Reputation Town

E17: Bill Gates, Facebook‘s PR problems, WPP‘s bribery fine, the Church and the Residential School crisis

Where to follow John and Warren:

https://twitter.com/Room40

https://twitter.com/warren_weeks 

Sept. 11 marketing fails, private school buries info about principal, Western U, Leylah Fernandez

In this episode, John and Warren ramble about Party City's September 11 marketing email that missed the mark, a private school that scrubbed all online content about its principal who was convicted of abusing students, Western University's response to widespread reports of sexual assaults, Leylah Fernandez shows incredible poise at the US Open. 

A councillor‘s texting scandal, Delta CEO refuses to say ‘Delta‘, politicians vs journalists and more

This week, we are joined my Alberta-based media training coach Grant Ainsley. The three of us shoot the breeze about a bunch of recent stories, including the Ottawa councillor who got himself in a bit of a Twitter DM scandal, Delta Airlines CEO's refusal to name the Delta variant in his communications, how not to run a press conference, politicians blatantly ignoring reporters' questions, PM Justin Trudeau's mic drop moment on Rebel Media, CNN dunking on Joe Rogan and more. 

Taliban PR, Bill Gates, photoshopped politicians and Sean O'Shea is at the door

This week, Warren and John ramble about the Taliban's attempt at public relations, Bill Gates responding to Anderson Cooper's question about his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, a Canadian politician who photoshopped his head onto a photo of Prince William, Mike Richards stepping down from Jeopardy's search for a new host and what to do when Global TV's Sean O'Shea comes knocking. 

Jeff Bezos, Lululemon, Ava Lane Boutique and the Montreal Canadiens

We're back! This week, John and Warren have lots of reputation-related stories to catch up on, including the odd Jeff Bezos press conference following his space flight, Lululemon's inadvertent diss of Physician Assistants and Ava Lane Boutique's errant email, the resulting viral TikTok and the company's attempted apology. And we round out this week's podcast by addressing the Montreal Canadiens' controversial draft pick and the team's subsequent efforts at damage control. We hope you enjoy this episode and thanks for listening!

Bezos vs Branson, Phylicia Rashad's tweet and how to prep for a media interview

This week, John and Warren ramble about the space race between Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, the pressure facing corporations re: social issues, the apology by sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson (who tested positive for cannabis), how to prepare for a media interview and more. 

 

Molly McPherson joins us to discuss Subway's tuna woes, Blade's imaginary spokesperson and more

It's a big week in Reputation Town because we have our first visitor and it's none other than Molly McPherson, a PR/comms, crisis response, media relations expert and author of Indestructible: Reclaim Control and Respond with Confidence in a Media Crisis. In this week's episode, we ramble about the allegations of 'fake' tuna at Subway, the admission by the CEO of Blade that he used an imaginary media spokesperson for three years, IKEA's Juneteenth menu debacle, a Canadian pastor putting his foot in his mouth regarding the residential school situation and more. We're also giving away four copies of Molly's book to you, our listeners. Instructions for entering the contest are in the first few minutes of the episode. Thanks to Molly for joining us and thanks to you for taking the time to listen. 

Steroid burritos, a bad hockey apology, the Return of the Toobinator and more

In this episode, John and Warren ramble about the athlete who blamed a positive steroid test on a burrito, CBC getting rid of reader comments on Facebook, the anatomy of a (bad) NHL apology, Jeffrey Toobin's awkward apology on CNN, Roger Waters tearing a strip off Mark Zuckerberg and more.

Tennis and press conferences, Tobi's 'we're not a family' email and 'Should you ask for a correction?'

This week, John and Warren ramble about the Naomi Osaka situation, the email from Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke to staff stating that the company is not a family but rather a team, a deep discussion about when you should and shouldn't ask a journalist for a correction and a great media interview by Mohamad Fakih, the founder of Paramount Fine Foods, in the aftermath of a fire that gutted one of his flagship restaurants. 

John Cena vs China, Kyle Dubas vs the Toronto Sun and CEO statements

In this episode, John and Warren ramble about the recent John Cena/Fast and the Furious controversy, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas's slamming of The Toronto Sun, the nature of CEO crisis statements and more.