Hails & Fails – September 3rd 2021
So we’re in September and as festival season draws to a close and the return to the office gathers pace, PR campaigns won headlines everywhere this week. Nike gave its staff a week off to improve mental health, Leeds Festival gave crucial abandoned leftovers to the homeless, and Ford has built a ‘Very Gay’ car to challenge homophobia. It was, however, a difficult week for Fourteas – a themed teahouse in Stratford-upon-Avon – after it was accused of kicking out a Jewish family in a tabloid sandwich squabble.
HAILS
Nike to give head office staff a week's break
Staff at Nike’s head office have been given a week off to support their mental health, ahead of the return to the office in September.
The firm will “power down” to give employees a rest after a tough year.
“Take the time to unwind, destress and spend time with your loved ones,” the firm’s head of insights Matt Marrazzo said in a message to staff.
The move comes after a growing number of employees have reported feeling burnt out as the pandemic drags on and many continue to work from home.
Great move by bosses which has rightly been picked up and celebrated by media everywhere this week.
Leeds Festival leftovers to be re-used by homeless
Thousands of tents and sleeping bags were left behind by campers attending Leeds Festival 2021.
But homeless agencies have now collected hundreds of tents and sleeping bags to re-use on the streets.
The Raise the Roof Hull Homeless Project say they’ll clean all the items and then distribute them to outreach projects for refugees and the homeless across Yorkshire.
Now that’s what we call purposeful recycling! Loads of media coverage for this gesture, too.
Ford builds a ‘very gay’ car in response to a homophobic comment
Ford has designed a car as a response to a homophobic comment.
When the car company released the Raptor, someone on social media described the vehicle’s original colour of Performance Blue as ‘very gay’.
Instead of letting trolls hide behind their keyboards, they took the comment on board and decided to up the ante.
They now have the rainbow flag sweeping across the chassis for the ‘Custom Very Gay Ford Ranger Raptor’.
It took 60 hours and 30 square metres of film and glitter to put the colourful statement on the vehicle.
Tonnes of positive media coverage as a result too!
FAILS
Teahouse makes headlines when it ‘kicked out Jewish family after refusing to remove non-kosher food from plates’
A teahouse in Stratford-upon-Avon has been accused of ejecting a Jewish family after they asked for non-kosher chicken sandwiches to be taken off their plates.
The family claim they offered to pay the same price if the Fourteas teahouse swapped the chicken sandwiches for a cucumber equivalent, in keeping with their religious dietary requirements. When staff refused, the family complained and were ordered to leave the premises by staff. The spat ended up on TripAdvisor with both the teahouse and the family standing their ground.
Doubtless the teahouse wishes things had turned out differently after the story made national headlines this week.
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