PR Failure
PR Failure #49: When the Game Starts Feeling Rigged
Aaron Blank
November 24, 2025
You’re courtside. Two minutes left. Tie game. Crowd shaking. Energy electric. And then, a notification hits your feed. “He’s pulling himself early. Check the prop ...
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PR Failure #48: Words that Just Won’t Work at Work (or Anywhere)
Aaron Blank
October 14, 2025
Imagine your CEO strides into an all-hands meeting meant to motivate. But instead of vision, you hear a clutch of common clichés—we’re going to circle ...
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PR Failure #47: Cracker Barrel of Monkeys and Brand Missteps
Aaron Blank
September 10, 2025
Cracker Barrel, established in 1969 as a favorite comfort food spot created from charm and antique Americana, attempted to do a rebrand in late August. ...
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PR Failure #46: You Meant: 😊, They Heard: 😬 — The Emoji Gap in the Workplace
Aaron Blank
August 6, 2025
They’re small, they’re pixelated, and they might cost your brand more than you think. When computer scientist Scott Fahlman first suggested using 🙂 or 🙁 ...
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PR Failure #45: When the Machine Makes a Mistake
Aaron Blank
June 30, 2025
AI is the shiny new(ish) tool and buzz word that we’re all still trying to figure out. We know it can save time, and it ...
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PR Failure #44: Moves Musk Must Make to Fix the Glitch
Aaron Blank
June 2, 2025
We’ve written about Elon Musk before — his communications catastrophes are hard to avoid. From Tesla (stock price down nearly 45% since the start of ...
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PR Failure #43: When a “Reply All” is Read ‘Round the World
Aaron Blank
April 25, 2025
There are PR missteps, and then there are those full-on “Did we just share confidential information globally via group chat?” events. Regardless of the severity ...
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PR Failure #42: Casting Mistakes that Wreck Reputations
Aaron Blank
March 21, 2025
In entertainment, every decision from casting to marketing plays a critical role in shaping a show’s success. Yet, networks and production companies continue to make ...
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PR Failure #41: When Crisis PR Becomes the Crisis
Aaron Blank
February 13, 2025
Is there anyone who hasn’t clocked some part of the battle between two mid-tier celebrities, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni? Probably not. But a bit ...
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PR Failure: Celebrating 2024’s Year-in-Review of the Most Outrageous Calamities
Aaron Blank
January 7, 2025
As we get ever closer to closing out another year, it is time to revisit and reflect on some of the hottest public relations topics ...
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