An Important Lesson From The Miss Universe Pageant Gaffe

There have been so many articles, posts and tweets this week about Steve Harvey’s goof in announcing the first runner-up as the winner of the Miss Universe pageant, I was tempted to leave it alone.

But there’s something worth talking about here: As a result of the incident, all parties — Steve, the top two contestants and the pageant itself — have received more (and probably better) coverage than they would have if things had gone smoothly.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time: This was the first Miss Universe pageant since Donald Trump sold his interest a few months ago, and the first year of Steve Harvey’s multi-year deal as host. When I Googled Steve just now, the first entry that popped up was an article from ET, who reported this:

“A source close to production tells ET that the 58-year-old comedian and Family Feud host signed a multi-year contract to host Miss Universe just days before the pageant aired Sunday, and that his paycheck is ‘more than they’ve ever paid before for a host.'”

So it was critical for there to be robust coverage for this year’s event in order to prove the pageant was still relevant after Trump’s much-publicized divestiture, and equally critical for Steve to show he’s worth what they’re paying him.

By all accounts, Steve handled it very well. He immediately took responsibility and apologized, showing the card to the audience, rather than laying it off on the poorly designed card or a production assistant. Then he posted successive apologetic tweets.

The result: Plenty of coverage in the aftermath of the pageant, and Steve looks like a good guy for owning up to his mistake. Look at all the buzz this event has generated for the pageant and for Steve Harvey!

By contrast, can you name the hosts of last year’s pageant? I looked it up. It was Jeannie Mai, Thomas Roberts and Natalie Morales. Did you forget? Did you ever know?

The added publicity also benefited the new Miss Universe herself, Miss Philippines, and the first runner-up, Miss Columbia, who got a chance to demonstrate grace and composure during the embarrassing shuffle.

There’s a great lesson here: A fast, sincere recovery — fixing up and ‘fessing up — gets attention, and often yields better results than getting it right the first time!

I’m not saying it’s better to goof than to nail it. But if you do mess up, owning up to it with a clear head and an honest spirit can yield real benefits.