Chick-fil-A is Anti-Gay? Why more may be eating less chicken.

Chic-fil-A is not chickening out of embracing their new political image. After recently donating millions of dollars in support of anti-gay groups and causes, their CEO and president Dan Kathy made the following statement:

Well guilty as charged…. We are very much supportive of the family, the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.

No matter how you pepper your statement to read as a pro-family stance, society, propelled by the media’s play of devil’s advocate, quickly labeled the chain as “anti-gay.” The surprise came when Chic-fil-A adopted a radical PR tactic: to embrace that image.

I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’ I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.

The chicken chain’s religious backbone has never been much of a secret. Due to a Baptist background, no Chic-fil-A restaurant opens or operates on Sundays. But this most recent stance has spurred quite a controversial outcome, filled with backlash and boycotts.

 

Twitter immediately heated up as popular users, such as celebrity Ed Helms, typed their own reactions:

Chick-Fil-A doesn’t like gay people? So lame. Hate to think what they do to the gay chickens! Lost a loyal fan.

As any proficient PR team would, a statement was quickly crafted for President Kathy to respond strategically, if not apologetically.

We have a whole spectrum of team members that work with us who are part of the gay and lesbian community. They know as employees of Chick-fil-A that they are welcomed, they are embraced, and they are part of the Chick-fil-A family. So to be identified with some sort of hate group that has a political agenda — that is not Chick-fil-A at all.

Perhaps if more fast food chains make controversial political statements, the younger generation may boycott themselves right into a healthier diet.

DirecTV and Viacom are at each others’ throats once again, in a cat-fight that could rival any pair of teenage girls. While I would usually opt to avoid the drama, I take personal offense when I am prevented from watching The Daily Show, as well as any other program featured on popular channels such as MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, BET and Nickelodeon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the New York Times, the two companies continue to blame one another, refusing to budge. The end result? Twenty-six blacked-out channels in over 20 million households.

Discussions regarding the amount of money Viacom should receive for their popular programs are not uncommon, but bringing the debate into the public eye is extremely rare. Considering both sides’ most previous statement, I fear there is currently no end in site.

“We proposed a fair deal that amounted to an increase of only a couple pennies per day, per subscriber, and we remained willing to negotiate that deal right up to this evening’s deadline. However, DirecTV refused to engage in meaningful conversation. We are hopeful that DirecTV will work with us toward a resolution and stop denying its subscribers access to the networks they watch most.”

No subtle pointing of the fingers there, Viacom.

And in this corner, a rebuttal from DirecTV:

“We have been very willing to get a deal done, but Viacom is pushing DirecTV customers to pay more than a 30 percent increase, which equates to an extra $1 billion, despite the fact that the ratings for many of their main networks have plummeted and much of Viacom’s programming can be seen for free online.”

After rolling my eyes at the whole debacle, I headed online to watch my favorite blacked-out shows online through Viacom, but they went ahead and made that more difficult as well by removing several program from their site.

What an intereseting away to handle the whole affair. Somewhere in a tall office building in a big city, a PR/Conflict Management team are putting their heads together to develop a strategic campaign to keep users from jumping ship. I’ll have to stay tuned to this conflict, which shouldn’t be too difficult  considering there are 26 less tv channels to distract me.

I just wish watching this battle play out was nearly as interesting as spending 30 minutes daily with Jon Stewart.

Una Crisis Internacional

Adidas recently took a serious fashion risk when they unveiled their most recent design, a “shackle” sneaker.

The new shoe, created by Beverly Hills resident Jeremy Scott, immediately sparked controversy throughout the country, as many took quick offense to the parallels the design drew to slavery. The internet quickly began to blow up with negative reactions, but offense was not limited to theUnited States. On June 19, 2012 El Mundo, one of the main publications of Spain, published an article regarding the shoe on the front page of their website.

That’s right. Adidas now finds themselves thrust into the spotlight of an international crisis. Spaniards also reacted with outrage:

“Wow obviamente no había nadie de color en la habitación cuando el equipo de marketing autizo esto.”

(Translation: “Wow, obviously no one of color was in the room when the marketing team authorized this.”)

“Nuestros antepasados lucharon sangre, sudor y lágrimas, ¿cómo podemos ser tan tontos y convertir el dolor en un accesorio?”

(Translation: “Our ancestors fought blood, sweat and tears. How can we be so stupid and convert pain into an accessory?”)

According to an article in the Seattle Times regarding the shoe, Adidas had a bit of a defensive reaction as they hastily made the following statement:

“The design of the JR Roundhouse Mid is nothing more than the designer Jeremy Scott’s outrageous and unique take on fashion and has nothing to do with slavery. Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, Adidas has received both favorable and critical feedback. We apologize if people are offended by the design and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace.”

In the end, the athletic corporation realized they had one option: to pull the design, lick their wounds and carry on with a more politically correct line. For now.

Blazing the trail to obesity.

Forbes recently published a rather disheartening article, 10 Jobs That Are Making You Fat. To my extreme dismay, Marketing/Public Relations Professionals happened to make the list at lovely number 9.

Uh oh.

“But I always feel so busy and on-the-go at my internships,” I thought.

Upon further consideration, however, I realized while I definitely keep a hectic schedule as an intern, much less a PR professional, the majority of my work is conducted via computer.

My average day is packed with emailing, writing, pitching, brain storming, strategizing and interviewing- all which take a lot out of me mentally, but not so much physically. In fact, if one is not careful, the entire day could be spent in a stationary position.

I suppose this obesity epidemic can be fought with a proactive plan. An immobile workday is simply going to have to be combated by a planned routine of extra exercise. And those business lunches will have to incorporate more healthy choices.

Thanks for the warning, Forbes. I will just adapt my usual strategic planning from my PR work to my daily life.

Starbucks Stirs Up Some Controversy

“Show us what makes you proud to be British” sounds like a lovely tweet. Except when being sent from the @StarbucksIE account, which targets Irish followers.

The coffee corporation’s Diamond Jubilee promotional campaign was going swimmingly, until the above social media faux pas caused them to suddenly sink. What many assumed was an embarrassing, temporary slip-up quickly spiraled into what several press outlets (i.e. The New York Times, BBC World and The Huffington Post to name a few) deemed as a “social media crisis.”

Oh, Starbucks, get with the times. It’s not 1921 anymore… Ireland has been removed from the United Kingdom for way too long for you to be making such a silly mistake. Remember that whole civil war thing– killed thousands of people? Many were civilians?

Apparently, the Irish were not too forgiving of the tweeted inaccuracy. Several people fired back angry responses:

@StarbucksIEthe ie stands forIreland, awaiting the apology before I visit your stores again.

@StarbucksIE you are clueless pricks and your coffee tastes like baby formula.

Starbucks promptly responded with an attempt at sincerity:

“We erroneously posted to our Irish Twitter page meaning to post to the UK only. Customers in Ireland: We’re sorry.”

We all know that content on the internet is written in permanent ink, not erasable pencil, so to speak. Will this minor mistake affect Starbucks’s bottom line in the future? I will certainly be staying tuned.

And a word to all those corporate suits learning the “oh-so-modern” technique of social media: proofreading and research will never go out of style.

Re-DQ-ulous Absurdity Trend

If you own a television set, it is inevitable that you have noticed the relatively new trend of absurd advertising. Whether it be rapping hamsters or re-DQ-ulous slogans, companies everywhere seem to be harnessing their most annoying marketing trend to date.

Needless to say, public relations professionals have done some research regarding the stickiness of their messages, and somewhere along the line found out that absurdity is memorable. This research brings us commercials such as the following:

Dairy Queen has embraced the absurdity trend full on with their newest advertising campaign. The weirdness of this commercial has already proven to increase brand recognition for the fast food restaurant, but I cannot help but wonder about the reaction of Dairy Queen’s marketing team when someone suggested a “kittens inside of bubbles” approach to their next commercial.

Whether this trend towards the weird sticks around or is gone by next year, salesmen everywhere seem to be taking advantage of it now. This goes to show that marketing and public relations professionals certainly take their research seriously. When they learn that “rockstar falcons” are great at selling car insurance, they put “rockstar falcons” in their commercials. Because the figures do not lie.

After countless commercials that leave the audience wondering “…huh?” it will be interesting to see if this trend sticks around. Personally, I am just more motivated to pay my TiVo and DVR bill every month.

Quality Dadvertisment

Majoring in public relations really changes the way you watch television, more specifically commercials. I can no longer tune out boring, annoying advertisements while I am waiting for my show to come back on. No, now I cannot help but take notice and think about the different strategies a corporation is implementing through their marketing tactics. The following advertisement, therefore, really caught my eye. See if you notice anything peculiar.

A snack company targeting fathers? What is this madness?!

We have all seen the seemingly thousands of annoying commercials with colorful characters and unforgettable jingles targeted at kids. From Heinz’s Green Ketchup to Kraft’s character macaroni and cheese, seemingly every food company has a gimmick to attract children.

Mothers are usually the other target audience for snack food commercials. How many advertisements have you seen informing moms across the country how a certain product will build healthy bones and supply necessary vitamins and nutrients for a healthy child?

Yoplait’s new advertisement campaign, “Dads Who Get It Get Go-Gurt,” is one of the first of its kind in trying to show that in America’s modern family, fathers are doing more, including packing lunches. The success of the campaign is yet to be found out, but rest assured that marketers everywhere will be watching to see if this opens a new advertising frontier.