The breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen has yet to recover from the PR disaster that was its 2012 decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood. Though the resulting controversy and backlash inspired the organization to quickly reverse its decision, Komen is still reeling from dramatically decreased donations and event participation.

The foundation announced last week that it would be cancelling seven of its three-day walks in 2014 — half of its annual multi-day events. Though the organization attributes the cancellations to economic uncertainty and competition from other charities, the sugar-coated explanation is a euphemism for plummeting support.

In light of the troubled year the foundation has faced, the public hadn’t exactly expected Nancy Brinker — who is still Komen’s CEO despite announcements made ten months ago that she would be stepping down from her post — to receive a raise in 2012. However, the organization’s latest IRS filing shows that Brinker made $684,717 in fiscal 2012, a 64 percent jump from her $417,000 salary from April 2010 to March 2011.

If that didn’t look bad enough, the filing also says Brinker devoted 55 hours to the cause each week, which translates to an hourly rate of $239.40, roughly twice the salary of Komen’s chief financial officer Mark Nadolny or former president Liz Thompson, who left Komen as a result of the Planned Parenthood controversy.

Though the organization maintains that the pay raise was set in motion back in 2010, well before the trouble started, that fact has done little to assuage the already-incensed public.

Forbes: Booz Allen Goes into PR Damage Control after NSA Leaks

Chicago Tribune: Google Mulls Purchase of Waze Social Mapping App

The New York Times: Nestlé Launches Premium Brand of Bottled Water

Advertising Age: Top Tech Brands Respond to Accusations of Online Privacy Violations

The Los Angeles Times: Auto PR: Rising Prices Compel Car Owners to Rent Tires

When you’re watching reality TV, and we know you do watch reality TV, do you ever wonder what’s really going on? How did the reality stars become reality stars? How much do they get paid and is anything faked?

MediabistroTV asked Chef Roblé Ali, star of Bravo’s “Chef Roblé & Company” those very questions. Watch the film to see what he says.

For more videos, check out our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV

Earlier this week, I had the chance to see an advanced screening of the film Fruitvale Station, a dramatic telling of the real-life events that led to the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by police officers shortly after the San Francisco Bay area rang in the New Year in 2009. Powerful and devastating, a quick scan of the theater lobby after the movie finished clearly demonstrated the effect it had on viewers. It was a sea of puffy eyes and balled up tissues.

Director Ryan Coogler, himself a 26-year-old from the East Bay area, does a masterful job of showing you that while not perfect (the film notes that Grant spent time in prison, for instance), he was a man looking optimistically to the future whose life was senselessly cut short. You’d have to be heartless to walk away from the movie without having six different kinds of feelings, all of them leading to at least one shed tear.

So enough gushing about the film… Well one more: See it! It’s great! And your whole summer movie-going itinerary can’t be popcorn movies. Really, pass on The Lone Ranger, which looks terrible, and watch this instead. I got the idea from a screening buddy to take a look and see how Bay Area police and other groups have responded to the incident in the years since.

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Cheerios Ad Featuring Interracial Couple Generates Major Buzz. In 2013

BusinessWeek Condescends to Millennials, Creating PR Blunder for the Centuries

P&G Apologizes for Putting Rosie the Riveter Back in the Kitchen

Dunkin’ Donuts Reveals Fried Egg, Bacon and Doughnut Breakfast Sandwich

Coke Finds Yet Another Creative Way to ‘Share Happiness’: A Can That Splits in Two

“It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it” is an apt description of Roger Goodell’s role as NFL Commissioner. He’s worked at the NFL for 31 years, recalling that It took five years just to be former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s Super Bowl driver.

Jonathan Tisch, New York Giants’ co-owner, interviewed Goodell at NYU’s Hospitality Investment Conference on Tuesday, covering a range of serious and fun topics. Below are excerpts from Goodell’s comments.

On football’s evolution and what’s at stake: “The business has changed from a sophistication standpoint. It’s a high profile business, so the responsibilities are higher. Sometimes I make decisions that aren’t popular, but I’m proud of those.”

On meeting football fan’s needs: “For the in-stadium experience we must do a better job of creating value, delivering options that customers want. We need to make it unique, safe and have the proper concessions. There’s also great potential for events like the NFL Draft, and we’re looking at more off-season events to create a year-round experience.”

On adapting to changing technology and media platforms: “Our biggest fear is being complacent, so we keep trying to find innovative solutions. A big piece is technology, since we ask fans to disconnect for a few hours, so we need to wi-fi the stadiums.”

“The biggest opportunity is meeting the continuing demand as technology changes rapidly. We’ll keep delivering NFL news on several different devices. As more content is available, we’ll have more ability to reach fans directly.”

On the 2014 New Jersey Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium, the first northern host city without a roof: “It’s a great opportunity to promote football and the Super Bowl. Football is designed to be played in the elements, which makes it special. It’s great for this community, and I have more ticket requests for this game than before.”

“We’re embracing the weather and the opportunity to keep fans warmer, and will give them electric warming devices. We’re prepared to deal with bad weather. We’re planning a Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square, an outdoor festival that’s truly unique. The buzz and excitement created will be great.”

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There’s nothing like a brisk walk outdoors: the sun shining on your face, the birds chirping in the trees, and the dog poo squishing under your shoe.

As avid walkers, we find ourselves griping about inconsiderate dog-walkers on a regular basis. If you’re taking your dog for a stroll, bring a bag. It’s not that hard. No one is buying the oh-so-apologetic “I had no idea he would do something like this, so I find myself utterly unprepared” shrug you try to give passersby as your dog proceeds to squat down in the middle of the walkway.

But since signage doesn’t seem to shame offending parties into cleaning up after their pets, it appeared little could be done to cut down on the number of canine-created landmines pedestrians must dodge on a daily basis.

Enter McCann Madrid.

The town of Brunete, on the outskirts of Madrid, teamed up with the agency to tackle the problem on a limited budget. The agency’s solution was to employ 20 volunteers to patrol the streets, watching for dog owners who skirted their poop-and-scoop responsibilities.

When an offending party was spotted, a volunteer would approach the unsuspecting dog owner, and engage them in a friendly conversation about their pooch. Then, using only the name and breed of the dog in question, they looked up the owner’s address via the Town Hall pet census databases, packaged up the abandoned dog poop as “Lost Property,” and returned it to the guilty party via courier.

Gross? Totally. Creepy in a stalker-ish sort of way? Definitely. But it’s pretty hard to argue with the results: According to the agency, there has been a 70% drop in the amount of poop on Brunete’s streets. 70 percent!

SHIFT Communications announced the addition of Pete Buhler as creative director. Buhler will be tasked with building the agency’s creative department and expanding SHIFT’s creative offerings. Buhler will grow the creative division internally, ensuring SHIFT’s creative assets align with the agency’s integrated marketing and PR offerings. He brings a wealth of creative experience, including a five-year stint at Cone Communications where he successfully built a creative team from scratch. (Release)

Andrew Graff, CEO of Boston’s allen & gerritsen (a&g), and Tim Reeves, CEO of Philadelphia’s Neiman, announced a&g’s acquisition of Neiman. The agencies are joining forces to provide enhanced value for their clients, and a new destination for innovation-oriented U.S. marketers. The combined agency will operate as allen & gerritsen, with nearly 200 employees in flagship offices in Boston and Philadelphia. The agency’s corporate headquarters will be in Boston, and its innovation R&D unit will be centered in Philadelphia. (Release)

The Halo Group announced that John Lynch has joined the Halo media team as search engine marketing and optimization strategist. To bolster the agency’s capabilities in this area, Lynch will be supporting Michael Pierre, senior vice president, Media Services, in the development, implementation and reporting of search marketing and optimization strategies. Prior to joining Halo, Lynch had been the source of several successful, revenue-generating search programs for leading brands including Gannet, USA Today, Careerbuilder.com, Apartments.com, American Public University System and American Hospice. He is a graduate of New York University. (Release) Read more

BusinessInsider: Everything You Need to Know about National Donut Day

Chicago Tribune: Facebook Eliminates Some Ads to Simply Marketing Efforts

The Washington Post: Auto PR: Why ‘Miles Per Gallon’ Is Taking Us Nowhere

The New York Times: The Era of Film Goddesses May Be Over

AdWeek: Coca-Cola to Make Bottles Completely Out of Ice

“Learning music by reading about it is like making love by mail.” – Luciano Pavarati

Rubenstein Public Relations has announced that it will be launching and representing The Luciano Pavarotti Foundation USA, the firm’s president Richard Rubenstein said today.

The Luciano Pavarotti Foundation USA is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization that follows the philanthropic wishes of one of the most successful Italian operatic tenors of all time. The Foundation offers opportunities for talented singers to learn and perform. The United States Foundation is expanding the good words of La Fondazione Luciano Pavarotti, based in Italy: dedication to the education and training of a new generation of opera students, providing scholarships and opportunities to cultivate their talent and passion, and making opera accessible to and loved by growing audiences worldwide.

“California is a fine place to live – if you happen to be an orange.” – Fred Allen

MWW, one of the top five global independent public relations firms, today announced that the firm has been named agency of record for three new accounts to be led out of the firm’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. Leading online real estate agent platform, Agent Ace; global leader in breathalyzers, BACtrack; and health and fitness app, Runtastic will join the agency’s growing West Coast account roster. Read more