Breakfast Briefing: Southwest, Starbucks CEOs knee-deep in crisis response
New this morning: Was Martin Sorrell’s tenure running WPP a net positive or negative for the marketing industry as a whole? PRWeek’s sister title Campaign asked industry heavies for their thoughts, including longtime Sorrell rival Maurice Levy. Plus: Streaming platform Roku has hired a Brunswick executive for a senior corp comms role.
Former first lady Barbara Bush died on Tuesday at the age of 92. Aside from serving as the matriarch of one of America’s most notable political dynasties, she may have been best known for her literacy initiatives. Bush cofounded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in 1989 (NBC News).
Southwest Airlines posted a video message featuring CEO Gary Kelly on Tuesday expressing his sympathies for the death of a passenger on a flight from New York to Dallas earlier that day (Business Insider). Jennifer Riordan, a community relations executive at Wells Fargo, has been identified as the passenger who died after an engine blew apart on the flight (Associated Press).
Starbucks CEO: ‘I’m going to fix this.’ Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson appeared on CNN Tonight on Tuesday and said he was heartbroken after watching video of the arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia location. Johnson also apologized personally to the two men on Monday (CNN). The company will close 8,000 stores for bias training on May 29 (New York Times).
David Hogg has called for the boycott of two investment management companies that own parts of gunmakers. The Parkland shooting survivor and student activist wants investors to reconsider their business with the Vanguard Group and BlackRock (Newsweek).
.@blackrock and @Vanguard_Group are two of the biggest investors in gun manufacturers; if you use them, feel free to let them know. Thanks ??
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) April 17, 2018
