The Flack highlights changes and trends in the news, examples of communications practices, and content we at BYRNE PR thought you might find useful.
We hope you enjoy, and we always welcome your feedback.
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Red Brands and Blue Brands: Is Hyper-Partisanship Coming for Corporate America? – Major corporations and chief executives increasingly find themselves in the middle of social and political debates. While this isn’t a new phenomenon, it appears to be happening more often. As the population of the United States becomes more polarized, is it inevitable brands will mirror the electorate? This feature from The New York Times explores the possibility.
How Companies Can Address Their Historical Transgressions – There are companies and organizations whose history includes participation in past atrocities. Examples include companies that used slave labor to others tht knowingly participated in the Holocuast. This deep-dive in the Harvard Business Review addresses an interesting question: Should a long-established company be required to atone for the atrocities of a bygone era?
A Smart Retainer Could Let You Text With Your Tongue – Not a fan of the QWERTY keyboard? Is voice to text too much of a hassle? The SilentSpeller may be just what the doctor ordered. It’s the brainchild of one of the lead creators of the ill-fated Google Glass and works by converting tongue movements into data. BuzzFeed digs into the prototype mouthpiece that, so far, is 93% accurate.
Wordle Has Turned Fans of Word Games Into Argumentative Strategy Nerds – Monday-morning quarterbacks are nothing new when it comes to the NFL, and it appears the same thing is happening with the widely popular new game, Wordle. The premise of the game is simple: guess a five letter word in six chances or less. On Nov. 1, 2021 only 90 people had played the game. As of this week, nearly 2 million people a day are playing. The Wall Street Journal spoke to several enthusiasts who shared recommendations on how to solve the once-a-day word puzzle.
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Feed Your Head:
Why Apple’s iMessage is Winning
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flack
: one who provides publicity
flack
: to act as a press agent or promoter for something
The word flack was first used as a noun meaning “publicity agent” during the late 1930s. According to one rumor, the word was coined in tribute to a well-known movie publicist of the time, Gene Flack.