Alexei Auld is back with a brand new book available 7 Secret Sources of Inspiration: A Snappy Guide for Creative Procrastinators to grill Eugene S. Robinson (who's pushing a GoFundMe to pay for the new Oxbow album) and myself with some PR stumpers from the world of combat sports.
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Today's puzzlers include:
- At 2:07 - You're WWE and UFC fighter Brock Lesnar. The WWE is granting you a "one-time" opportunity for an MMA fight at UFC 200 this weekend. WWE minority owner and Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon told the Business Insider that initially she was not a fan of giving you anything. Then she differentiated MMA from sports entertainment: "UFC, they can make a big star but the second that person loses, they lose credibility". Your reply during a media conference call? "I don't care what she says." Should your brand care?
- At 7:15 - You're Ronda Rousey. Two weeks ago, UFC President Dana White told UFC Unfiltered you were training for a comeback. "Obviously, Ronda is a very unique individual and has her own way of dealing with things. And apparently this is the way she wants to deal with it. She'll be back though, she'll be back." But just a few days ago, an actor tweeted you'll be back for something else: "I know for a fact she's putting in work at one of the best acting schools in LA. Like really going at it." What's it gonna be: UFC or the TV?
- At 12:55 - You're NBA player Kevin Durant. On the fourth of July, we learned you're taking your talents to the Bay Area to join the Golden State Warriors. Outrage followed since you're joining a team that just barely beat yours almost a month ago in the NBA playoffs. ESPN's Stephen A. Smith called it the weakest move he's ever seen from a superstar. It took many years, and championships, for LeBron James' brand to recover from the blueprint you're following. Is your sole PR salvation to rid yourself of his problem, do all that you can, by admitting that you believed in things that you don't understand then you suffered?
- At 17:40 - You're UK Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage. After successfully convincing the majority of UK voters to leave the European Union, you're resigning from the party. "I've done my bit." As desperation takes hold, is it just that something so good, just can't function no more?
- At 24:27 - You're former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to a Chilcot investigation involving the Iraq War, you could be ‘stripped of all honours' for allegedly misleading Parliament. Do you care and if so, what PR moves do you make to preserve your legacy?
- At 27:57 - You're Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. With statehood closer to being a reality, DC needs a new name, right? So you're rolling with "New Columbia"...a name so reviled, that according to the Washington Post, Washingtonians are willing to forego statehood. What do you do to prevent bad PR from a horrid name derail statehood?
- At 31:42 - You're national theatre chain Cinemark. Over two dozen survivors and parents of those murdered in the 2012 Aurora shooting in your Cineplex sued you for security lapses which they believed helped enable the attack. And lost. Now, according to the Denver Post, your lawyers filed a ‘bill of costs' for almost $700,000 in Arapahoe County District Court. It's within your rights to recover litigation costs in Colorado, but explain the PR behind that decision.
- At 36:05 - You're Republican National Convention Presidential Candidate Donald Trump. Your campaign posted an image of Hillary Clinton with a Star of David calling her "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever". Was this an accident or a troll job? And how do you handle the negative PR?
- CURVEBALL (KEEPING IT UNDER WRAPS)
- At 40:50 - TEACHABLE MOMENT: You're Max Blumenthal. Within hours of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel's death, you tweeted, "Elie Wiesel is dead. He spent his last years inciting hatred, defending apartheid & palling around with fascists." In doing so, you put the anti-semitic spotlight off Trump's Star of David fiasco and on to your candidate Hillary Clinton. Can the damage be undone or are you satisfied with your destructive troll move?
- At 48:21 - EUGENE'S LOST BATTALION
Enjoy!
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