The Colab Brief - 101: Jan Roundup (DNA Hacks, Airline Oopsies, and King Kelce)

It’s so early in the year, and YET so many things have already happened in the world of Comms and PR. We love nothing more than a little analysis, so despite it being only thirteen days into a bright and shiny 2024, have a seat, because we have some things to discuss. 

Read Time: 4 minutes. 

The DNA Do-Nots 🧬

It’s an old PR trick to release bad news right before the weekend. Friday night? It's the perfect time to make an announcement. Everyone is offline, doing their weekend thing. By Monday, it’s like it never happened. 

It’s the same tactic during the holidays. The more people that are out of office, the better the time to spring bad news. However, one story has trumped the normal holiday media break and continues to spell bad news for the company. 

23andMe. 

We’ve been absolutely flabbergasted by the insane PR nightmare that has sprung from the company’s well-publicized data leak. Not only did the org fail to disclose the true number of accounts compromised in the hack, but it also turned around and blamed customers for the breach. 🤦‍♀️

As reported by TechCrunch, 23andMe sent a letter to victims of the hack, in essence completely negating its part in the stealing of the data. It read, in part:

“...users negligently recycled and failed to update their passwords following these past security incidents, which are unrelated to 23andMe.Therefore, the incident was not a result of 23andMe’s alleged failure to maintain reasonable security measures.”

Lack of transparency? ✔️Check.

Victim blaming? ✔️Check

Communicating the full scale of the event early and taking ownership could have made a big difference for 23andMe. 

Not sure what their next move will be, but we’re guessing it’s been a very bad month for Team 23. 

Engine - Er - Door Trouble ✈️

It’s not every day that a piece of a plane falls off midflight, but issues with the Boeing 737 Max 9 are, unfortunately, nothing new. 

The Alaska Airlines and Boeing situation presents an interesting comms case study. It begs the question - who is really responsible for the incident? And how do both organizations rectify the situation so that customers continue to feel safe flying -  with the airline and on the manufacturer’s planes? 

The story is still developing, but it looks as though the onus is on both sides. According to reports, Alaska Airlines had noticed pressurization issues with the plane but continued to utilize it for regional flights. Boeing has its own host of issues to contend with, and the FAA is now officially investigating the manufacturer.

Social media played a part in the distribution of the new story, which quickly went viral. TikTok users sharing in-flight videos of the fuselage open to the outside made the rounds before the plane even landed. It goes to show the insane speed of our current news cycle and how quickly organizations need to be ready to respond to a crisis situation. 

So far, the response has been full cooperation, but it begs the question, does saying more do less? Or are we all just waiting for something more substantial from both organizations? 

In any case, we have a newly minted fear of window seats.

It’s Better to Be Lucky Than Good 💰

On a lighter note, Travis Kelce’s management and PR team were in the national spotlight this week. The New York Times did an extensive piece on the careful planning that went into the rise of Killa Trav. We always love reading about other professionals in the industry, and the “rise” of Travis made for an interesting article. 

However, we were left wondering how much of his current status was genuinely curated by a team of professionals versus spurred by a combination of good looks, killer athletic performances, and dating the world’s biggest celebrity. 

According to the piece, Kelce’s management had been planning to make him “as famous as the rock” with an elaborate strategy that began ten years ago. As comms professionals, we’re all for the power of great marketing, good PR, and solid branding. But is the strategy only “brilliant” because it worked? Would we still be talking about Kelce and the genius of his team if he wasn’t dating Taylor Swift? 

In essence, is the framework repeatable? Would it work for someone less likable? Less talented? Does the plan still produce a star if he doesn’t win the majority of his games? 

We’re curious to hear from the class on this one.

See you next week!

Quick Promo! 📣

If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out Press Hook! On Press Hook, you create a press kit for each client and get instant exposure to quality journalists. It’s like Qwoted but more product-focused, so it's perfect for e-commerce brands. You can expect to find everything from gift guide opportunities to best-of’s to product reviews and more. It’s where journalists go to request 1000s of product samples each month across fashion, beauty, food, health/wellness, home goods, and more to write about. 

Secret Tip: Click here to sign up and add your First Client Free for the first year with promo code: FCF100

Like The Colab Brief?

• Learn more about Ashley and Lizzy

• Share with your friends 

• Micro-Engagements (Now Live!)

• The Colab PR Template Pack (Now Live!)

• SWAG [Coming Super Soon]