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The Washington Redskins announced today that the NFL team would change its name and logo—both long criticized as racist by Native Americans—after an 87-year run.
Team owner Dan Snyder launched a "thorough review" of the name on July 3 following pressure by team sponsors FedEx, Pepsi and Bank of America.
FedEx paid $205M for the naming rights of the team's stadium in Landover, MD, and its chairman Fred Smith is a minority owner of the Redskins.
Amazon, Walmart and Target also announced that they would stop selling Redskins merchandise.
Snyder and coach Ron Rivera are working to develop a new name and design.
The Redskins brought in Burson-Marsteller in 2014 as the NFL dealt with pressures to change the name of the team.
The Washington Post reported July 4 that Jay Leveton, president of Mark Penn's The Stagwell Group, has been advising Snyder, a good friend, on the name change issue.
Earlier, Leveton was global CEO at Penn, Schoen & Berland Assocs, polling firm, and executive VP-worldwide at B-M.
Tricia McLaughlin, the combative spokesperson for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is leaving her post.
While finding the right solution to a problem is still important, the work that differentiates effective communications leaders is problem-finding—identifying the real risk before it becomes visible, reputational or irreversible.
Orchestra has recruited Deepika Sandhu for the senior VP-legal & crisis communications slot.
Apologies are often seen as a weakness or as proof that a leader has lost control of the narrative. But Donald Trump's failure to apologize after he posted—and then deleted—a video with a racist clip of Barack and Michelle Obama shows how flawed this mindset is.
Tim Allan, communications director for embattled British prime minister Keir Starmer, has quit as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has engulfed Ten Downing Street.
