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It doesn’t take much for a brand to get swept up in a political firestorm it didn’t seek. Take Bumble Bee Tuna, for example. The legacy company for canned seafood and a lunchtime staple found itself front-and-center after President Donald Trump’s rally last night.  

Since 2012, the 4th Tuesday of September is known as National Voter Registration Day. Considering this country was born, in part, over the lack of voting rights, you’d think more of those eligible would vote. Finally, voter registration has its own day, though this year it’s sharing the date with elephants, diaries and white chocolate.

In honor of PR Ethics Month, we are talking to PR organizations that set standards and guidelines for the industry. Earlier this month PRNEWS featured the views of PRSA chair T. Garland Stansell, who wrote about communicators doing the right thing. In today’s post, we spoke with PR Council president Kim Sample about Ethics Month and the Council’s ethics work.  

Mentors can provide PR pros with a closer insight into the career path that lies in front of them. Without mentors, communicators can feel like they are lost in the woods without a map, trying to navigate their next turn. Mentors can offer the clarity they seek.  

The American Gaming Association (AGA) unveiled a PSA campaign with NASCAR to provide fans with information on safe betting practices. NASCAR is the first sports league partner for the Have A Game Plan.® Bet Responsibly PSA effort. The two organizations will create co-branded content with the “Know When To Pit” slogan, encouraging responsible betting. 

Last Thursday, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said the company this week will unveil changes to policy regulating how its employees communicate with each other. Is he trying to shield employees who don’t wish to engage in social-political discussions at work or reduce the chance staff will openly criticize Facebook? Maybe it’s both. It should be interesting.

Most of our stories about reputation and trust revolve around companies and organizations. How communicators can build and maintain the trust and reputation of a brand, for example. We’ll throw a changeup here and look at global trust and confidence in nations and their leaders. We found there are several similarities between communicators’ work with commercial brands and countries.

The high cost of national disasters showcases the importance of communication, and being able to get citizens information prior to and during a disaster. Organizations are taking advantage of National Preparedness Month to do just that, and provide families with necessary content to catalyze preparation. 

This week the Big Ten Conference retracted its August decision to postpone the football season. While the plan to ensure students-athletes’ health appears to be well thought-out, the decision provokes plenty of questions, especially considering the opposite stance the conference took just a month ago. 

The House Transportation Committee report’s conclusions (Sept. 16) were unsurprising. The Boeing 737 Max 8 contained a system that overrode pilots’ control and plunged two of the aircraft downward, killing everyone aboard, 346 in all. Despite that unremarkable conclusion, there are a slew of PR takeaways.