Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann’s family has retained Louisville, Ky.-based RunSwitch PR to help guide it through the media firestorm that ensued over the weekend. Grace Schneider of the Louisville Courier Journal reports:

Asked about its role, RunSwitch released a statement saying that the firm “has been retained by the Sandmann family to offer professional counsel with what has become a national media story. We are working with the family to ensure an accurate recounting of events which occurred this past weekend.”

RunSwitch partners Steve Bryant and Gary Gerdemann said that Sandmann family asked people they knew over the weekend about getting help with handling the media.

“They reached out to our firm, and we responded,” said Bryant, adding that the business specializes in crisis management “all over the country.”

Scott Jennings, a conservative political commentator and a columnist for the Courier Journal, is the third partner in RunSwitch. 

Diana Bradley at PRWeek reports:

It seems Wendy’s can’t stop trolling McDonald’s on social. Burger King, too, attempted to make the Golden Arches the butt of the joke with its #WhopperDetour stunt last month. Year after year, McDonald’s has been a target for its sassy rivals – an easy one, too, mainly because the brand never defends itself or fights back. …

The principle McDonald’s has adopted is that no fighter in the history of boxing has ever won simply by blocking punches.

“You have to go on the offense,” said Jano Cabrera, SVP, U.S. comms, global media and PR at McDonald’s. “There has to be something you stand for that is appealing. What is the case, proactively, you are making?”

“The nature of leadership brands is you get to a point where you understand real ROI is being mindful of and responsive to competition,” he said. “But you don’t stay a leadership brand by simply responding to competition. You do it by continuing to innovate and staying customer-focused.”