PR Fresh Hits: March 24, 2021
Harken creates a safe haven for women and wins big on PR
After a video of a woman being stalked in broad daylight in downtown Vancouver went viral, Harken, a small independent coffee shop rolled out a new initiative to protect women. Anyone feeling unsafe can order a non-fat Americano, a codeword as the drink that doesn’t exist, and the Harken team will immediately assist by taking them to a safe area and calling the authorities.
This is timely as there’s been a huge surge in media and on social about women who have been fearing for their safety and well-being. Many other women have reported similar cases, unnerving the city.
Other local businesses, including Milo Salon, the Pawn Shop YVR and Third Eye Tattoo, are following Harken’s lead.
We love these smart and relevant initiatives that create real community impact. It’s also a good reminder that sometimes the best campaigns aren’t about selling product or a new promotion, and that any business of any size can execute it.
When Comedian Jensen Karp found shrimp tails (yes, you read that right) in his Cinnamon Toast Crunch, he took to Twitter to get to the bottom of it. The brand denied the claim, telling Karp it was lumps of cinnamon sugar that hadn’t been thoroughly blended. He didn’t like that explanation.
Karp’s investigation continued and he uncovered more strange items in his cereal including string, and baked on black specs on his cereal. He’s since dropped off the shrimp tails to his own DNA testing lab (refusing to share it with the company) and has documented everything on social. #Shrimpgate has gone viral, catching the attention of celebrities like Seth Rogan, and has been reported by nearly every single mainstream outlet in North America. It’s gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
We’re guessing that a social media manager didn’t follow the brand’s playbook, or didn’t escalate it to the right people. Unfortunately for General Mills (owner of Cinnamon Toast Crunch) this serves as another cautionary tale about how quickly you could lose control of the narrative with a few tweets.
Land acknowledgements should be a copy and paste item you check off your list
You don’t need to be a PR pro to recognize that most events now, virtual or other, start with a land acknowledgement that recognizes that land in which we work, live, play and learn on.
PR people aren’t diversity & inclusion experts. So while many of us can recite the acknowledgement, there isn't a deep understanding of what it means. Luckily, there’s a video for that now.
The Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler created a video featuring local faces and personalities breaking down the phrase we’ve all heard before: I want to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the shared unceded territory of the Squamish Nation and Lil’wat Nation.
Shared because on March 22, 2011 the Sk̲wx̲u7mesh Úxumixw (Squamish) and L̓il̓wat7úl (Lil’wat) signed a historic protocol.
‘Unceded’ means that First Nations people never ceded or legally signed away their lands to the Crown or to Canada and even tips like avoiding combining ‘Squamish and Lil’wat Nations” as they are two distinct Nations with their own languages and history.
The accompanying blog posts goes into more detail about how this is only a first step - with a deeper understanding of this phrase, comes a more authentic delivery, instead of inserting a copy and paste phrase to check off in our meeting remarks. We’re here for that message. Read the full post and background on their website here.
Written by Crystal Kwon, principal at front+centre - a PR firm for challenger brands. If you want your work featured, email hi@frontandcentre.co