Indecision Over Meyer’s Fate Clouds NCAA Season
Kickoff of the NCAA football season is right around the corner, and one of the nation’s premier programs will be without its celebrated head coach for most of the first month of the season. Ohio State University Coach Urban Meyer continues to defend his honor even as his suspension remains in place. The Meyer situation continues to exert significant public relations pressure on both Ohio State and the NCAA at large. Over the past few seasons, college football has benefitted from a largely scandal-free existence, even as pro football has been a hotbed of controversy. Many jilted NFL fans have given up that game and focused entirely on college ball. Now, as they look out at the impending season, they…
Read MoreLohan Walking Back her ‘MeToo’ Critique
Years ago, actress Lindsay Lohan watched her brand peak, as she was on the fast track to becoming America’s sweetheart. Then, a series of decisions to shift her brand backfired, and Lohan ended up being more of a tabloid target than a Hollywood draw. Recently, though, the actress chose to re-enter the public conversation. She spoke her mind in an interview with The Times, and the backlash was almost immediate. Lohan’s comments centered on her thoughts related to the MeToo movement, about which she said she was “very supportive” of women, but “can’t go along with the ‘attention seekers’ or trial by social media…”
Read MoreThe NFL Message Remains Confusing and Conflicting
When you take a step back and look at it from a long-range PR perspective, the biggest takeaway from the ongoing NFL “anthem protest scandal” is that it’s a PR nightmare that should have long since been dealt with. From the very beginning, it was clear that some NFL fans were not going to be happy no matter what decisions were made about players kneeling in protest during the National Anthem. Some group of fans, then, were going to “lose” in this situation. That much was crystal clear from the very first time Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the preseason in 2016.
Read MoreWhy Do We Care So Much About the #SummerOfBreakups?
Back in 2015, a new hashtag jumped onto the Twitter scene, pushing people to question everything they thought they knew about love and romance. The #SummerOfBreakups hashtag was the beacon for every celebrity breakup that took place that year. Importantly, the breakups didn’t just happen throughout summer either, the hashtag continued to trend well into Autumn too. While obsession over celebrity love lives isn’t anything new for the modern world, the rise of social media has drawn extra attention to just how much time people spend thinking about the relationships of their famous idols. Psychologists and other people in the media have been left to wonder why people care so much about things like the #SummerOfBreakups. Now that summer is…
Read MoreTwitter Defending Stance on Jones
When a significant number or percentage of your customers make certain demands, how should a brand respond? That’s the question being answered all across social media these past few weeks. Many users want bad actors booted, but others say to do so would infringe on the free exchange of ideas upon which social media is ostensibly based. Each of these sides has been busy building a narrative of layered messaging in support of their position. Now, when a company makes a related decision, they are linked with that entire apparatus of connected messages. It’s no longer an isolated incident, it’s being seen as taking a public stand on an issue. That may not be fair or even accurate, but that…
Read MoreNYC Delivers the News About Uber Limits
In any leadership position, any time you make a decision that will limit or otherwise restrict something you know your customers like and enjoy, you have to craft a message that explains the decision in a way they are ready to hear. NYC is trying to do exactly that while pitching a plan to cap the number of vehicles allowed to drive for Uber and other rideshare companies in the city. If you thought that discussion might raise the hackles of a fair number of New Yorkers, you are correct. Sure, there are people cheering the decision, including those who have to drive in the traffic and cab company owners; but for many others, both riders and drivers, this move…
Read MoreWWE Takes Big Step in Evolution
You would be hard pressed to find another more testosterone-drenched entertainment niche than pro wrestling. Buff superheroes have been bashing, slamming and vanquishing evil “heels” for generations as fans ate up the show, with its mix of acrobatic spectacle, soap opera theatrics, and carefully-scripted good versus evil morality tale. For most of those storied decades, the women of pro wrestling were sideshows: props reduced to peripheral antagonists or eye candy. Even in-ring performers were used more for the spectacle than the athletic prowess. It was not said, but it seemed self-evident, that the industry did not feel women brought the same booking power as the men. That may still be true, but it’s much less true than it once was,…
Read More“Papa” John Schnatter Delivers Defiant Message
John Schnatter is firing back at the company he founded, which has taken steps to distance their brand from the guy who, not that long ago, was the, face of the operation. “Papa John” was on everything, from the branding to the TV commercials to the radio spots. All that was true for years, until a few weeks ago, when reports surfaced that Schnatter made some remarks on a conference call that some considered racist. Once those allegations surfaced, Schnatter was quickly wiped away from the company’s branding. Schnatter maintains both that what he said, in context, was not inappropriate, and he says the company would be better off keeping him as the center of its brand.
Read MoreUrban Meyer on Hot Seat at OSU
The skinny on iconic college football coach Urban Meyer is that he is so driven to win his heart nearly gave out on him. A hero coach at the University of Florida, Meyer left the game “for his health” only to return a few years later, to helm the powerhouse Ohio State program. Meyer was back, prowling the sideline, focused and intense. But the rumors that plagued him at UF were still stuck to him at OSU. Meyer would do anything to win, up to and including “tolerating misconduct” from players and coaches as long as it meant winning the SEC and competing for national titles. Years ago, it was so cliché as to almost be assumed that many top-tier…
Read MoreBarr Trying to Battle Back After Firing
After several weeks of defiance, Roseanne Barr appeared poised and contrite in her first major network TV interview since being fired from her eponymous sitcom due to some tweets about former Obama advisor, Valerie Jarrett. It’s a new look for a comedian who has built her career stepping across the line with sharp satire and humor directed at social norms and political trends. Barr has always been edgy, even when her popular sitcom was not, yet, when Twitter users reacted with outrage over tweets deemed to be racist, Barr was quickly ousted by ABC.
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