“It’s often not what you say, but how you say it.” Look for yourself. The words in this PSA were reflective and respectful, but Johnny Depp’s and actress wife, Amber Heard’s deadpan delivery was not. In it, they used the medium to show true disdain for Australians and their laws. Video Courtesy The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water …
Gracious diplomacy wins the day
There’s a lesson to be learned from Canada’s recent elections for a new prime minister. Before his landslide win, Justin Trudeau graciously withstood the attack of the country’s conservative prime minister who portrayed him as “inexperienced. ” In his acceptance speech, Mr. Trudeau referred to his conservative colleagues across the aisle not as enemies but as neighbors and thanked the …
Thank you for this moment
Early in life, we are told that fighting fire with fire will only make matters worse. But the fire of gratitude, diplomacy and goodness will squelch the fire of crudeness and rudeness, every time. Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift proved this useful lesson when she eloquently delivered her acceptance speech at the 2016 Grammy Awards. While the memory of Kanye West’s interruption …
Twitter: The 140-Character Soundbite
Social media has become every publicist’s nightmare. Rather than carefully formulating and crafting media responses through interviews, phone calls and media training, it is now possible for a moment of lapsed judgment to spiral into a media faux pas. Actor Alec Baldwin is the most recent example of this growing trend with a tweet from his car in New York …
When it’s Wrong to be Right
The best intentions can still backfire in the media game. In an attempt to address the issue of race relations, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz faced an immediate and intense social media backlash to his “Race Together” campaign. “Our objective from the very start — dating back to our first open forum in Seattle last December — was to stimulate conversation, …
Hot Under the Collar
In this election year, should Governor Rick Scott have electrified his voter base with a seven-minute stand on a non-issue? And why? Before an October debate in Fort Lauderdale, incumbent Florida Governor Scott created a media disaster by delaying his appearance for seven minutes due to a cooling fan placed beneath the podium of his opponent, former Republican turned-Democrat gubernatorial …