Topic: Pr Stunt

A prediction is made that Facebook's stock will fall to $17 per share following its IPO. The hosts characterize Mark Zuckerberg's marriage shortly after the IPO as a calculated PR move to distract the public from the company's poor stock performance.

The controversy surrounding Chick-fil-A and gay marriage is characterized as a successful PR stunt. Research shows that despite criticism from pundits, the company's consumer use, market share, and ad awareness all increased significantly following the event.

The hosts experiment with an Adobe AI tool designed to clean up audio, which mistakenly changed the word "win" to "wing." This leads to a discussion about Taylor Swift's recent appearances at NFL games. Curry asserts that the relationship is a calculated PR stunt managed by a sports management firm to boost NFL viewership numbers among younger demographics.

A minor league baseball team, the Montgomery Biscuits, held a "Millennial Night" featuring avocado toast and participation ribbons, sparking a manufactured "outrage" on Twitter. Despite the online backlash, the event resulted in increased attendance, proving it was a successful PR stunt. The hosts observe that mainstream media often reports on Twitter "shitstorms" as actual news because it provides free, easily accessible content.

The company "Crowds on Demand" is highlighted for providing paid actors to attend city council meetings and protests, a practice known as astroturfing. Reports from New Orleans indicate that actors were paid to support a new power plant. The company openly advertises services including paparazzi, adoring fans, and coordinated lobbying efforts.

A report from the Vancouver Olympics details an emergency shipment of 100,000 condoms to athletes who were "running low." The hosts identify this as a PR stunt by the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR). They mock the idea that athletes are using 14 condoms each during the games.

A discussion of April Fool's Day history highlights the difference between believable hoaxes and corporate PR stunts. Examples include a fake newsletter about a law making podcasting illegal (HB4117) and Google's "Google Wind" video in the Netherlands.

A viral news story regarding 100 "stolen" brains from the University of Texas, including that of clock tower sniper Charles Whitman, is identified as a potential PR stunt. The story's timing coincides perfectly with the release of Adam Voorhees' book, Malformed: Forgotten Brains of the Texas State Mental Hospital, published by Powerhouse Books.

July 14th is identified as National Macaroni and Cheese Day, a designation the hosts trace to a PR move by the Wisconsin cheese industry. They compare the American food holiday to the French celebration of Bastille Day, noting the lack of historical substance behind the former.

A marketing firm allegedly staged a "leak" of the Dutch Queen's Christmas speech a day early to generate interest in her pro-Europe message. The hosts analyze this as a "bogative" PR move designed to make an otherwise ignored broadcast go viral through social media channels.

A donor from Mexico City celebrates with tequila and tacos, while a Swedish listener catches up on the show's backlog. The hosts revisit the Chick-fil-A controversy, noting that the company's market share and ad awareness increased significantly following the "gay marriage" fracas, confirming their theory that it was a successful PR stunt.

The release of the Nike Air Jordan Concord 11 shoes resulted in reports of pushing, shoving, and pepper-spraying at malls across the United States. The hosts suggest these "riots" may have been orchestrated or exaggerated as a PR move by Nike to create artificial demand and hype for the product.

The hosts deconstruct a "secret" shopping trip by First Lady Michelle Obama to a Target store in Virginia. They argue the event was a staged PR stunt and a "money grab" for campaign contributions. They note the timing coincides with Target's efforts to fight unionization among its employees, suggesting a political quid pro quo.

A viral story about chimpanzees being released from a lab after 30 years is revealed to be a PR stunt for the 2012 Disney Nature film "Chimpanzee." The hosts trace the story back to Michael Aufhauser, a millionaire PR specialist, and argue that major news outlets are complicit in airing "heart-tugging" stories that are actually movie advertisements.

Adam Curry shares an anecdote about an advertising agency asking him to participate in a fake legal battle over "Heinz Curry Ketchup" to generate news coverage. He uses this to illustrate how reality TV and modern celebrity are manufactured by PR firms. John C. Dvorak also recalls a past media controversy involving a column he wrote for the San Francisco Examiner about Seattle.

The hosts speculate that the Jesse James and Sandra Bullock scandal may be a PR stunt to boost James' falling television ratings and merchandising deals. They reiterate their core message that listeners should avoid mainstream news outlets and instead rely on books and independent deconstruction to understand world events.

Goldman Sachs employees volunteer for a Thanksgiving feast in New York City as part of a public relations effort to repair the firm's image. This follows CEO Lloyd Blankfein's controversial comment about doing "God's work." The hosts mock the firm's $500 million commitment to small businesses as a drop in the bucket compared to their profits.