This week, we’re celebrating the official start of spring, taking a peek at new media ventures, Supreme Court Justice hearings, mental health stigma, and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Happy Friday.
💡ON OUR MINDS
Semafor, the Smiths, and New Media Ventures
The media industry got some new info about the new venture from the Smiths (Ben, of Buzzfeed and NYT, and Justin, of Bloomberg). They’re calling it Semafor.
This is a phonetic spelling of semaphore, which is basically the act of signaling something across great distances. Smoke signals and lighthouses are typical examples of semaphore. Think of Paul Revere and “one if by land, two if by sea.” In a modern context, semaphore more often refers to a programming strategy for handling multitasking functions.
The Smiths have likely chosen this name because they intend to cover global news. It may also refer to a vague goal of bridging political divides, implied by Ben Smith’s original stated intention of speaking to the “200 million people who are college educated, who read in English, but who no one is really treating like an audience.”
From the little we know about Semafor (which, to be fair, is next to nothing), it does seem like the opposite of another media venture that launched this week: MxM, Donald Trump Jr.’s news aggregator app. MxM is basically Apple News for the far right. If Semafor is about signaling across great divides, MxM is about retreating deeper into the echo chamber.
The Confirmation Hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court, faced testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. And the questioning was…interesting. The New York Times’ David Leonhardt called the confirmation hearing “a case study of how disconnected from reality large parts of the Republican ecosystem have become.”
Despite having immense qualifications for the job, Judge Jackson faced questions that often had little connection to her record. Her decisions have been fairly mainstream, she has never taken a public stance on politically controversial topics like gender identity and critical race theory in schools, and she frequently praised law enforcement — all things Republicans typically judge harshly, pun intended.
Yet the majority of questions from Republicans tried to portray her as soft on crime, despite serving as a public defender. It’s a strategy that involves a “misleading cherry-picking of facts.” This has been a prevalent strategy for anyone following partisan communications strategies of late, but it’s hard to imagine someone facing it with such stoicism as Judge Jackson showed throughout the hearing.
The testimony did end with a few positive notes. One being this lovely photo taken of Judge Jackson’s daughter looking on proudly. And the other coming from Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey who offered powerful words at the close, “You are my star. You are my harbinger of hope,” he told Judge Jackson. “This country is getting better and better.”
Time to Bench Mental Health Stigma for Athletes
Athletes are shattering the silent world of elite performers struggling with mental health in the shadows.
World No. 1 tennis player Ash Barty retires at the top of her game; this isn’t the first time she’s prioritized her well-being. She took a 2-year hiatus in 2014 due to burnout and feeling overwhelmed by the pressure and constant travel.
There’s been a spotlight on athletes and their mental health in the years since, thanks to sports stars like fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka and gymnast Simone Biles.
Barty’s early retirement represents another milestone in the movement of elite athletes prioritizing and protecting their mental health.
🏆 BRAND FAIL OF THE WEEK: Oscar Mayer Makes It Weird
By now it’s no secret that the Academy Awards have a gender equity problem. The 94th Oscars Ceremony takes place this Sunday, and while Jane Campion will make history as the first woman to be nominated twice for Best Director, the awards show still has a long way to go. Any communications effort that calls attention to this problem is admirable. But this week, Oscar Mayer reminded the marketing world that there *is* a wrong way to do a good thing.
After crunching the numbers, Oscar Mayer slapped this note on their iconic Wienermobile: “You’re 46 times more likely to take home a director win if you have a wiener.”
To be fair, this is an interesting and important stat! But sharing it with a bizarre wiener joke? That feels juvenile at best and creepy at worst.
Nice try Oscar Mayer, but just because you share a name with a Hollywood institution doesn’t mean you have to force awkward brand synergy. If you want to take a stand on an issue, sometimes it’s best to just say what you mean and not turn it into a gag.
📡 ON OUR RADAR
One way to get an environmental message across to truck drivers - getting ordinary citizens in the game. For the past few years, New York has been offering up rewards to folks who submit video footage of idling trucks in the city - one of the biggest sources of pollution. Truckers be warned - now that there’s even more publicity around this potentially lucrative income source, you’d better stop your engines.
Direct-to-consumer became a marketing craze when brands like Warby Parker, Stitch Fix, FIGS, and Allbirds demonstrated the success that could be found by reaching consumers via Facebook ads instead of through established outlets. But according to CNBC, DTC brands are in for a bumpy ride with supply chain disruptions, sky-high Facebook ad prices, and confusing iOS privacy changes. Does this mean the end to DTC is near? Probably not, as companies look to diversify ads from Facebook to other platforms like TikTok.
Disney’s relatively new CEO, Bob Chapek, faced challenges this week from multiple stakeholders when he argued that corporate statements don’t impact political issues. For context, Chapek attempted to stay neutral on Florida’s new bill, which would ban discussion of gender issues in the classroom. But he quickly had to take a stance when internal employees and Disney fans protested his (lack of) response. We’ll be curious to see if this reputation faux-paus impacts Disney’s performance, which has been fairly strong since Chapek took over.
A recent Morning Consult report reveals that CBD’s reputation has improved since the pandemic, shown by a 5% increase in awareness, a 12% increase in legality perceptions, and increased usage across all generations. It’s not surprising that CBD, best known for offering pain relief and mental wellness benefits without the high of THC, has become more popular, considering the heightened stress and anxiety stemming from both the pandemic and its economic toll. As consumers continue to look for healthy methods to manage their physical, emotional, and mental well-being, more innovative CBD-infused products will surely pop up.
Eric Greitens, former governor of Missouri who left office after felony charges, now a front runner for a midterm Republican congressional seat, has been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife. His reputation seems not to have taken a significant enough hit yet, but his competitors are calling for an end to his political aspirations.
The SEC is considering forcing public companies to disclose their climate change emissions and associated risks. If it goes through, this will almost certainly be a communications challenge, especially for companies who aren’t doing so hot on limiting emissions. If anyone asks, our recommendation would be to start planning a communications strategy now.
The information war continues to evolve in the war in Ukraine. Putin has functionally shut down the free press in Russia, but inspired news outlets are finding creative workarounds. From encrypted platforms to shortwave radio, journalists and citizens alike are working to get real news and spread it.
Devising a comms strategy before starting a war seems logical... Russia’s communications systems have run amok while at war in Ukraine, forcing troops to rely on systems that Ukrainian forces can readily intercept, even pinpointing their exact location. Russian bombing is primarily to blame, taking down 3G and 4G mobile communications towers necessary to operate encrypted smartphones.
In an unfortunate turn of events, several large investors have strongly encouraged BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti to shut down its newsroom. BuzzFeed News has nearly 100 employees and loses ~$10M per year, which led to the company’s decision to shrink its newsroom through voluntary buyouts. It’s been quite the week for BuzzFeed, with EIC Mark Shoofs announcing his departure ahead of the newsroom cuts.
And while we all know COVID is here to stay, it seems like the shame of testing positive isn’t going anywhere either. Coming out of the wild, wild, SXSW, there are a few lessons to learn as events begin to come back. 1 ) It’s crucial for event organizers to have a testing protocol in place (regardless of vaccination status), and 2) prepare a comms plan in the event of any positive cases on the ground.
🥊QUICK HITS:
In case you missed these stories this week.
Y2K fashion is back, baby. (Can we pass on the low-rise jeans?)
RIP to the man who brought us the GIF, Stephen Wilhite.
MacKenzie Scott (ex-wife to one Jeff Bezos) continues with her trend of massive record-breaking donations, but she can’t give her money away faster than she’s making it.
We’ll see you here next week! 👋
HL
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The fine print: This week’s newsletter is brought to you by the President of Earth (at least in the Star Trek universe), Stacey Abrams.