Who’s better: Cam or Peyton?
The Super Bowl is once again upon us, and the matchup – Peyton Manning versus Cam Newton – has many industry commentators asking which quarterback is better. On paper, that question is laughable. Peyton Manning is one of the best of all time. A five-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champ, and advertising powerhouse. Acknowledged as one of the best-prepared players to ever take the field, even Newton calls him “The General.” Manning has inspired and informed a generation of QBs. He has been a model of how to play the game. And that’s where the rub is. Manning “has” and “has been.” While clearly he’s not a “has been” quite yet, Peyton is clearly in the twilight of his career.…
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Zuckerberg’s vaccine comments ignite a firestorm
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has never been shy about expressing his socio-political perspectives on social media. Recently, the FB CEO chose to sound off while taking his new daughter in for her first round of vaccinations. While the post may have been meant to simply be the sort of Day In the Life picture just about everyone uploads to Facebook, the photo and caption: “Doctor’s visit – time for vaccines!” ignited a firestorm. Comments Keep Coming In To date, nearly 100,000 comments piled up on the picture, most from anti-vaccine apologists hoping to show others (and science) the error of their ways. One particularly harsh anti-vax crusader put it this way: “Injecting newborns and infants with disease and neurotoxins is…
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When to use Rapid Response in PR?
Rapid response is one of the true boons for entrepreneurs and the businesses they represent. The ability to respond quickly on social media with a response to questions, comments, or news worthy developments is one of the greatest gifts that the age of instant communication has brought us. Used judiciously, this ability can be an excellent public relations tool that places an individual or company directly at the center of breaking news and events. However, this is one media technique that must be used with restraint, caution, and a well developed sense of timing if it is to be fully effective. Does Every Single Question Or Event Require A Response? Perhaps the first question that will occur to the reader…
Read MoreOlive Garden continues a comeback
Olive Garden might be the butt of innumerable foodie jokes, but the company isn’t listening. The home of breadsticks and endless bowls of salad has been shouldering most of the load for parent company Darden Restaurants as of late. Overall Darden earnings easily eclipsed expectations, and, believe it or not, Olive Garden can take most of the credit. And, for the second quarter in a row, Darden raised its fiscal outlook… right, and it announced a new stock buyback plan while also boosting its dividend. Talk about making everyone happy! Consequently, Darden stock is up nearly 20 percent in 2015. Of course, none of this was really expected. Olive Garden’s First Big Mistake Back in September 2014, industry watchdogs came…
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Elie Hirschfeld: Entrepreneur Of The Month
If ever a man fits the description of driven to succeed, Elie Hirschfield does. His father, Abe Hirschfeld was a major real estate developer, but Elie has taken it to the next level – his real estate holdings include over 1,000 apartments in New York City, approximately one million square feet of commercial property in the City, and added to that, other real properties including what was once the summer home of the Clinton’s – with an estimated value of over $32 million for just that property. He’s the President of Hirschfeld Properties. The list of historic and luxury properties he developed reads like a who’s who for New York City real estate including Park Avenue Court, the Crowne Plaza…
Read MoreDid Crest Mislabel Their Product?
Few people noticed, but Crest’s mouthwash once featured one very questionable label. Whether it included an actual error, or left meaning open to interpretation, the phrasing was dubious. On the label, Crest promised customers 24-hour protection, but required them to use the product twice per day. Wouldn’t the need to use the product twice in 24 hours mean that it only offers 12-hour protection? Anything can offer 24-hour protection if you take enough of it, or use it several times per day. However, it seems unlikely that this was the message Crest wanted to bring across to the masses. Crest PR Success Even so, that is how the company chose to phrase it. Whenever Crest got the chance to elaborate…
Read MoreWalmart Workers Seeking Wages
Black Friday is coming, and some Walmart workers are using the annual bacchanal of retail excess as an opportunity to push their political agenda in a headline grabbing way. The organization, called “Our Walmart” plans to start a fifteen-day fast scheduled to end on Black Friday. The effort has been dubbed “Fast for 15”, an obvious connection to the Fight for 15 movement, a grassroots group demanding a $15 minimum wage. According to press reports, the fast will include both current and former Walmart employees as well as other sympathetic citizens. The current roster of participants stands at well over 1,000. At this point, not every protester has pledged to fast for the full 15 days, while the founders of…
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 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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