Monthly Archives: January 2019

The razor company, Gillette, recently released an ad that made headlines. It shows men standing up to one another, making a change instead of making the excuse that “boys will be boys.” The ad addresses the “Me Too Movement”, sexual harassment, bullying, and violence. While the message carries many positive implications, reaction has been mixed

In an opinion article from FOX News, the ad was deemed as insulting to men. It discussed how the commercial calls upon men to “be better” and be a better example for young boys. The woman who wrote the piece, Karol Markowicz, said that she is “tired of the boy-bashing that has become all too common on our screens and in our world.” Markowicz is not the only person to feel this way. The video of the ad on YouTube received 703,000 likes and a whopping 1.2 million dislikes.

Others felt that the ad is what the world needs right now — something to spark a complex conversation and debate across the country. Some men found the video very insulting, while others found the message endearing and empowering. An opinion article in The Hill compared it to Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” which promotes positive self-image among women.

The discussion generated by the ad has been world-wide and riveting. Gillette’s North American brand director, Pankaj Bhalla, said that they expected this. Bhalla also said that “…a discussion is necessary. If we don’t discuss and don’t talk about it, I don’t think real change will happen.” One thing is certain, there has been a lot of discussion about Gillette as a company in this debate. Some people have applauded their meaningful twist on their slogan “The Best a Man Can Get” — encouraging men to not only use the best products, but to also be their best and do their best. Other Gillette users are flushing their razors down the toilet because they are so insulted by the commercial.

While risky, this socially motivated ad is a brilliant PR move by Gillette. The company used a call to action in their ad that places them squarely into the world-wide conversation about toxic masculinity, and uses the power of their brand equity to challenge men to “be better.” It will be interesting to watch the fallout in the days and weeks to come, and to see what else Gillette may have up its sleeve – especially with the highly anticipated advertising surrounding the Super Bowl.

For more information on what Kovak-Likly can do for your organization, please call (203) 762-8833.

Since 2015 the e-cigarette, JUUL, has become extremely popular among middle schoolers and high schoolers. This was not the audience the Company claimed they intended to reach. The JUUL was created as an alternative to smoking — as a healthier way for smokers to feed their nicotine addiction. Yet surprisingly, the majority of JUUL’s consumers are underage

The original advertising for JUUL was bright and colorful and depicted young, attractive people holding the flash drive-shaped e-cigarette. This messaging appealed to children in middle school and high school and may have kicked off what is now being called a national epidemic. According to the New York Times, 11% of twelfth graders, 8.2% of tenth graders, and 3.5% of eighth graders had used a vaping device containing nicotine in the previous 30 days. JUUL is under fire from parents, teachers, and the FDA to address the nicotine addiction they have created among teenagers. The JUUL company has decided to begin fixing this issue with the use of different messaging.

Rather than using the bright, colorful, and youthful advertising it started with, JUUL will begin airing different types of advertisements on television this year. These advertisements will be aired after ten o’clock at night, targeting an audience of people that are thirty-five and older. These 60-second ads will feature smokers, between the ages of thirty-seven and fifty-four, that switch to the JUUL as a smoking alternative. It is estimated that JUUL will be spending $10 million on this campaign, according to CNBC. This is the beginning of a long road for JUUL, one where it must convince regulators that the e-cigarette is being used by adult smokers, not middle schoolers and high schoolers.

According to its website, JUUL has also “pledged $30 million over the next three years to independent research, youth and parent education and community engagement.” The company is working hard to get the right message out: this is a product for adult smokers and children should not be using it. Its social media has turned to showing benefits of the device for smokers and providing visitors with youth prevention education.

The question is, can JUUL really recover from their current PR crisis with different messaging, a new advertising campaign, and youth prevention efforts? Only time will tell. If teenage use decreases, which is unlikely given the addiction to nicotine that has been created in this population, then regulators may let JUUL continue the way they are. If not, it is likely that we will see stronger regulations imposed upon the company in order to rein in this national epidemic.

JUUL’s PR crisis is a tough one and at Kovak Likly Communications we know how to deal with situations like these. To learn more about what we can do for your organization please call (203) 762-8833.

In recent years, many companies have increasingly been focused on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. However, one company’s CSR program stands out as far ahead of its time.

For 34 years, on New Year’s Eve, AAA has offered the Tipsy Tow service in select areas across the country. The free service tows impaired drivers’ cars home and gives them a ride. Tipsy Tow is available to anyone — whether they are an AAA member or not — as long as the drive home does not exceed ten miles.

In some areas the Tipsy Tow service runs the entire holiday season – from 6 pm December 21st until 6 am January 1st — while in other areas, it is limited to New Year’s Eve. The December holiday season is not the only time of year that AAA offers this service; it also offers Tipsy Tows on St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July, and other celebratory holidays throughout the year. Tipsy Tow is a great way for non-members to learn about the benefits of being an AAA member, and it helps communities in the process.

If someone is not an AAA member, Tipsy Tow does a great job of encouraging them to become one. This is a great PR move on AAA’s part for three reasons:

It shows that they care. Tipsy Tow addresses the very serious dangers associated with drunk driving.

It gets the community involved. AAA encourages local towing companies to team up with them to participate in the Tipsy Tow service. This gives local businesses the opportunity to help people in their area and grow their range of customers.

It gets people interested in AAA. If a non-member of AAA hears about or uses the Tipsy Tow service it could spark an interest in becoming a member of AAA.

While the Tipsy Tow service has been available in some communities for more than 34 years, several locations have stopped offering it. AAA says that the emergence of services such as Uber and Lyft has eliminated the need for Tipsy Tow since party-goers can now get to and from locations safely and at a reasonable price. As these services continue to grow, AAA may have to explore other ways to use their services to help communities, but for right now Tipsy Tow is a great way to get home safely on major holidays. To learn more about Tipsy Tow and if it is in your area you can visit the AAA website: https://newsroom.aaa.com/safety/holiday-safe-ride-program/.

Tipsy Tow is a brilliant PR move on AAA’s part. While it was not our doing, we do specialize in pharmaceutical PR. For more information on what we do and can do for your organization please call (203) 762-8833.