Plus: Anthropic proposes government contract for Claude for $1; KFC takes over internet with potato wedge social post.
Most comms team have had the dreary experience of having their advice ignored. But few have had it happen in such a public way.
This week, Life360 founder and CEO Chris Hulls resigned (promoting his colleague Lauren Antonoff to the role) with a message of his own, fully admitting he went rogue on the announcement.
In a blog post published Tuesday, he wrote, “Moments like this come with a lot of pressure to sanitize the message and speak only in superlatives, but my brain isn’t wired that way. I disdain corporate speak and owe more than the standard ‘I want to spend more time with my family and Lauren is a great visionary product-centric strategic operator.’”
“Comms wrote me a draft,” he continued. “Legal wanted to chime in too. A lot of people had advice on what to say. But I ignored it and decided to share my own thoughts without talking points or filters, in this single message to anyone who wants to read it.”
Why it matters:
Hulls is resigning, so he probably doesn’t care much how ignoring both legal and comms appears to his entire Life360 team (which he praised during his post), let alone admitting it to the general public.
But comms teams are experts in the best ways to communicate change. They work to establish trust with the leaders of their organization so they can prop them up when necessary and prepare them for the most unexpected crises.
Does a message crafted by your comms team have to feel “sanitized” or overly corporate as Hulls suggested? Absolutely not.
Comms teams strive to address change with transparency, empathy and a plan for moving forward. Hulls may think he’s being the most sincere, transparent version of himself by sharing an unfiltered message, but he’s also telling the company he was charged with leading that he doesn’t really care about their function.
Editor’s Top Reads:
- Tech company Anthropic proposed a deal with the U.S. government for its Claude platform, which will be integrated into all lanes of government – for $1. For the first year anyway. (That’s $1 per government agency). The company said Tuesday in a release that “As AI adoption leads to transformation across industries, we want to ensure that federal workers can fully harness these capabilities to better serve the American people…We believe the U.S. public sector should have access to the most advanced AI capabilities to tackle complex challenges, from scientific research to constituent services. By combining broad accessibility with uncompromising security standards, we’re helping ensure AI serves the public interest.” The offer is framed as a “for the good of the people” philanthropic quest, one that adds improved safety measures and offers access to our country’s leaders. Tech analyst Patricia Berry noted on LinkedIn, however, that while Anthropic’s message is altruistic, its mission may be more strategic. She writes of the move that “It’s a land grab, not a discount. OpenAI made a similar $1 offer last week for ChatGPT Enterprise. This isn’t generosity—it’s a high-stakes race to be the embedded AI in America’s most influential systems. Once you’re in… you rarely get replaced.” Of course, you won’t get this from the release, but organizations should remember that people can read between the lines – they pick up on the nuances of what you say versus what you actually mean.
- A few weeks ago, KFC acknowledged it lost a bit of its identity – and its top spot in the fast-food chicken game. It begged its customers for another chance like anex and played to a younger crowd. Now, it has gone and done it again. In a post on X, KFC posted a photo of a single potato wedge, which looked deliciously crispy, with the caption: “HERE, DAMN.” Two words and the internet blew up, with more than 47 million views in less than 48 hours. It spurred hundreds of comments (“Are potato wedges back?!”) and replies from competitor brands like Popeyes. The message was simple, though smart and strategic, sparking a reaction that now has everyone talking about KFC, which is the ultimate goal here. It’s worth mentioning though, they did follow up to blame Taylor Swift’s recent announcement for taking away a bit of that spotlight, which is also pretty funny and smart.
- Speaking of Taylor, did you hear about the new album? The world lost its mind at exactly 12:12 a.m. ET on August 12 when a teaser for Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast dropped on their social channels. The 13-second clip showed surprise guest Swift asking to show the pro-football stars something. She then reveals a silver metal briefcase with the orange letters “T.S.” scripted on the front. From the case, Swift pulls out a blurred-out square and announced “The Life of a Showgirl,” her 12th studio album. Intrigue initially began when Swift’s social accounts were replaced with a countdown clock. The speculation of what it meant drew tons of hype in a very Taylor Swift-esque fashion. Now, Swift is a brand in her own league, an easter egg-wielding mastermind who needs no help selling albums. (Especially not from this self-proclaimed Swiftie who has all her records on vinyl. I’m not pretentious, I promise). But it’s also a further sign that traditional media is no longer king. Brands can and should continue to think outside the box, engage with communities that are independent from legacy media and diversify their presence through new forms of information and content sharing. Plus, who doesn’t love a good surprise? A fun tease and a little hype? It will be interesting to see how many viewers tonight’s New Heights episode draws and what its lasting effect might be.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
The post The Scoop: Life360 CEO ignores comms team and shares unfiltered message announcing resignation appeared first on PR Daily.
