This week's PR Roundup features Amazon's decision to move Prime Day to June, new research confirming that "no comment" is doing more harm than good, Pope Leo XIV's historic hire of a media executive to lead Vatican communications, and Dolly Parton's foray into brand world-building on the American highway.
Amazon Moves Up Prime Day
What happened: This week Amazon announced that it's moving up its annual Prime Day event to June, for the first time since 2021, and the timing is anything but accidental. This year's event runs June 23–26, a strategic shift driven by a packed summer calendar that includes the FIFA World Cup (June 11–July 19) and U.S. Independence Day celebrations marking the country's 250th anniversary. Rather than compete with those cultural moments in July, Amazon is leaning into them.
The numbers and strategy behind the move are worth noting. Prime Day's four-day format drove $24.1 billion in U.S. online spending in 2025, and the forecast is already strong for year-over-year growth, with expected gains in appliances, office supplies and home and garden categories. Amazon is explicitly targeting World Cup and July 4th celebrators, betting that members will stock up on perishable groceries and everyday essentials ahead of the festivities—a push backed by the company's expansion of free same-day delivery on perishable foods for Prime members last August.
The bigger story here is less about the date change and more about Amazon's evolving identity. Groceries and household essentials are becoming a core part of Prime value, with Amazon positioning rapid delivery as a direct counter to Walmart+, which offers same-day delivery in under three hours. Prime Day is increasingly the stage where that strategy gets its biggest showcase.
Communication takeaways: For some shoppers, Prime Day has become the new Black Friday.
"Amazon isn't participating in the retail calendar anymore," says Kristelle Siarza Moon, Owner and CEO of Siarza. "It's defining it."
Moving Prime Day is a perfect example, Siarza Moon notes.
"Suddenly, every retailer, journalist, analyst, marketer and consumer has to adjust their plans because Amazon decided the date was changing," she says. "That's not a sales strategy. That's an attention strategy."
The lesson here? Unpredictability is king. And in doing that, an operational decision becomes a national business story.
"We live in an attention economy where everyone is fighting for the same limited amount of attention," Siarza Moon says. "The brands that win aren't always the loudest. They're often the ones that force everyone else to react."
Siarza Moon also called attention to the fact that Amazon appears to be listening and reacting to consumer behavior and its audience.
"If consumers are feeling economic pressure, waiting until the traditional retail moment may no longer be the smartest play," she says. "Retailers have historically trained consumers to shop on the retailer's schedule. Amazon seems to be flipping that idea and saying, 'We'll be there when consumers are ready.'"
Journalism Must Retire "No Comment" Phrase
What happened: Two words that PR professionals and their clients use may be doing more damage than they realize. A new national survey from the Reynolds Journalism Institute, conducted in partnership with research firm SmithGeiger, found that "no comment" is no longer a neutral non-answer—it's actively eroding audience trust and fueling journalism's credibility crisis.
The data is hard to ignore:
- 9 in 10 current reporters say they've received a no-comment response in the last three years
- 20% of audiences say they trust stories containing the phrase less than others
- 39% of audiences believe "no comment" signals the source is hiding something
The survey also included a telling experiment: audiences were shown two versions of a TV news story, one using traditional "no comment" language and another substituting the phrase with "the story will be updated when we hear back." The latter version won on every measure of credibility, regardless of the order in which viewers watched them. The preferred alternative, backed by both journalists and audiences, is more radical transparency—documenting the number of outreach attempts, publishing the questions sources refused to answer, and spelling out what the public still doesn't know because a source went silent.
Communication takeaways: "No comment" has been a PR tool for message control, but this research suggests it's increasingly a liability—one that can shift audience perception against your client before a story even runs.
In an environment where sources are already under suspicion, silence isn't neutral. It's a statement.
Oliver Hays, Partner, Co-Founder, Hays Frey Public Relations, responded "no comment," when PRNEWS asked him to comment on this study, followed by a quick "just kidding." Hays says his firm has always preached transparency over evasion, and that "no comment" has never been in their vocabulary.
"Even when there's genuinely little to say, there's always a better way to respond—'we don't have anything on that yet' keeps the door open, whereas 'no comment' closes it," he says.
He also notes that it does a disservice to the reporter, who you may want to work with in the future, and leaves a bad impression.
"Reporters are ultimately just trying to do their jobs, and you'll need those relationships later," Hays says.
Ultimately, he notes, quotes in the media will be seen by all other key stakeholders—employees, customers, analysts, shareholders, etc.—so why cover it up when so much is public?
"Even high-profile legal cases are now being argued publicly, and in the media, in ways that would have been unthinkable a few years ago," he says. "While this has shifted how we counsel clients on sensitive issues (of course, we work with attorneys on what is permissible to say publicly and when), no comment is never the way to go."
Pope Leo Appoints Lay Woman to Head Comms at Vatican
What happened: Pope Leo XIV made history with his latest Vatican appointment. He named Maria Montserrat Alvarado, currently President and COO of U.S.-based Catholic media outlet EWTN News, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication. This makes Montserrat Alvarado the first lay woman ever appointed leader of a Holy See administrative department. She takes over on November 1.
The role carries significant weight. The communications department, established by Pope Francis in 2015, oversees the Vatican's full media operation—its news site, radio station, newspaper, press office, publishing house and film library. The appointment signals that Leo intends to continue the communications modernization Francis began, and he's already called a June meeting with cardinals to reassess the church's messaging strategy from the ground up.
Communication takeaways: For communicators, putting a media executive rather than a clergy member in charge of one of the world's oldest institutions' communications infrastructure is a notable strategic signal—and a reminder that meaningful institutional change often starts with a high-profile hire.
Strategic Communications Counselor Dan Rene says he sees this appointment as less of a statement about gender or religious credentials and more about competence and mission.
"He appointed someone with extensive experience communicating the Catholic faith and leading large-scale media operations," Rene says. "The Pope is communicating that the faith deserves talented professionals who can explain the faith clearly, consistently and compassionately."
Rene says it's also important to notice that there is a significant difference in modernizing the Church's teachings and in modernizing how the Church communicates.
"The appointment in no way communicates 'We're changing who we are,' but makes abundantly clear that 'We're investing in how we tell our story,'" he says.
Bonus: Dolly Parton Launching Travel Plazas
What happened: Dolly Parton is taking her Tennessee hospitality to the highway. Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop opens June 24 in Cornersville, Tennessee, off Interstate 65 about an hour south of Nashville—and it's designed to make the rest stop a destination in its own right. The flagship location goes well beyond fuel and snacks, offering DLY BBQ, Dolly's Cup of Ambition Coffee, exclusive merch, a full sit-down restaurant, EV charging, a "Doggy Parton" dog park, a live music stage and a replica of her iconic tour bus. Parton positioned the concept as personal: "I have spent the bulk of my life on the road," she said.
Communication takeaways: It's a clean example of brand world-building done right. Parton isn't just licensing her name—she's extending a decades-long personal brand into a physical experience that feels entirely on-character.
"Dolly has built a business and brand based entirely on her real-person life experiences, and this newest venture is more of the same," says Hinda Mitchell, President and Founder of Inspire.
Mitchell notes that Dolly started the 'Imagination Library' in honor of her father who never learned to read, and is now creating an opportunity for travelers to find respite in life on the road, aligned with her own life as a frequent road warrior.
"Dolly's own brand shines brightly through the elements of the travel centers themselves—from food to songs," Mitchell says. "Her brand is big and authentic, and it never pretends to be anything but Dolly. This is 'Dollywood' on the road, for an even bigger audience."
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.