Your PR Architect

No, it's not Steve Jobs.  I'm referring to Steve Ells, Chipotle's CEO, whose company has been having the worst weeks ever. Maybe the worst quarter. Unexplained illnesses linked to Chipotle's fresh-food menu have resulted in more than 120 customers taking sick, and the temporary closing of 44 restaurants in Boston and the Pacific Northwest. By Aude (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons To his credit -- and at some professional risk -- Ells took to the morning TV news circuit last week, and took full responsibility for these problems. On the TODAY show, the first words out of his mouth? "I'm sorry." No royal "we're sorry." No PR aphorisms along the lines of,  "We regret..." He took responsibility. And explained in very plain English what the company's doing to sanitize the restaurants and make them safe. And, even when asked about the impact of the bad news and closings on Chipotle's stock price, Ells stayed on ...

Do you wear pink in October? This is the designated month and color for breast cancer awareness. And part of me asks: what does awareness do? Angelina Jolie by Georges Biard [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons I was aware of breast cancer when a friend was diagnosed. The planet went on Global Celebrity Alert when Angelina Jolie disclosed her double-mastectomy because a test had identified a gene linked to breast cancer. I'd say we've got awareness covered. What I'd rather see? Not "awareness." But a campaign that asks me to take action. This surfaced with a client's request to create a poster promoting a medical process. I asked: "What's the call to action?" Client's response: "There's no call to action. We're just trying to grow awareness." Awareness? Or its hipper step-sister, buzz? Please, not again. How many ads do we encounter every day? Estimates va...