Apple hasn’t had a great PR week. Yesterday, it announced a lawsuit against a competing smart phone maker for patent infringement. The day before, Apple said it discovered 11 minors working in at suppliers’ facilities.

The first piece of news is an expected part of being in he technology invention business. The second detail falls somewhere between shocking and horrific.

For most companies.

But not really for Apple.

Because Apple is the only consumer electronics company that has evangelists.

There are Apple evangelists in the media, so the bad news is presented a little more gently. (If you’ve never been to a consumer electronics trade show press room, 90 percent of the working media are doing their jobs on a Mac.)

There are Apple evangelists among consumers. So the terrible news is instinctively chalked up to an innocent mistake. An oversight.

It probably is. But diabolical assumptions come toward Apple at much lower rate than other manufacturers.

It’s a hell of a competitive advantage. The fallout for Sony or Samsung or Panasonic (all competent but “evangelistless”) would have been tremendously more negative.

Create evangelists, and nourish them like Apple. Then enjoy the results.