among the first to know!


- J.R. Absher