‘Disney’ Retracts Made-Over Merida After Public Backlash

10 Tips for Pitching Entertainment Media Outlets

Take That, Abercrombie & Fitch – Man Rebrands A&F By Giving Clothes to Homeless

Garment Industry Opts for Makeover After Bangladesh Disaster

Delta Bets the Public Is Ready to Move On. And We Are. Big Time.

Yes, we know time is money. The public understands that every minute we stand in line, are stuck in traffic or must navigate the trappings of bureaucracy we’re losing precious moments of our lives that we’ll never get back.

But consider this little fact: every minute of boarding time on an airline flight costs $30 per flight. Sure, in an airport $30 may represent a few beers at the terminal’s TGIF or a hidden fee for some minor (and infuriating) infraction of small-print protocols, but that number adds up when multiplied throughout the day. Just imagine all of those fellow passengers and the number of flights in a 24-hour period. Cha-ching.

Airlines view boarding times as an exploitable revenue area. Reducing boarding times translates into more efficient procedures, more flights and increased income. Therefore, American Airlines is rewarding passengers who travel without overhead compartment baggage the luxury of boarding early, just after first-class and other premium level passengers. Yes, American Airlines is encouraging customers to be low maintenance.

By now the public has learned to abandon hope of air travel ever returning to its glory days. We fully understand the impersonal, probing, fee-mongering practices of a business model that struggles to serve its customers. Most of us have already found ways of taking our trip into our own hands. We already travel light. We show up galvanized in an attitude that expects things to go wrong. We emotionally prepare ourselves for stuff—delayed flights, lost luggage or weary customer service. Read more

Lindsay Lohan has a hard working publicist. So does Charlie Sheen. So, surely, someone in the PR industry must be willing to take on the poor snakehead fish as a client. Ever since making an inglorious splash in American headlines for being a marauding invasive species indigenous to Asia and Russia, the public has both hated and feared the snakehead fish.

Scientists, reporters and TV personalities have inundated the public with scary facts detailing how the snakehead fish is a voracious predator that can decimate entire species of indigenous fish and wildlife, upsetting the precious ecological balances of entire ecosystems. Oh, and did we mention the snakehead fish can slither—well, more like wiggle—on land and breathe air via suprabranchial chambers? Well, it can. So load your guns and lock your doors. Snakehead fish are coming after your daughters.

Snakeheads do pose a serious and ecologically costly threat to our communities. They’ve proliferated in the Washington, D.C. area, and have even been spotted in New York City’s beloved Central Park as well as in Florida and California. So the public has every right to be both intrigued and concerned. Snakeheads are spreading. Naturally scientists, anglers and environmentalists are all asking the same question: What should we do now?

This is where public relations can play an important role. The snakehead fish, also known as Frakenfish or Fishzilla, has a horrible reputation. And there is no un-ringing the bell on this ecological development. The snakehead is here, and we must deal with it. Perhaps a savvy PR strategy can help contain the snakehead’s expansion by motivating its only natural predator: the public. However, people aren’t too keen on eating anything with “snakehead” in the name. It doesn’t really read well on a menu.

So can public relations help integrate the snakehead into our cultural palate? With a new name, can the snakehead fish be the next Chilean sea bass?

What would you rename the snakehead fish? Let us know.

PR Daily: PR Lessons Learned from ‘The Office’

The New York Times: Digital PR: New Apps Arrive on Google Glass

The Washington Post: Amy’s Baking Company’s PR Disaster Just Won’t Go Away

Chicago Tribune: Despite Apologetic Stance J.C. Penney Sales Plummet

Forbes: David Beckham, Personal Branding Star, Retires from the Game

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” – George Bernard Shaw

Late July Organic Snacks, Barnstable, Mass., has selected Haberman to handle the fast growing, family-owned company’s social marketing expansion and new 2013 campaign. Late July is celebrating its 10th year of making great tasting organic, non-GMO snacks that the whole family can enjoy.

“Like Late July, Haberman is an independent, founder-driven company with a passion and a purpose, so we felt an immediate bond,” said Nicole Bernard Dawes, co-Founder and CEO, Late July Organic Snacks.

“Haberman understands the meaning and importance of real, great tasting food — with its depth of experience in the organic food category, we know Haberman shares our beliefs and understands our vision. We’re thrilled to have the agency communicate our message to more consumers in an impactful and meaningful way.”

“There is always safety in valor.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Diono, a leading maker of innovative child car seats and travel accessories, has named Current, owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies, its agency of record for public relations. The agency will support Diono in its efforts to raise overall brand awareness, as well as promote new products and partnerships in several markets around the world. Read more

Chicago Tribune: Google Streaming Music Service to Compete with Spotify, Pandora

The Washington Post: Amy’s Baking Company Becomes PR Textbook on What Not to Do

The New York Times: Increasing Wi-Fi Availability Empowers the Public

Los Angeles Times: American Public Is Growing Apathetic toward Airline Baggage Fees

Bleacher Report: NFL Star Creates PR Controversy after Shooting Snake

The idea was nothing new: reward loyal customers with a gift certificate, a voucher, or some form of merchandise—anything other than cash. Cash can be impersonal; it’s what you give your gum-chewing babysitter, the anonymous man behind the register, or the angry super who fixes your toilet. So we’re guessing Apple didn’t expect this type of blowback from the public.

But it happened.

Despite shaky signs that the economy, and life in general, are poised for an upswing, brands must remember that the public is still overly sensitive when it comes to relationships. Apple has always enjoyed a strong, loyal and profitable relationship with the public. In return for Apple products and services, we’ve showered the brand with ongoing seemingly limitless fortunes. So when Apple went public with plans to reward whoever was lucky enough to download the 50 billionth app from its store, the public reacted a little indignantly. The reward was $10,000 in App store cash.

The public felt Apple was being cheap. The comments below are from this article on CNN.com.

Jonny: “What the hell are you gonna do with 10k to spend in the damn App Store?! Give me 10k in cash!” Read more

Human love is the most complicated force in the universe. Love is more temperamental than gravity. Love is more expansive than infinity. Love is more fickle and powerful than the weather on Jupiter. So when a company like eHarmony claims to have figured out the algorithms that dictate our ideal romantic match, the public is naturally skeptical. But it’s not like we don’t want their services to work. We do. Everyone deserves love.

And everyone deserves a job. eHarmony knows this, too.

eHarmony claims it can not only help people find love, but also employment. Yes, the popular dating site claims the same principles behind its strategy to match people romantically can be used to connect job seekers with employers. There is more, the brand claims, to finding the best match than simply throwing resumes at job descriptions. Anyone who has ever conducted an interview knows this to be true.

The most pressing PR challenge eHarmony faces is its ability to convince the public that the science behind their services does, in fact, work. The public is skeptical because we know us. We know we’re not always honest when filling out surveys, or that we’d even answer the same questions with the same answers if it was raining outside or our favorite team had just won the big game. Life is a pinball machine of variables. We change a little every day, all of the time.

And yet despite all of this, people do find their soul mates and their dream jobs. That idea alone will cause many in the public to jump right in. You only live once so why not maximize your chances of finding happiness? The logic works. But much of being human is illogical. How should eHarmony’s PR strategy address this disconnect?

The Washington Post: eHarmony Aims to Match Job Seekers with Employers

Chicago Tribune: Airlines Garner $3.5 Billion in Baggage Fees in 2012

Advertising Age: Dunder Mifflin Paper Brand Faces Uncertain Future Starting Tomorrow

Forbes: New App Allows Customers to Avoid Most Vilified Brands

CNNMoney: Google CEO Goes Public about Vocal Cord Paralysis

Happy 37th birthday, Breakout. You’ve come a long way. You helped develop the first generation of kids with the best hand-eye coordination the world had seen (up until that point). You were the biggest deal in childhood until Star Wars was released a year later and changed the world forever. You were the son of Pong, the father of Pac-Man and the future DNA of Halo. You were technology at its most innocent, before it became associated with porn and violence. You, Breakout, helped millions of children break out of their realities at a time when divorce was skyrocketing and our parents began cooking our meals in microwaves.

Once again, Google makes an excellent PR move by celebrating a milestone in our culture that everyone else would have overlooked. And to recognize Atari Breakout’s birthday with a coveted Google Easter Egg is just perfect considering it’s a gesture from one storied technology entity to another. (To see it yourself visit Google Images and type in “Atari Breakout.”)

Happy Birthday Breakout!