Stories by Sophie Maerowitz

This case study on Trader Joe’s shows how quickly organizations, even those with very good reputations, can find themselves in a PR mess, particularly when leadership seems out of touch with stakeholders and the forces of social media and public opinion become involved

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says a recent $200 million investment in building improvements—as well as the fact that 180,000 city workers are fully vaccinated—will keep workers safe. City employees are not convinced. Carefully crafting return-to-work messages is something the Mayor and corporate leaders are facing.

In an opinion column headlined, “I love Disney World, but wokeness is ruining the experience,” Jonathan VanBoskerck expressed frustration with the Disney theme park. In response to newly relaxed policies around employee dress and changes to rides like Splash Mountain, VanBoskerck claims Disney has taken a politically motivated “woke scalpel” to its park. PR pros argue Disney’s efforts are morally and strategically sound.

At The Social Shake-Up Spring Tune-Up virtual event, social media pros working at brands, agencies and in-house at platforms shared their insight on social media approaches and channels, from Clubhouse to TikTok. Here are top takeaways from the event.

On April 17, two men were killed in an autonomous Tesla crash in Harris County, Texas. The company has so far stayed mum—perhaps because no PR pros were around to pick up the phone. There’s little question as to why Tesla has stayed so silent: The company disbanded its PR team in October 2020.

Whether you produce news segments or the advertising in between, your industry is suffering from significant burnout, two recent surveys have found. Researchers at College of Social Work (CoSW) Self-Care Lab at the University of Kentucky conducted a national survey of nearly 2,000 television journalists’ self-care practices as COVID-19 has come to dominate lead stories they work on in addition to their personal lives. In a survey of over 1,300 marketing, PR and advertising employees and a subsequent report, market research firm Bastion db5 in partnership with agency vet Tim Anderson found top stressors included work-life balance, job security, ageism and fair pay.

Can brands continue to stay out of the political spotlight, or have we reached a point of no return? Recent developments in the Southeast seem to point to the latter. Over the last week, two household names in the U.S., Amazon and Publix, have been forced to respond directly to comments made by elected officials.

April Fool’s Day 2021 saw a return to bathroom humor and punny brand campaigns. But over a year into the pandemic, is the media truly ready for a return to more playful messaging? We take a look at the brand pranks that worked, and one stunt that should probably be flushed down the toilet for good.

A trio of women has come forward with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a PR nightmare for his office to say the least. For someone who was hailed as a great communicator during the early months of the pandemic, the governor has responded ineffectively. We asked PR pros what they would have done differently.

We hear from Payal Patel, communications director at Chicago’s Navy Pier on her communications philosophy, building a crisis communications war room and PR’s role in the tourism industry’s recovery.