fire chemistry and public relation

In fire chemistry there is something known as the "fire triangle". It describes the basic 3 components require to have a fire, viz heat, fuel and oxygen. You need all 3 to have a fire. Short of any one of them, a fire would not start. That's why in some cases, firefighters choose not to do anything but just starve the fire dead.

I see a parallel with public relations, in particular dealing with bad but mostly untrue publicity. With the growth of online media, it is getting easier to start irresponsible remarks, even easier to spice them up with comments from mostly anonymous netizens who may not have the ability for independent critical thinking.

Taking them head-on is like uniformed G.I.s taking on vietcongs in the jungle. Your rebuttals will most likely end up like bullets hitting the banana leaf but not the opponents. Simply not going to hurt them.

So, rather than fuelling the remarks on, it could be better to starve them and let the flame die on its own. Something like not giving an attention-seeking freak his undeserved attention. To make it better, dilute it with positive publicity.

That's why some companies have this policy of not answering to remarks or accusations on the internet.