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Apple CEO Tim Cook is using his persuasive communication skills to address the company's avoidance of billions in taxes . Cook appeared on Capital Hill and received a surprising number of compliments from the nation's lawmakers. Committee Chairman Senator Carl Levin, for example, said, "We love the iPhone and the iPad." Libertarian Ron Paul also defended the company: "I’m offended by the spectacle of dragging in Apple executives. What we need to do is apologize to Apple and compliment them for the job creation they’re doing." Still, the panel accused Apple of creating offshore "ghost companies" to avoid paying taxes. Apple shifts as much as $100 billion to these entities , saving $7 billion in taxes in 2011, according to one estimate. Rather then deny the accusations, Cook blamed the outdated tax system: "Unfortunately, the tax code has not kept up with the digital age." By deflecting attention away from Apple and towards loop holes that should be closed, Cook effectively "disarmed" (to use The New York Times ' word) the Senate committee. Of course, Apple isn't the only company avoiding taxes. According to one study cited by Senator Levin, 30 of the country's largest multinationals "paid nothing in federal income taxes over a recent three-year period. Zero." Discussion Starters: Watch Tim Cook's opening statement in the Senate hearing . What are his strongest and weakest arguments? Watch the rest of the Senate hearing . Which questions are most and least effective? How does Cook use delivery skills to persuade the committee?

CEO Mike Jeffries has surprised and disturbed people with his alleged comments about customers in 2006, which just became public: "We go after the attractive all-American kid...A lot of people don't belong [in our clothes] and they can't belong. Are they exclusionary? Absolutely." The comment has been interpreted to mean that plus-sign people aren't welcomed in the store, and this may be substantiated by the retailer's inventory: no pants size is larger than 10. Public reaction has been strong. As of yesterday, about 1,000 people signed an online petition to boycott Abercrombie. And a nine-year-old in Plano, TX, altered her T-shirt to express her feelings: Discussion Starters: As yet, the company has not responded to requests by ABC news. Should the corporate communication people say something? If so, what? What's your reaction to the CEO's alleged comment? Do you find it offensive, his right to define his customer, or something else?

Mountain Dew pulled an ad that was deemed racist and sexist. This one seems to jump, rather than cross, the line. A badly bruised woman is asked to identify someone in a police line-up of African-American men—and a goat. Felicia the Goat, with the voice of rapper Tyler The Creator, made his first appearance in Mountain Dew commercials in March. In an earlier episode, the goat beats up the waitress for failing to give him enough soda. As one might expect, the ad was criticized for being misogynistic. Because bad things come in threes, Mountain Dew has another commercial set to air on May 24. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter , PepsiCo has taken responsibility for the ad: "We apologize for this video and take full responsibility. We have removed it from all Mountain Dew channels and Tyler is removing it from his channels as well." A representative for Tyler The Creator released a statement to The Hollywood Reporter : "It was never Tyler's intention to offend however, offense is personal and valid to anyone who is offended. Out of respect to those that were offended the ad was taken down," it said. "For those who know and respect Tyler he is known for pushing boundaries and challenging stereotypes through humor. This is someone who grew up on David Chappelle. This situation is layered with context and is a discussion that Tyler would love to address in the right forum as he does have a point of view." "Contrary to what many may discern from this Tyler is the embodiment of not judging others, his delivery may not be for everyone (which is true for anyone who pushes boundaries) but his voice is nonetheless important to the conversation since his demographic understands what he ultimately stands for and sees the irony of it all," continued the statement. "He absolutely never intended to spark a controversy about race," it read. "It was simply an again admittedly absurd story that was never meant to be taken seriously. Again we apologize if this was taken out of context and would never trivialize racism, especially now in America where voting and civil rights are being challenged at the highest level." Discussion Starters: What's your view of the first two commercials? Do you find them offensive, funny, or something else? PepsiCo's response differs from the recent McDonald's and Hyundai situations, where the companies said ads were created without their approval. Does PepsiCo's response work better?

A "Boston Massacre" T-shirt showing splattered blood stains will mean only one thing to people now: the bombing tragedy at the Boston Marathon. But this Nike T-shirt is a reference to the Red Sox/Yankees baseball games in 1978 and 2006. Still, some people feel the T-shirts should have been removed from the outlet store before being spied (and photographed) by a producer for the "David Letterman Show." A Nike spokesperson emailed a response to the Huffington Post : "The shirts being referenced are older baseball shirts that were predominantly being sold through our Factory Stores Outlets. In light of the tragedy in Boston we took immediate action last week to remove this product from distribution. We conducted this process as quickly as possible and are confident the product has been removed from distribution." The situation is reminiscent of Nike T-shirts in a Boston store window sporting slogans such as "Dope" and "Get High." In this situation, the mayor of Boston wrote a complaint letter, but the company denied that it promoted drug use. Discussion Starters: In what ways does the "Boston Massacre" T-shirt differ from the "Dope" and "Get High" T-shirts? How are they similar? How do you assess Nike's response? Should the company have done anything differently, or is this an understandable mistake?

An article by Augie Ray, director of social media for a Fortune 100 company, describes the ethics of social media marketing , and gives us several interesting examples from the Boston Marathon tragedy. In contrast to these companies that perhaps crossed an ethical line, recall El Pelon Taqueria , the restaurant that offered help and asked for nothing in return. Calling it a "desperate attempt to trade on people's feelings," Ray described an NBC Facebook picture of a boy in a hospital bed. The post asks people to "'LIKE' this to wish him a continued speedy recovery." Ray points out that "liking" a post does nothing to help the boy recover. In another example, Ray criticizes Ford for muddying a message with its products. According to Ray, "Ford's use of brand imagery not only reduced the sincerity of the message but demonstrated questionable ethics." For comparison, Ray presents Ford's actual post, at right, next to one without branding, at left. The difference is fairly obvious. Individuals made mistakes as the tragedy was unfolding, too. Author Guy Kawasaki was criticized for continuing to post promotional tweets, as others were suspending theirs. Clearly, he didn't agree with the criticism. He responded, "Loving how people with less [ sic ] than 1,500 followers are telling me how to tweet." Discussion Starters : How do you assess these three situations? Do you agree with the criticism of each? Augie Ray offers a sound suggestion for modifying the Ford post. Can you think of something similar for the NBC post? What might make this one more acceptable (read: more compassionate)?

In a letter from CEO Gerry Cahill , Carnival tries to restore guests' confidence in the brand after several technical and other issues on ships during the past few months .In addition to this letter, Carnival has posted a video on YouTube and created a News and Updates page on Facebook . In some respects, the letter is a confusing mess. Although the $300 million is more clearly explained in the video, this letter makes it sound as though Carnival is buying hotels: "$300 million to expand the availability of hotel services." Cudos to having some of the main point upfront ("Our goal is to drive continual improvement across all aspects of our customer experience"), but isn't much of the main point at the end, where Cahill thanks guests for their loyalty? Also, the letter seems overly jargony for typical Carnival guests. The company just wants them to book another cruise, right? The encouragement could be clearer and more direct. Discussion and Assignment Ideas: Compare Carnival's guest letter, video, and Facebook page. What differences do you see, and how do you account for them; for example, what are the audiences for each? Rewrite the Carnival letter. How can you improve the content, organization, and tone?

The Royal Bank of Canada is under fire for replacing 45 employees with oversees workers. A representative of RBC admits that work is being moved to another supplier, and current employees are training their replacements. The company is looking for new jobs for the displaced workers, who will leave at the end of the month. The new supplier is iGATE Corp., an Indian multinational outsourcing firm. In an interview, RBC HR chief Zabeen Hirji tried to explain that RBC isn't hiring the workers, and the workers aren't replacing RBC employees—just transitioning to the new staff. Both are tough sells. First, RBC hired the supplier who is hiring the workers (so they have some accountability). Second, having interim workers doesn't change the outcome: people are losing their jobs, and—as it appears—foreign workers will be doing the work. The reporter called the distinction "semantics" and said, "I get what you're trying to sell, but I'm not sure I'm buying it." Criticism is high, particularly the concern that RBC is violating federal rules that foreign workers may not replace Canadian citizens. In response, the bank published a statement that said, "External suppliers with the right skills allow us to introduce new efficiencies, continually improve our service at reduced cost and reinvest in initiatives that enhance the client experience. Agreements with our suppliers include strict controls and ongoing monitoring to ensure full compliance with all regulatory requirements." Public backlash is also high. A Facebook page, Boycott Royal Bank of Canada , has 7,600 likes. Discussion Starters: Analyze Zabeen Hirji's interview. What does she do well, and what could be improved? What are her strongest and weakest arguments? Overall, do you buy RBC's position? One article referred to Hirji's "corporate-speak explanation and histrionic hand gestures." Do you agree with this characterization?

Are all of Carnival Cruise's recent ship problems unrelated? That's what the company would like the public to believe. Carnival's Triumph—which was stranded in Alabama last month— broke free from its moorings . Hurricane-link winds blew the ship from its anchors and threw two shipyard employees into the Mobile River. Although one man was found, another is still missing. Although the crises are mounting for the cruise company, it's getting better at responding via social media. The company quickly tweeted about the situation and posted several updates throughout the day: Carnival also posted this statement to its Facebook page : April 3, 2013, 7PM ET Earlier this afternoon, due to strong winds that reached speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour during a severe storm in Mobile, Ala., Carnival Triumph, which was in wet dock at a Mobile shipyard, broke away from its moorings. The ship drifted, and was secured. With the assistance of tugboats on site, the ship has been moved to the Mobile Cruise Terminal. Lines have moored the ship, and, as a precaution, tugboats will remain alongside the vessel as well. All of the approximately 600 crew and 200 contractors who were onboard the vessel are safe and have been accounted for through a roll call. There are no reports of injuries. While assessment of damage to the ship is ongoing, initial indications suggest the damage is limited. According to reports, two shipyard employees on an adjacent pier fell into the water. One has reportedly been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and the search continues for the second. Our thoughts and prayers are with the missing shipyard employee and the family. Discussion Starters: Assess Carnival's response on social media. How else is the company using Facebook and Twitter to communicate during this crisis? How can Carnival rebuild the brand and explain the recent incidents as separate and distinct from one another?