Allison+Partners beat Weber Shandwick to win Qualcomm’s North American PR AOR account. The MDC Partners-owned firm beat Interpublic’s largest PR agency in the final stages of the lucrative review during late summer.
President Trump is now on the video game live-streaming platform Twitch, Reuters reports. By Friday one of his first messages, about a Minneapolis rally, had 7,000-plus followers. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also have a Twitch presence.
On Friday, the NBA said its players won’t be made available to the media during the entire China preseason visit. The decision was a response to a controversy sparked by Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey last week when he tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. (Hollywood Reporter) It also follows a Chinese government media blackout for the first preseason game between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers held Thursday in Shanghai. (Associated Press) But the players may be relieved because, as former NBA All-Star Jamal Mashburn explained to CNBC Thursday, they are wary of the potential financial fall out for speaking about politics. "They don’t want to hurt their brand. They’re being very careful what they say and how they position themselves," he said.
Meanwhile, Colin Kaepernick’s staff is trying to attract the media’s attention to the athlete’s inability to get signed by an NFL team. His agent Jeff Nalley, and his PR director Jasmine Windham Thursday, distributed a press release in order to: "Address The False Narratives Regarding Colin Kaepernick." Deadline reports that the release was sent in response to the Pittsburgh Steelers signing rookie Devin Hodges, who will play this weekend and to other teams deciding to start second and third-stringers.
Prince’s estate is upset that President Trump played a Prince song at a campaign event in Minneapolis Thursday. After "Purple Rain" was pumped through speakers just before the president spoke, the estate issued an announcement saying it "will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs." Prince was from Minneapolis and scenes from the "Purple Rain" movie were shot at a nightclub across the street from where the rally was held. (Associated Press)
