Zuckerberg Sends Kids to School… His Own.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has made a name for himself with winning business ideas. He understands how to engage people, bring them together and give them what they want. Now, with the help of his wife, Priscilla Chan, Zuckerberg embarks on an entirely different business model. Private school. The Zuckerbergs’ new K-12 private school, “The Primary School”, in Palo Alto, California functions as a private, nonprofit educational institution. One different twist: the school offers healthcare services to every student, from birth to graduation. On a recent Facebook post, Zuckerberg explained, “It’s a new kind of school that brings education and healthcare together.” According to various media reports, the school will be free, geared toward low-income students and funded by a…
Read MoreVW’s New Boss thinks his Brand is Only Headed Up
Fall has not been kind to Volkswagen. An international scandal rocked the brand on two continents. While the literal price tag has yet to be tallied – VW expects it to cost them billions – the PR price tag has led to immediate changes at the top and among the rank and file. As expected, newly installed VW CEO Matthias Mueller says there’s nowhere for his company to go but up. He expects a shining new VW brand inside of three years. That’s an optimistic timeline, considering they will probably still be tabulating damages at that point, but, hey, a guy can dream. In his recent address to company managers, Mueller said the company needed to grow leaner and make…
Read MoreThe Facebook dislike button could spell doom?
Communication on Facebook has always had its pitfalls. Do you “like” a post if you agree with the sentiment but hate the situation described? What about a tragedy if you want to offer support and the person posting asks for support? Should you take the time to write out a message in the hopes of avoiding an uncomfortable situation … but you don’t really know what to say … or you feel the original post said it best? Ah, life in the mobile communication era. We talk as little as possible but try to say as much as we can with each keystroke. Now, Facebook revealed it is working on something people have been asking about for years … a…
Read MoreAirlines Battle over Buzzwords
JetBlue and now Delta Airlines are offering “humanity” as part of their service and that’s kind of an issue for JetBlue. They wrote the phrase “bringing humanity back to air travel,” right into their Customer Bill of Rights. It has been there for several years. Now in recent Delta ads the same phrase appears. Delta explains, they never meant to copy anything, and it just seemed like a phrase that fit their recent efforts. Michael Thomas, the spokesman for Delta said, they never set out to specifically highlight “humanity.” “The phrase succinctly captures Delta’s efforts to improve food and beverages, customer service, and onboard products,” he said. But in August, Delta did it again when it gave flight attendants handheld…
Read MoreKraft Recalls Bacon: Breakfast PR Takes a Disastrous Turn
For bacon lovers, the news could hardly be any worse. Kraft recently recalled two million pounds of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon after consumers reported illnesses. Now, bacon purists might argue consuming turkey bacon in any amount is actually an illness. But those who want to stay healthy or avoid pork for other reasons enjoy turkey bacon because they can dig into the breakfast staple without transgressing in other important areas. When the headlines hit, the reaction was not discerning. Bacon was being threatened, and people took it very seriously. Then, Kraft Heinz made it worse by issuing a stilted recall released announcing some products “may be adulterated.” Now, it’s a perfectly fine word, but in the world of clear communication…
Read MoreRupert Murdoch: Brooks Back to Rebuild after Scandal
Everybody loves a good comeback story, and that’s what Rupert Murdoch is offering us. Along with that, Murdoch proves the ongoing support for Rebekah Brooks he’s claimed ever since her resignation in July 2011 from the now defunct News of the World. Brooks, for her part, has traveled the hard road and appears to be well on her way to redemption. Before that resignation, Brooks, now 47, had accomplished a great deal in her career. She became the youngest editor of a British national newspaper, in 2000 she was placed in charge of News of the World, and in 2003 she became the first female editor of the Sun. It didn’t stop there. In 2009, she became CEO of what…
Read MoreCrisis PR: Sorority In Trouble for Being Happy and Fun
They’re young, they’re hot, and they’re happy. Guess which attribute got an Alabama sorority in trouble? If you chose “All of the Above”, you get an “A” for the day. Bowing to the harsh competition between Greek organizations on campus, the ladies of Alpha Phi decided to go all out with their recruitment video. The production values are top notch, and the content is as fun, breezy and easy on the eyes as it can be. The reaction of most sane people? Hey, those girls look like they’re having a good time at college. I might want to check that out. But that reaction is not good enough for the haters who, for better or worse, troll the ‘net for…
Read MoreKing James is Changing Lives in his Hometown
Akron native and NBA superstar LeBron James has always been vocal in his heartfelt support for his hometown and the greater Akron community. Even after leaving Cleveland for Miami, James was a force for good in Ohio. Now, he is taking those efforts even further. James recently announced that (at least) 200 Ohio school kids will have the opportunity to go to college entirely for free … as long as they complete his mentoring program. That program, the LeBron James Family Foundation, works with at-risk kids in Akron. According to further reports, the scholarships are available to middle school children in Akron Public Schools IF they complete the six-year mentoring program through the Foundation. The mentoring program is supported by…
Read MoreCan Blue Bell Beat the Listeria Nightmare?
In March Blue Bell, a Texas company, experienced a PR nightmare as many of their ice cream flavors were found to contain Listeria bacteria. This triggered a recall, and ultimately all four of their plants in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas were closed down until further notice. The company took no chances, and all of their products were removed from the freezer aisles in grocery stores. Years of Experience Doesn’t Stop Bacteria Blue Bell has been supplying frozen treats for 108 years, and this is the first time they have faced such a situation. All of the plants have been receiving complete cleaning and decontamination treatments. But now, as of the first week of August, at least their Sylacauga, Alabama plant…
Read MoreTop tech minds warn of real life Skynet
A machine takeover and subsequent apocalypse. It’s an eventuality that has been common fodder for SciFi movies. It was done well in The Terminator and then updated on a much more meta scale in the Matrix movies. Now several very smart folks are on record as saying not only is “Skynet” possible but, if we keep going the way we are, it may be inevitable. Sleep well tonight. A recent open letter, signed by 1,000 pre-eminent minds, warns of a “military artificial intelligence arms race” concluding, thankfully, that this is a bad idea. Among those inking their names to the missive: Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Steve Wozniak. Not exactly a bunch of tin-foil kooks. Skynet Machine Learning The creation…
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