How Chipotle turned Trump's tariffs into a PR win 🌯

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Chipotle just landed glowing coverage in Fortune, NBC News, and the NY Post with a simple announcement: they would absorb Trump's tariff costs rather than pass them to customers. 

Of course, they raised prices 2% for inflation in December—but that’s now buried by positive, consumer-friendly headlines. Cleverly spinning the tariff media cycle, they turned a routine business decision into a major PR win.

The lesson? In today's media landscape, standard funding and product announcements are getting harder to land. But if you can connect your story to the uncertainty or outrage of major news stories— you can punch above your weight and get attention that may have been harder to come by in less stable times.

Chipotle isn't the only one riding this wave. Here are a few others drafting off chaotic recent news cycles to grab positive headlines:

• Costco: Companies that rolled back DEI measures got one wave of press; Costco has had sustained positive coverage for months. After shareholders rejected an anti-DEI measure, Costco continues generating weekly articles highlighting their revenue growth in contrast to the decline of their competitor, Target, who abandoned similar initiatives.

• Created By Humans: A relatively modest $5.5M seed raise secured Fortune coverage by aligning with a timely mission: compensating artists whose work is being stolen by AI. Solid investors and founding team helped, but we love how they positioned the urgency and relevancy of their mission.  

• McDonald’s: Automation rollouts typically face more backlash. But when McDonald's announced their store-wide AI investments, they tied it to slowing fast food sales. Positioning it as pro-consumer in a sluggish economy, rather than anti-worker in the midst of job automation concerns, they managed to garner positive coverage with minimal online criticism.

• Artists fighting AI: When 1000 artists—including Radiohead, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, and The Clash—released a silent album protesting the UK's plan to let AI train on unlicensed copyrighted work, they landed coverage in Rolling Stone, The Guardian, BBC and more. By turning their opposition into a creative, newsworthy stunt, they amplified their message beyond what any individual artist statement could ever achieve.

Making headlines in turbulent times

Whether you're a startup or established brand, here are three tips for leveraging current events to grab your own media wins:

1. Position, don't polarize: You don't have to get political to land coverage. Instead of declaring your stance on a given policy, show how you'll succeed because of or despite it. Project Europe demonstrated this perfectly—following much discourse on how difficult European governments make it for startups to succeed, a group of European tech investors launched and funded a program to support young entrepreneurs building on the continent. Politics was never mentioned; they simply took matters into their own hands and steered the conversation through considerable press coverage.
   

2. Statements are good; actions are better: When theSkimm opposed Trump's removal of a reproductive rights website, they didn't just post about it—they recreated the entire site, redirecting users to the very information the administration had taken down. Timely, stunty, and infinitely more press-worthy than words alone.
   

3. Be contrarian: Ed Zitron is a PR pro & podcaster who just landed a feature in the New Yorker for his consistent willingness to call AI a scam. At Colab, we frequently land coverage for clients who have no hard news because they’re willing to say the unpopular thing out loud. You won't get press for agreeing with conventional wisdom. But if you’re willing to make a bold prediction or challenge public opinion (without self-promotion), you'll get attention from journalists sick of generic talking points.

Attention is the world’s most valuable commodity.

With everything feeling urgent, rushed and on fire, it’s actually a great time to add some fresh perspective to the mix. Whenever you see an opening to comment on a policy or story that affects your industry, ask yourself: Is this something I can weigh in on without polarizing my core audience? Do I believe something different from the status quo? And is there an action I can take to prove I believe this?

Ride the chaos waves, don’t fight them!

📱 New in non-traditional media

Tracking the newsletters, podcasts, and creators reshaping media influence.

📰 In the news

• Gavin Newsom chats with more right-wingers

  California Governor released a podcast episode with Steve Bannon this week. He’s gotten strong press, but mixed reviews on the comms strategy.

• WaPo shakes up their newsroom

  The newspaper is reorg-ing into 7 specialized teams, pushing staff to be "obsessed with engagement" and transform from a "writer's paper" into "a reader's news organization."

• Substack crosses subscriptions milestone

  Substack announced they've surpassed 5 million paid subscriptions, reaching this milestone just 4 months after hitting 4 million subscribers.

🎤 Spotlight on biotech creators

Looking to round out your coverage with more newsletters and podcasts? Here are some favorite non-traditional media outlets to pitch your next story [biotech edition]:

• 🎧 Stat's Read Out Loud pod

  • Podcast from STAT, a leading biotech/healthcare news outlet

  • Features in-depth discussions of major biotech stories and trends

  • Known for expert analysis and industry insider perspectives

• 🎧 The Long Run with Luke Timmerman 

  • Hosted by veteran biotech journalist Luke Timmerman

  • In-depth interviews with biotech leaders and innovators

  • Companion newsletter provides additional context and analysis

• 🎧 Biotech Nation with Dr. Moira Gunn

  • Long-running podcast hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn, a professor at the University of San Francisco

  • Features interviews with scientists, entrepreneurs, and industry experts

  • Covers scientific breakthroughs, startup stories, and industry trends

• 📧 Where Tech Meets Bio 

  • 8,000 subscribers

  • Highlights startups bridging the tech-bio gap

  • Covers emerging trends in computational biology, AI in drug discovery

• 📧 Decoding Bio 

  • 10,000 subscribers

  • Weekly newsletter covering biotech innovations and funding

  • Analysis of scientific breakthroughs and commercial applications

⭐️ Favorite story of the week:

• Boom Goes Supersonic - Ashlee Vance

  Ashlee Vance—author and former NYT reporter—debuted the first episode of Core Memory today. It’s a 20-minute video deep dive on Boom, the startup designing a supersonic jet. Hosted on Substack, it’s a hint at where the new media creators are going.

⚡️ Steal this pitch

Need to pitch a new spokesperson? Use this template to let journalists know what topics your expert can speak to:

I wanted to reach out and offer [NAME] as a source for any pieces you may have coming up on the challenges we're facing with the [TOPICS] supply chain, labor shortages or the automotive market as a whole.

I'm including a set of topics he can speak to, along with a brief bio below.

• Supply chain issues and what we can expect to see in 2025. How those issues are affecting end-consumers and inflation rates.

• Automotive forecasts and what we can expect to see for customers, manufacturers and the larger car market in 2025 and beyond.

• EV and how their production and lack of popularity is causing major issues for manufacturers and dealerships.

• What policy changes we expect to see across the landscape.

Please reach out if he can provide commentary for these, or any related topics. He's happy to be available on short notice.

XX

[SPOKESPERSON BIO HERE]

💫 Client Wins

Our clients are making headlines. Check out coverage our clients got in Fox Business, The Information, and Trellis.

Want coverage like this? Say hello.

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