Yet, despite all this immeasurably positive publicity, Bey’s PR team didn’t feel like the next-day coverage was quite as “flattering” as it could/should have been. You’d think anyone would love a post like BuzzFeed‘s “33 Fiercest Moments from Beyoncé’s Halftime Show“–the page has 33 thousand likes, for God’s sake. But the singer’s rep wasn’t happy, and she quickly responded by calling and emailing the site to “respectfully” request that its editors remove or replace seven of the post’s 30 still shots.

BuzzFeed’s editors, clearly annoyed at this nitpickery, decided to highlight the anal retentive PR request by re-posting the email along with the very pictures singled out as “unflattering”. While the site “redacted” the publicist’s specific email address, the post includes her full name and company–so any haters with time on their hands can easily email her.

Our question for readers: Who’s in the wrong here?

Did BuzzFeed overreact by brazenly “shooting the messenger”, or should the PR team have expected this kind of response to a completely unreasonable request?

Whatever your opinion, we think it’s safe to say the move backfired.

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Here’s the summary: Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith lost his younger brother in a tragic motorcycle accident late Saturday. He started against the New England Patriots the following day, and after his team won, a certain hyper-vigilant Pats fan tweeting under the handle @katiebrady12 wrote the now-infamous message “Hey, Smith, how about you call your bro and tell him all about your wi— ohhhh. Wait. #TooSoon?”

We can all agree that this tweet was in the poorest possible taste, and the Internet quickly responded in turn, with many fans and supporters issuing harsh statements against the offending tweeter. We can only assume she received some very unpleasant messages and personal threats, because her account suddenly went private.

This is all very unfortunate, but Johns Hopkins School of Medicine ended up with a big PR problem on its hands. Why?

continued…

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The whole imbroglio started when Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo decided to take the most radical action imaginable in our fragile democracy by expressing his opinion about a controversial subject—in public, no less! (We know, it’s just awful.) Ayanbadejo has long let fans know that he supports the rights of gay Americans to marry, and he recently spoke out in favor of an initiative legalizing same-sex marriage that will appear on Maryland ballots this November.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there: Emmett C. Burns Jr., who has somehow served as a Democratic member of the Maryland House of Delegates for four terms, does not much care for Ayanbadejo’s loose lips and uncouth opinions! For some ridiculous reason, the honorable pol thought it fit to write a formal letter to Ravens owner Steve Biscotti insisting that he “take the necessary action…to inhibit such expressions from your employee,” adding that  ”I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing.” The letter is an antiquated relic that really must be read to be believed. While we’re all for thinking outside the box, Burns seems to have missed the latest edition of his own party’s platform, which now includes direct support for marriage equality.

The story took another amusing turn on Friday: continued…

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