Case$-$Marvel entertainments public relations effort keep its hero's flying highDuring the dark days of Nazi conquest and looming world war, Martin Goodman founded Marvel Comics and introducedCaptain America, a hero who symbolized America's strength and honor. Years later, Marvel pitted Spider Man, an anxiety$-$ridden character always threatening to quit the superhero business, against DC Comics' invulnerable Superman. Although the Man of Steel might win a contest of strength, when it comes to profits and market share, Marvel Entertainment Group is on top. In a $$1\mathrm{.}2-$billion$-$a$-$year industry, Marvel owns $34$ percent calling itself a "youth entertainment company," Marvel's product mix includes television programs and movies, trading cards, toys, T$-$shirts, video game software, and, of course, comic books, of which they sell over $25$ million a month. Why have Marvel's revenues skyrocketed? Acquiring Fleer Corporation, marketer of sports trading cards and bubble gum, and owning tremendously popular comic books such as the X$-$Men and Avengers, which outsells Superman by $5$ to $1,$ certainly help. Licensing and merchandising its over $4,000$ characters put a Marvel action hero on stickers, toys, cereal boxes, candy wrappers, fast$-$food containers, and clothing. In addition, savvy public relations efforts keep $6-$ to l$6-$year$-$olds demanding, "Make Mine Marvel." Although Marvel employs an outside agency to administer some of its public relations activities, its inhouse public relations department handles the bulk of its efforts. Marvel can keep its cast of characters in the public eye by issuing press releases on a wide range of Marvel$-$related activities. When Marvel introduced interactive comics that allows fans to interact with superheroes over the phone or virtually, when it acquired Malibu comics, when it opened the MarvelBoutique at New Yorks F$.$A$.$O$.$ Schwarz, when it hired Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry to write the theme song for theSpider$-$Man cartoon series, the company issues press releases to let the world know.Press releases announced that two artists who had left Marvel were returning to update classic characters such as CaptainAmerica, The Avengers, and Iron Man so that they are fully prepared to fight evil. Planet Hollywood had teamed up withMarvel to launch Marvel Mania a restaurant with a Marvel Comics character theme. Press releases let people know thatat Marvel Mania restaurants in London, New York, or Las Vegas, they can dine among animated Marvel charactersdisplayed on video screens, eat from creative menu offerings such as dessert fajitas with fruit$-$flavored tortillas, andpurchase Marvel merchandise on the way out.Publicity is another of Marvel's vital public relations tools. Marvel characters often appear at store and restaurant openingsand at charity events, creating positive publicity for the company. One of Marvel's best publicity generators is its comicbookstyle annual report. Containing the same detailed full$-$color art as comic books, the first part of the report features ahost of Marvel's famous characters dispensing financial information in comic book story and format. Amid descriptions ofexpansion plans and market share, heroes such as Thor, Wolverine, and the Scarlet Witch do battle with archvillains suchas Hypnotia, The Grey Gargoyle, and Venom. Even charts and graphs employ comic book letterings and drawings.Newspapers like USA Today and The Wall Street Journal and cable news networks have featured stories on Marvel'sunique annual report, which stockholders eagerly await and for which collectors pay as much as $$200.$Hoping to generate the kind of publicity received by DC Comics over the death of Superman, Marvel had introduced a plottwist in the story line of its long$-$running Spider Man. His creators revealed that Peter Parker, the person we all knew forover many years as Spider Man's secret identity was not a human at all, but a test$-$tube created clone. Although the storyline generated a great deal of publicity, unfortunately for Marvel, most of it wasn't good. Outraged fans formed protestgroups and cancelled subscriptions, causing sales of Spider Man comics to plummet. In response, Marvel changed thestory line to cast doubt on the so$-$called tests that proved Parker's laboratory origins.Although Marvel currently dominates the market, hungry competitors aren't settling for the status quo. Marvel hopes tohold on to its number one spot is by keeping its characters visible through sustained public relations efforts. Can Marvel,like its superheroes remain invincible?

Question for discussion:

Marvel Entertainments revelation that Peter Parker was a test$-$tube created clone, rather than a human, resulted innegative public relations for the company.

What actions could Marvel take to tum this set of circumstances into a positivesituation with the potential for favorable public relations?