Prudential

Prudential Financial scores PR gold as it connects Rock logo with a new generation of consumers while Dunkin gets unwanted power placement from disgraced NY governor.

The insurer announced a partnership with USA Climbing on Aug. 11. Competitive climbing debuted as an Olympic sport during the Tokyo Games. USA Climbing copped a silver medal.

The company says the partnership celebrates “a new generation of inspirational American athletes who represent the future of climbing and embody Prudential’s shared attributes of strength, performance and reaching new heights.”

Prudential restored the Rock to its marketing campaigns last year. Its timing of the partnership is perfect.

Meanwhile, disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been charged with sexual harassment, delivered a not wanted product placement for Dunkin Donuts.

After his 22-minute resignation speech on Aug. 10, the Associated Press snapped a photo of the outgoing governor holding a coffee cup emblazoned with the Dunkin logo.

He held the cup while walking to the Eastside Heliport for a hasty getaway from Manhattan. The pix made the front page of the New York Times and New York Post (“At the End of his Grope” headline).

Dunkin's marketing team must have been "at the end of their gulp" upon seeing the Cuomo pix.

Sorry Rand, you cannot have it both ways. YouTube booted Kentucky Senator Rand Paul from its platform for a week for spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

In the video, Paul said the wearing of cloth masks does not prevent the spread of the virus.

But slippery Rand endorsed YouTube’s right to drop him.

“As a libertarian leaning Senator, I think private companies have the right to ban me if they want to, so in this case I’ll just channel that frustration into ensuring the public knows YouTube is acting as an arm of government and censoring their users for contradicting the government,” he said in a statement.

Nice try, Rand. Facebook was not acting as an arm of the government; it was acting as an arm of science.

“Wearing a face mask may limit exposure to respiratory droplets and large particles and may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus,” says guidance from the Centers for Disease and Prevention.

Google may soon be getting the whole gang back together in the office, but it may come at a cost.

As companies struggle over “return to work” policies, Google has decided that pay cuts may be in order for those who prefer to work at homes far from its offices.

Google has developed a “Work Location Tool” that calculates the pay received by a staffer at the office or at home, according to the BBC.

A Google staffer preferring to work in Stamford, an hour by train away from New York, would get 15 percent less working remotely. There are 5 to 10 percent pay differences in the Seattle, Boston and San Francisco areas.

The policy does not affect workers working remotely in the same city as Google’s office.

It may result in a two-tiered compensation system, and widen the gender pay gap as women, who take most of the responsibility for childcare, opt to work remotely.

Norwegian Cruise Lines stood up to Flordia’s crazed Governor DeSantis and scored a victory in federal court on Aug. 9 as a judge declared it has the right to seek proof of COVID-19 vaccinations from passengers.

DeSantis, who promised to appeal the ruling, banned “vaccine passports” and threatened to fine NCL millions of dollars each time a ship left port. He is playing a political game designed to curry favor from the Trump crowd at the expense of the health of Floridians.

Daniel Farkas, NCL executive VP, said the company sued Florida because it believes that it is right and acted “in the best interests of the welfare of our guests, crew and communities we visit in an effort to do our part as responsible corporate citizens to minimize, to the greatest extent possible, further spread of COVID-19 as we gradually relaunch our vessels.”

DeSantis will not be taking a NCL cruise any time soon.