Who Had the Worst Week?

• Denver-based VF Corporation announced it is eliminating 500 jobs “amid flagging consumer demand and activist investor pressure to trim costs.”
• If you are looking for a Christmas gift for Elon Musk, you might pick up a copy of “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” He clearly doesn’t own a copy.
• Dallas police issued an arrest warrant for former Denver Broncos and current Buffalo Bills player Von Miller for allegedly assaulting a pregnant woman.
• A 61-year-old doctor who was born in Washington, D.C. and lives in Virginia tried to renew his passport only to learn that he is not, in fact, a U.S. citizen.
• Red Lobster’s all-you-can-eat “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” offer was a little too popular, and it cost the company $11 million in Q3 losses.
• Colorado‘s local newspapers are disappearing faster than experts predicted. The state has lost 32 local newspapers since 2005.
• International soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo is facing a class-action lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages for his role in promoting the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
• Denver Mayor Mike Johnston had his car stolen.
• An elephant herd in Malaysia trampled a car that struck a baby elephant in their group. The baby was okay and walked away.
• A Roomba vacuum cleaner escaped out the front door of a home and was found two days later under a bunch of leaves in the owners’ front yard.
• Grasslands PR‘s Ricardo Baca is no fan of the Denver Archdiocese‘s perspective that alcohol is fine but that cannabis is “disastrous.”
• Is Sports Illustrated adding fake bylines to AI-generated articles? Some think so.
• The FTC is watching social media influencers closely. It has issued a warning to trade associations and influencers about their work promoting aspartame, the artificial sweetener that was recently categorized as “possibly carcinogenic.”
• Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, passed away at age 93.
• The Denver PR community lost our friend Larry Holdren. A celebration of life is planned for Sunday.

So, who won the week?

• Johanna Erickson was named senior director of Marketing at Special Olympics of Colorado. She previously was senior partner at Barokas PR.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis promoted Conor Cahill to communications director from press secretary. He replaces Maria De Cambra, who was appointed executive director of the Department of Local Affairs.
• Meanwhile, Shelby Wieman, Gov. Polis’ speechwriter and a former spokeswoman for then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, is taking over as the governor’s press secretary. 
• Sports Illustrated named University of Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders as its “Sportsperson of the Year.”
• Taylor Swift, Drake, Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and $uicideboy$ were the most-played artists on Spotify among Denver listeners in 2023.
• The AARP didn’t become one of the largest membership organizations in the country by missing out on no-brainer marketing opportunities. The latest: it is the official sponsor of the Rolling Stones tour that will play Denver next summer.