The Prince, The Frog, And The Rainforest
My kindergarten-aged daughter brings home a stream of stories, hand-drawn art, and songs with a “green” theme – all part of the not-so-subtle propaganda that I dearly hope will lead to an entire generation of more environmentally-aware adults. But as she explains, wide-eyed, about how and why we need to protect the Earth, I’m struck by how little […]
Read MoreThe Future of Ink, Part 2
Finally, the newspaper industry is fighting back. At least that’s how it feels, and it feels good. As yet another storied paper teeters on the edge of extinction, and Warren Buffett rubs it in, there are some hopeful developments. As noted in a previous post, Hearst Corp. is backing a Kindle-like e-reader created to handle digital downloads of newspapers, magazines, […]
Read MoreMichael Vick And PETA: Like Cats And Dogs?
When it showed up on my Twitter feed, I thought it was a joke. Michael Vick, the onetime NFL star who went to jail, while his public image went to the dogs, after being convicted of particularly disgusting acts of cruelty to animals, is reportedly in talks to become a public spokesperson for People for […]
Read MoreBranding A Pandemic Or “Aporkalypse Now”
The media buzz surrounding the influenza virus formerly known as swine flu has resulted in an epidemic of both controversy and criticism. Is it overkill? Many think so. But over the past 24 hours, the PR offensive around the flu hasn’t been about prevention or panic…it’s about the virus’s brand. As of yesterday, the World […]
Read MoreCan Craigslist Limit The Damage?
We’ve seen all kinds of business crises in the past several weeks, from the #Amazonfail glitch that took over Twitter to the Domino’s Pizza social media storm. But, from a PR perspective, it doesn’t get much worse than having your brand be the descriptor for a horrifying crime. Yes, it’s happened before to Craigslist, and maybe […]
Read MoreFacebook Tears Down The Wall
At over 200 million monthly users, Facebook is vastly more popular than Twitter, but the micro-blogging service seems to be a growing public and media obsession. Even Twitter-hater Maureen Dowd recently penned an interview with its co-founder, which, while ostensibly satirical, only fanned a Twitstorm of interest. Remember when Facebook drew that kind of love-hate? […]
Read MoreStaying Green When You’re In The Red
For the past several years, just before Earth Day, we’ve done a survey on behalf of Call2Recycle, a battery and product collection and recycling program, about “green guilt,” a term we coined that’s pretty self-explanatory. Green guilt is what you feel when you toss your soda can into the regular garbage, or shove that once-trendy-but-now-obsolete cell […]
Read MoreFord Throws A Social Media Fiesta
At last, some good news from Detroit…or at least, an interesting move in which the words “bailout” and “bankruptcy” have no place. Ford recently announced that it will offer Fiesta subcompact cars to 100 Web types – bloggers, Twitter rockstars, and social media influencers – for six months. The lucky 100 will receive car insurance and gas, so they can test-drive the Fiestas […]
Read MoreFollowing Oprah
She’s arguably the most influential figure in our culture next to the President…except, wait, she picked our President, right? Seriously, the social media world is atwitter after the announcement that Oprah will make her first Tweet Friday on her show. Only @Oprah, the Queen of Everything, could rack up over 40,000 followers before posting a single update, […]
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