In public relations, never tip your hand
Managing your company's image in the public arena can be a handful. Recently, Wendy's Restaurants 
narrowly avoided a law suit by a customer who claimed to have discovered a 1 1/2" long human finger-tip in her bowl of chili. How did the company handle the bad publicity?
In one sense, from a public relations standpoint, they succeeded in stemming the rising tide of public doubts about their food. Management quickly conducted a background check of all their food vendors and distributors to see if any one had reported an accident that resulted in a lost digit. No one had, and the company made its findings public within hours.
However, in another sense, one relating to language and the ever-moldable clay of public perception, they failed. But at least it was funny.
After disclosing that their initial checks had turned up no accidents in their 'food chain', they went further and stated that they had opened a hot line which would take any and all tips offered by the public. Awkward, but like I said, funny. Look for this one to end up in your local business school classroom as an example of how subtle language mistakes alone can compromise even the best laid publicity plans.