Kevin McCauley at O’Dwyer’s reports: “PR firms have been put on notice that their ‘multimillion-dollar greenwashing and misinformation campaigns’ for fossil fuel clients that delay action on global warming are going to be outed, according to the Clean Creatives organization, a group of communications professionals supported by Fossil Free Media.”

“Launched Nov. 19, CC aims to reveal the relationships between PR firms and fossil fuel clients, organize staffers who ‘feel conflicted about making propaganda for oil and gas companies’ and contact sustainability-minded clients who might feel unhappy that their firm is actively undermining progress on climate change, according to a statement from Jamie Henn of Fossil Free Media.”

“What’s interesting is you have to always be on, which is tough. You would like to just have general conversations, but at the same time you have to understand this new-age media is a different age. It’s not just print as it might have been before. There’s a lot more people who want to get their name out there and build their base of followers. You have journalists who are brands now.”

– Former Denver Nugget and current Miami Heat player Andre Iguodala describing the evolving nature of his interactions with media to The Athletic.

Congratulations to the 2021 members of the PRSA Colorado board:

Executive Committee
• President: Michelle Ellis, Ellis Communications Marketing
• President-elect: Jose Salas, Denver Water
• Immediate past-president: Geoff Renstrom, Attune Public Relations
• Secretary: Emily Rado, Linhart Public Relations
• Treasurer: Jennifer Tilliss, Purpose Communications

Assembly Delegates
• Sam Aspnes, APR, CIG Public Relations
• Michelle Balch Lyng, Novitas Communications
• Marissa Pooley, APR, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
• Whei Wong, Metropolitan State University of Denver

Directors
• Brook Gabbert, PennStreet Communications and Study.com
• Liz Kamper, CBRE
• Stacee Martin, APR, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
• Liz Viscardi, APR, LV Events and PR
• Kelly Wagoner, The Piton Foundation

This Thanksgiving ad for East Coast grocery store chain Giant Food feels like it was created by a passive aggressive art director who has had it with people ignoring stay-at-home orders. For those doubting its authenticity, Giant Food apologized for the ad, saying that it had gotten caught up in the “pre-holiday excitement.“

This week, In-N-Out Burger leveraged scarcity marketing to heights of success not seen since Coors convinced Burt Reynolds to make a movie about smuggling 400 cases of its signature beer from Texarkana to Atlanta.

In-N-Out opened its first two locations in Colorado – Aurora and Colorado Springs – and media outlets around the world reported on the 12 to 14 hours Coloradans were apparently willing to wait in line for a shot at a fast food cheeseburger. (Bonus points to Britain’s Daily Mail for capturing a fist fight that erupted in the line.)

Locally, reporters and media outlets were quick to roll their eyes at the wait times, but they still contributed to the avalanche of media coverage. Mitchell Byars at the Boulder Daily Camera noted that you could drive all the way to In-N-Out’s Las Vegas location in less time, and Westword used the opportunity to showcase its list of 10 Best locally-owned burger joints.

“A wrongful death lawsuit tied to COVID-19 infections in a Waterloo pork processing plant alleges that during the initial stages of the pandemic, Tyson Foods ordered employees to report for work while supervisors privately wagered money on the number of workers who would be sickened by the deadly virus,” Clark Kauffman at the Iowa Capital Dispatch reports.

“The lawsuit was recently amended and includes a number of new allegations against the company and plant officials. Among them: … plant manager Tom Hart organized a cash-buy-in, winner-take-all, betting pool for supervisors and managers to wager how many plant employees would test positive for COVID-19.”

Shaun Boyd at CBS4: “The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is apologizing after sending an inappropriate email ridiculing the very companies it regulates. CBS4 has learned that staff members at COGCC were testing a new e-filing system when they inadvertently sent an email to hundreds of oil and gas workers across the state.”

“The email called the companies they work for names that you don’t expect from people who are supposed to be fair and unbiased.”

“The email arrived early Sunday morning with a list of oil and gas companies that had upcoming hearings. The names of the companies included ‘Snake Oil Inc.,’ it’s law firm ‘Blah Blah Blah’ and its cause or case number ‘666’ – a designation for the devil.” …

“A spokesperson for COGCC released a statement late Wednesday afternoon saying: ‘We apologize that some of the names used during this testing were not professionally chosen. The employees involved in this situation have had this addressed by their supervisors. This unfortunate incident does not reflect upon the quality of work that has been and will be conducted by COGCC for all its customers. COGCC has more than 70 years of experience working with our industry partners in oil and gas operations. We are committed to continue to uphold the oil and gas regulations in a transparent, fair and legal manner.’”

Congratulations to this year’s PRSA Colorado Gold Pick Special Award winners:

Nobody understands how to sell a comeback better than a PR executive. On a related note, The Washington Post profiled the woman who went viral for destroying a COVID-19 mask display at a Target – she’s the CEO of a Phoenix PR firm and she grew up in Denver.

As you might expect, she’s actually a super-terrific-yet-tragically-misunderstood person who was reacting to the stress of COVID-19 that caused her to miss her annual summer vacation in Greece. You try missing a year in Greece without destroying display racks – I dare you.

If you would like to know more, she currently is authoring a memoir titled You Can’t Cancel Me — The Story of My Life. I’m not making that up.

PRSA announced the winners of its annual Silver Anvil awards for outstanding campaigns, and there were a few with Colorado connections:

• Silver Anvil Award: Turner PR
  “Space City: The Moon Landing 50th Anniversary” campaign for Houston First Corporation
• Silver Anvil Award: M&C Communications
  “Hate Speech, Guns and Potential Lawsuits at a Small-Town High School” campaign for City of Manitou Springs
• Award of Excellence: Ayers PR and Sukle Advertising & Design
  “Generation Wild” campaign for Great Outdoors Colorado
• Award of Excellence: Fyn PR
  “Love Locks Lead to Valentine’s Day Tourism” campaign for Visit Loveland

Scott Jones at FTVLive reports Fox31 is getting called out by its own employees for claiming pool footage of the East Troublesome Fire was “exclusive.”