Reputation Town

In this episode, we discuss topics including Doug Ford's new private jet, the NFL Sedona scandal involving sports reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots Coach Mike Vrabel, how companies are communicating mass layoffs, Gavin Newsom buys 67,000 copies of his own book, the Coldplay kiss-cam woman is back and the sorry state of journalism in Canada today, including the firing of CityNews reporter Tina Yadzani and what moves like this mean for the public.

In this episode, we break down some of the most recent reputation and issues management stories, including the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles's statement in response and the fallout from the Epstein files, including an interview given by Melinda Gates, Peter Attia's statement, Goldman Sach's top lawyer resigning and more. We also talk about Kristin Cabot (the Coldplay woman) 'taking back the narrative' at an upcoming crisis management conference in Washington, Uber ramping up vetting of drivers because of safety concerns, MP Matt Jeneroux crossing the floor and locking down his X account and more.

In this episode, we break down some of the recent headlines in the PR world, including the BBC apologizing to President Trump for deceptive editing, Sidney Sweeney's high-profile GQ interview as a master class in media training, Katie Porter being not so nice to staff behind the scenes, Prince Andrew getting stripped of his royal title, the TTC cancelling its Halloween fest and Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer was perhaps a bit too transparent for the government's taste.

This week, John and Warren talk about the controversial suspension of Jimmy Kimmel from his late-night show and the implications re: free speech, the ongoing backlash against people celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk online, next steps for Cracker Barrel as an activist investor is calling for the CEO's firing, Canada's PM does a housing announcement in front of a fake partially-built house constructed for the press conference and then dismantled and Banksy's new piece in the UK.

In this episode, John and Warren discuss the latest in the Canada/US trade war (Elbows Down!), the reputational impacts of the Air Canada strike and the way it was handled by the company, the controversy around Cracker Barrel's rebrand, Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle ad, a few mins about the Coldplay concert cheating scandal (sorry, we missed a few weeks of pods!), the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show, the state of the UK and how it's being covered in the media and a man in Lindsay, Ontario has been charged by police for defending himself with a knife after a man broke into his home in the middle of the night, allegedly with a crossbow -- a discussion of self defence laws in Canada and the public's growing frustration with what many see as antiquated and inadequate laws when it comes to protecting your home, your family and your belongings in Canada. Thanks for listening!

This week, John and Warren talk about Jake Tapper's new book and the accusations that he was part of the journalistic coverup he's highlighting, MLSE's handling of yet another disappointing year for the Toronto Maple Leafs, YouTube creator Luke Nichols (Outdoor Boys) quits the platform at the peak of his fame to focus on his family, murky water in Stoney Creek during labour disruption and is Tom Cruise the last real action movie hero?

This week, we break down some of the more recent PR stories in the headlines, including the communications from the Vatican around the new Pope, the curiously low viewership numbers for Michelle Obama's new podcast, Ron MacLean appears to be on a reputation management tour, what happens if you're a celebrity who's named during the Diddy trial, Pierre Poilievre drops the ball in stunning fashion and a former Facebook/Meta insider has a best-selling book talking about some of the company's shady practices.

This week, we welcome back our friend Molly McPherson to help us wrap up 2024 and break down some of the top PR crisis stories. We didn't discuss our topics with each other ahead of time, so in this episode, you're getting our real-time reactions and breakdowns to these stories, including the strategies behind them (or lack thereof) and any lessons learned. Thanks to Molly for joining us and we hope you enjoy this year-end episode.

This week, John and Warren talk about the controversial rebrand from Jaguar, the reputational implications from the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight, including for Netflix, which had technical trouble serving its live audience, Space X's COO answering questions about government contracts and the move millions are making to social media platform BlueSky.

With four days to go before the US Presidential Election, we're joined by our good friend Molly McPherson to discuss the presidential campaigns, each candidate's use of the media, the role podcasts will play in this year's election, the controversy around the 'garbage' comments and, finally, each of us gives our prediction of what we think will happen on Nov. 5th. Hope you enjoy this episode!

This week, John and Warren talk about the negative PR impacting Disney after the allergy death of a guest, the viral Australian breakdancer at the Olympics, the Trump/Musk conversation on X, Kamala Harris's reluctance to do media interviews, $18 million of bonuses at the CBC, a Boeing project manager tries his hand at media relations and more. Hope you enjoy this episode!

This week, John and Warren chop up a few stories, including Paul Maurice's touching speech moments after winning the Stanley Cup, the TTC's inadequate response to a recent stabbing murder at Jane Station in Toronto and veteran broadcaster Al Michaels approves an artificial intelligence version of his voice to be used at the upcoming Olympics. We end this episode with a discussion of Joe Biden's dismal performance at the recent Presidential Debate, how his cognitive decline has been (mis)handled by much of the mainstream media and what does this all mean with four months until the US elections.

This week, we break down some of the more recent PR stories in the news, including the Toronto Maple Leafs parting ways with their coach (and his video farewell), one of the Leafs players compares his teammates to 'gods', the Canadian army declares war on good design, the handling of the university protests and Galen Weston thinks customers are 'misguided' in their criticism of the Loblaw brand amid high grocery prices.