Forty-eight years ago, “60 Minutes” debuted on CBS. And 12 years later, I started my career in PR, already wondering why corporate executives ever volunteered to be on the program. That wonderment persists to this day. During my career both in the agency and corporate spheres, there were […]
On November 23, 2015, Pfizer Inc. issued a press release announcing its intent to merge with Allergan. The press release began with a listing of all of the benefits that the merger would bring. Here’s the entire list. • Creates a new global biopharmaceutical leader with best-in-class […]
Yesterday was a red-letter day for the American people. First, the FDA released its quinquennial update of its dietary guidelines and, not surprisingly, they came down pretty heavily on sugar. According to the Feds, the average American oops down 22 teaspoons of sugar every day. That number, by the […]
Ed Lewi passed away on August 29. And I have owed him an apology for 35 years. Ed was widely known as a public relations legend in the Albany, NY region. His motto was, “If it’s not fun, don’t do it!” and he practiced what he preached. He […]
It’s a little frustrating when I think of an anecdote I wish I had remembered when I was writing, “An Honest Day’s Work.” It happens from time to time. It happened today, and although I can’t go back and put it in the book, I can recall the […]
I started writing about why this Facebook graphic made me a little nuts, but after three paragraphs, it all started to sound like, “GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU NO GOOD KIDS!” So I hit “delete.” But contemplating the way arithmetic is taught today made me recall how it […]
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the venerable McGraw-Hill Companies, which owns my former employer Standard & Poor’s, is decamping from its longtime home on 49th St. to the S&P building at 55 Water St. in lower Manhattan. In the process, the company will jettison the McGraw-Hill […]
Sure enough, Memorial Day weekend brought news of several mergers and acquisitions, including Charter’s swallowing up of Time Warner Cable and Avago Technologies’ ingestion of Broadcom. (Technically that happened a few days after Memorial Day, but you can bet that a large group of bankers, lawyers and PR […]
Next week will bring the 26th anniversary of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill. The details of the spill are well known and have been extensively reported. In short, on March 24, 1989 at about midnight, the Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound […]
I used to feel flattered when someone asked for my opinion about something. It suggested that because of my perspicacity, there was some importance attached to my view. But all that has changed. Lately, even the most insignificant interaction with a company results in a request for my […]
Chris Atkins’ Random PR Thoughts