The third season of HBO’s The White Lotus came to an end on 6 April, but the series was rife with PR and comms lessons.

The show featured a set of spoiled guests, simmering hostilities and take-me-there-now scenery, all ruined by the emotional equivalent of an oil spill.

As the drama came to a fatal conclusion, we should talk about what’s actually been going on — a masterclass in how not to communicate.

If you pay attention, what lies between the side eyes, secrets, off-putting sibling dynamics and slightly-too-long silences is a commentary on the state of modern communications, which reveals more than most playbooks ever will.

Don't avoid an answer

For starters, every character is lying, dodging or saying something they technically mean, while hoping it’s interpreted in any way but that. It’s excruciating to watch, but unfortunately familiar. Vague corporate speak, unclear directives and let’s circle back culture aren’t just annoying, they’re dangerous.

If your audience must decipher what you mean, you risk having it decided for you. And that’s how you end up with headlines you don’t like, and trending before your morning coffee.

If you’re wondering what this looks like in the real world, let’s throw it back to 2010 and BP’s mismanaged response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It’s response was, “the amount of oil and dispersant we are putting into it [the Gulf of Mexico] is tiny in relation to the total water volume”, and it was interpreted badly.

BP didn’t lie, per se, but it failed to say what people needed to hear. No empathy, no accountability, just a sea of technical and tone-deaf phrasing that reeked of disassociation. The situation was only triumphed by the then-CEO telling reporters he wanted his life back.

The lesson: say it with your chest or don’t say it at all.

Think about the delivery

The White Lotus’ plot revolves around tension, often conveyed with a subtle glance, fake nonchalance or a passive-aggressive compliment which carry more weight than most of the dialogue.

Words matter, of course they do, but in communications, delivery and the emotional undercurrent is the message.

This reminds me of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. Musk announced his arrival with memes and mass firings. His second act, an email that demanded working “long hours at high intensity”, called for employees to be “extremely hardcore” and insisted on a make-or-break decision ASAP. Naturally, this was a flop. The email read like a threat and hundreds of employees walked out. The press depicted Musk as a reckless authoritarian. You can say “we need to work hard” a thousand different ways, but if you say it like a villain preparing for world domination it doesn’t land well.

The lesson: tone is everything.

Branding is everything

Every character in The White Lotus is managing a personal brand. Some are puffing their chest and others are hiding in the hopes nobody notices the cracks.

They are madly scrambling to control the narrative and be the protagonist of their clique — something that we, in communications, have the tools to manage. This usually means moving swiftly, anticipating lines of inquiry, knowing when to speak and when silence is golden.

The real world example is Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview. What was a clear attempt to control the narrative and salvage a reputation, very quickly became a cautionary on ‘what not to do’ media training.

Prince Andrew seemed entirely unprepared, unwilling to participate honestly and came across arrogant and delusional. Not only did he fail to repair his personal brand, he took the monarchy for a ride at the same time.

The lesson: you don’t declare yourself the protagonist, you earn it.

The White Lotus may seem like a series about wealthy people behaving badly, but it’s so much more. It’s the place where hidden meanings get lost, where silences are damning and where we’re constantly reminded of the fragility of reputation and relationships.

That’s not to say we can’t enjoy the drama, but heed the PR lessons of every episode, because reputational death rarely comes with a catchy theme song and a season renewal.