The icy relations between North and South Korea thawed a bit in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Despite Kim Jong-un’s call for “independent unification” free from the interference of other countries, in particular the U.S., the Korean women’s hockey coach was 29-year-old Minnesota-native Sarah Murray. Facing a situation that she never expected, Ms. Murray was forced to merge her original …
All the world’s a stage
In his play, As You Like It, Shakespeare wrote: “All the world’s a stage and men and women are merely players. They have their exits and entrances … “ Cue the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea. For the medalists, there will be corporate sponsorships much like that of Max Factor’s waterproof makeup for America’s Olympic gold medal synchronized …
Dove Creates a Soap Opera
The famous Unilever body wash brand, Dove, struggling to emphasize positive body image, managed to offend its female audience not once, but twice this past year. “Dove’s advertisements are some of the worst social media disasters of 2017,” Jacob Shelton wrote in Ranker.com. “The corporations that made the list performed “big stunts, with the hopes of appealing to people’s sense of either …
In the Public Eye
It’s often said, the camera doesn’t lie. Nor or does it blink. The same can be said of social media. Recently Mrs. Louise Linton Mnuchin, the new since-June wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin documented her posh summer lifestyle in Italy and France publicly on Instagram, complete with a parade of designer tags…”#TomFord,” “#Valenrinorockstudheels,” and #HermesScarf.” However, a brand spokesperson …
Pomp and Circumstance
Trending now is Graduation Speech Bingo for about-to-be graduates to play during the long, hot hours sitting in commencement caps and gowns with giddy parents watching their every move. The game is to see how many trite phrases are used: find your passion, it starts with us, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Here are …
The Best Defense
The best defense…is a good offense. What’s a multi-national company to do when the quarterback has turned against your fans? Some companies tackled the country’s quarterback with Super Bowl ’17 commercials in an end-run. In the era of hashtags and social media, Coca-Cola and Airbnb reached out to defend their international audiences in the wake of ethnic exclusion. #WeAccept was the …
Do Your Homework!
Oscar Wilde, Will Rogers and Mark Twain all quipped, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” President-elect Trump’s candidate for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, failed to make the grade and tested the patience of yesterday’s Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) a longtime proponent of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities …
If the Shoe fits …
A number of media faux pas (literally false steps) were made recently at the Footwear News Achievement Awards in New York City. Winning the Retailer of the Year award, Ronnie Fieg, a New York footwear and clothing designer had “no comment” when asked about his collaboration with New Balance, the brand that “put its foot in it” in November. Their …
In My Own Words
It’s said that justice is blind. But justices can be blindsided, too. Recently, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg promoted her new book, My Own Words in an interview with Katie Couric. Seeming not to have availed herself of media training before her book tour, Justice Ginsburg found herself giving an opinion on a topic with which she was unfamiliar. …
Pro-testing!
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate,” became Paul Newman’s mantra in his 1967 movie, Cool Hand Luke. Recently, popular San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick failed to communicate his reason for taking a knee vs. standing to observe the national anthem. Protesting police brutality of blacks is a justifiable cause by the football star who finally was quoted …