Starbucks tries to make good on “Pumpkin” Spice Latte

By Mary Gorretta | Aug 20, 2015

With the record high summer temps in Portland this summer, I am more than ready for the cool weather of fall. Along with cozy sweaters and falling leaves, another fall staple is the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. However, last year, popular “Food Babe” blogger Vani Hari revealed that the fall favorite drink not only did […]

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Journalists on Twitter are the Most Active Verified Users

By Mary Gorretta | May 28, 2015

If your email pitch just isn’t getting a response, you might want to try sending that reporter a tweet. Medium.com recently posted a report from Triggertrap CEO Haje Jan Kamps that the highest number of verified users, twenty-five percent, are journalists on Twitter. Twitter verified users are an exclusive group. Noted with a blue tick mark […]

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A Better Editing Process

By Mary Gorretta | May 6, 2015

I know the saying goes that is far easier to edit a piece of writing than to start one from a blank page, but I sometimes find the editing process just as hard. These four steps recently offered by Ragan’s PR Daily have really helped me lately to break down the process of editing as […]

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A Handy Flowchart for Exclamation Point Overuse

By Mary Gorretta | Feb 26, 2015

In written communication, particularly emails, one of the hardest challenges can be conveying your tone of voice. How many times have you read an email wondering if the sender is angry, annoyed, snappish or maybe just being brief? I know in many cases, I overcompensate for this by using an exclamation point to show how […]

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New McDonalds Ad Tugs at Heartstrings but Receives Criticism

By Mary Gorretta | Jan 16, 2015

Did see you see McDonalds’ new heartwarming commercial while watching the Golden Globes or NFL playoffs earlier this week? I admit that I liked it. The heartfelt ad showed a photo montage of messages posted on various McDonald’s signboards by some of the fast food restaurant’s franchises, including “Thank you Veterans”, “We Remember 9/11”, “Boston […]

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Costco and Other Retailers to Stay Closed on Black Thursday

By Mary Gorretta | Nov 18, 2014

Thanksgiving is just a little more than a week away and while some of us are stocking our fridges with all the makings for a big feast, shoppers and bargain-hunters are preparing for what for them is an even bigger holiday – Black Friday. In fact, some shoppers are already camped out in front of […]

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Lego’s new female scientists

By Mary Gorretta | Jun 26, 2014

You may remember hearing about a 7-year-old girl earlier this year who wrote a letter to toy manufacturer Lego complaining that there were not many options for girl Lego figurines. Lego had recently been criticized for gender-stereotyping when it released a “Lego Friends” line targeted to girls, featuring pink and purple pastel colored sets, such […]

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8 Most Misunderstood Words

By Mary Gorretta | May 28, 2014

I was browsing the articles on Ragan’s PR Daily the other day, and came across this article, 8 words that may not mean what you think they mean. Now, I tend to feel confident about my writing ability after being in the PR profession for more than 10 years and think I have wide vocabulary. […]

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Twitter says World Cup 2014 Logo Looks Like a ‘Facepalm’

By Mary Gorretta | Apr 30, 2014

Like many around the world, I am looking forward to the World Cup, which is set to take place throughout Brazil in less than two months. However, there have been rumors that Brazil will not be ready in time for such a big event including reports that the stadium in San Paolo, which is slated […]

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Rabbit Pelt Ad Draws Controversy, Pizzeria Tries to Save Skin

By Mary Gorretta | Apr 18, 2014

  Just in time for Easter, the New Zealand pizza chain Hell Pizza created a controversial billboard advertising its newest pizza topping, smoked rabbit, by covering the billboard with real rabbit pelts and the tagline: “Rabbit Pizza. Made from real rabbit. Like this billboard.” As you can imagine, it received quite a bit of criticism […]

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Wine-making "Miracle Machine" too good to be true, but supports a great cause

By Mary Gorretta | Mar 18, 2014

Can you turn water to wine? Did you see the video advertisement for this product a few weeks ago? The ‘Miracle Machine’ claimed it could “turn water into wine” – making wine in three days with just water and a few other ingredients. The product seemed legitimate, particularly because it was promoted in the video […]

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Sochi Olympics End with Humor

By Mary Gorretta | Feb 25, 2014

As we detailed on the blog previously, the Sochi Olympic Games seemed to have been fraught with logistical problems from the start, including questionable accommodations and discolored tap water, earning the Twitter hashtags, #sochiproblems or #sochifails. These mishaps, along with other controversies, did not generate the most positive PR for this year’s Olympic organizers. However, […]

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