Coach K: a legacy of basketball and publicity
Will Krzyzewskiville go the way of Henman Hill? Only time will tell. The Mike Krzyzewski era is now in the books. And there are volumes. In his 42 years as head basketball coach at Duke University (47 years total as a head coach), Krzyzewski — Coach K – developed a program that won. A lot. That created infinite […]
Uncomfortable PR events in Cleveland no surprise
The backdrop with team logos, microphones and team personnel sitting behind a curtain-draped table … looked like hundreds of other team welcomes, but this was no typical player introduction. In fact, if the Cleveland Browns intended for Deshaun Watson’s first press conference to be business as usual, it missed the mark. To be honest, there may not be any scenario during which someone who publicly accepts a job while facing 22 pending civil lawsuits for sexual misconduct would feel comfortable.
The end of BradyBall is a bummer
Have you ever had an awesome weekend that you wish would never end That’s the way I felt when now-former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pretty much officially but didn’t say the word, “retired” from the National Football League. Tom Brady, pictured with football broadcast analyst, Charles Davis, won six […]
Aaron Rodgers goes for two; doubles down on I’s, me’s and COVID claims
This post was initially published in gpublicity’s newsletter, SIDEbar, November 11, 2021. I, I, I, me, me, me … If Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers approached his regularly scheduled hit with the Pat McAfee Show this week to tame widespread criticism that followed his Friday appearance, I don’t think it worked. If Rodgers’ feelings were hurt, […]
Aaron Rodgers’s smart guy image takes a hit
This post was originally published in SIDEbar, gpublicity’s newsletter. If we learned one thing during the last week it’s the difference between the words “vaccinate” and “immunize.” When Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told media in August that he was vaccinated against COVID, his eyes veered downward, and he said he was “immunized.” To me, it felt […]
Jeopardy’s PR lesson
This was initially posted in the August 25, 2021 issue of SIDEbar, a weekly PR newsletter distributed by gpublicity. When game show Jeopardy! set out to find a replacement for its late legendary host, Alex Trebek, it looked like it was doing everything right. Several guest hosts stepped into temporary auditions of sorts. Each generated a healthy […]
Endorsements are more than PR props
This was originally posted in the July 20, 2021 SIDEbar newsletter. To subscribe, visit gpublicity.com and click on the envelope in the lower right-hand corner of the page. George Clooney is true to his acting and tequila. Although Casamigos was acquired by Diageo in 2017, his story is of product lore because he and a friend did […]
Social media presents opportunity for young athletes
[This post was previously featured in the June 22, 2021 issue of the gpublicity newsletter, SIDEbar. We repost as college athletics prepares for monumental change in just a few hours.] As we approach July 1 when Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) laws kick in for college athletes in several states, it’s worth mentioning how important […]
Four years after his last NFL game, Colin Kaepernick’s protests appear in the “win” column
Protests against racism came to a ferocious boil this year after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of law enforcement or others who had no right to put their hands on anyone let alone innocent citizens. In years past we’d hear only one side of similar stories. Today […]
The best and worst in PR this week
Like a lot of people who follow and help produce news for a living, some of it was tough to read and hear during the last few months. From sports to politics, the COVID-19 outbreaks got worse, people got uglier in how they dealt with it and then … the elections. So, it’s all over […]