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That’s a Wrap! Surge soda returns, Urban Outfitters’ latest fail, how women are helping the NFL and Zumba’s first commercial

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By Reputation Ink
9.19.14

Newspaper headlines

It’s been a long week, and we’re ready to kick off our shoes, throw on some sweats and sink into our cozy couches. Who’s with us? But before we check out and get lost in what’s ahead, let’s look back at what swept headlines this week (in PR, social media and marketing—because that’s the fun stuff).  

Coca-Cola Brings Surge Out of Retirement

Big news for ‘90s lovers. Thanks to social media, Surge soda (Coca-Cola’s version of Mountain Dew) is back in action. As of Monday, you can purchase 12 packs of Surge on Amazon.

The citrus soda was discontinued 12 years ago after sales ran dry, but some people’s thirst for the soda did not. On its website, Coca-Cola wrote Surge is “making a comeback thanks, in part, to a passionate and persistent community of brand loyalists who have been lobbying The Coca-Cola Company to bring back their favorite drink over the last few years.” Take the Facebook group “SURGE Movement,” formed in 2011. The page boasts over 120,000 likes devoted to getting the drink back on the market. The fact Coca-Cola is listening to its customers AND is taking action to make ‘em happy is something worth raising your glass—er can—to.

Urban Outfitters Offends (Again)

Déjà vu. Urban Outfitters has royally messed up yet again. Last weekend, the popular clothing brand began selling a “Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt” that looks like it’s splattered in blood. This is horrific considering the infamous shootings at the school in 1970 when soldiers shot four students to death during a Vietnam War protest.

Urban Outfitters released an apology for “any offense” the item may have caused and that the brand didn’t intend to allude to the shootings. The brand claims the sweatshirt was purchased as part of its “sun-faded vintage collection” and that the “red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray.” Speaking of vintage, isn’t this kind of coverage getting old, Urban Outfitters?

NFL Hires Women to Do Damage Control

Trust us, we’re tired of all this NFL news, too. With players’ domestic issues and the league’s poor play in handling them, there’s no one else that can top the NFL’s bad publicity right now. However, it looks like NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has finally made the right call on something.

In a letter to owners, he announced the hiring of three women—Lisa Friel, Jane Randel and Rita Smith—as senior advisers to shape the league’s domestic violence and social issues. Friel was the head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, Randel co-founded NO MORE, a national initiative to raise domestic violence and sexual assault awareness, and Smith is the former executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Plus, Anna Isaacson, the NFL’s vice president of community relations and philanthropy received another title: vice president of social responsibility. She will oversee initiatives raising awareness about the issues and decreasing violence.

The NFL’s recent behavior has been especially hurtful to its female football fans who question what exactly the league stands for after all. Hopefully, putting women into these positions will offer insights and actions that were previously absent to change the league for the better.

Zumba’s First Commercial Makes Moves

This week, dance fitness company Zumba shook its way onto TV screens with its first ad campaign. The “Let it Move You” commercial features men and women busting a move in everyday situations and settings (at a meeting, in an elevator, etc.).

One of the coolest things about the commercial is the presence of relatable, diverse people. Zumba told Creatively that the ad’s casting parallels the makeup of Zumba classes in that “everyone from all walks of life, every body shape and size, age and gender feels stoked to be there.” Read: Zumba isn’t pushing unrealistic body types. And that’s a tune we can all use to shake into the weekend.

To get your PR, marketing and social media news fix throughout the week, follow us on Twitter @Rep_Ink.  

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