1. Papa John’s is in Deep Dish
Papa John’s has lost yet another agency — IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative. Apparently, the work culture ran deeper than John Schnatter’s criticism of the national anthem protests and his use of the N-word during a conference call. Papa John’s employees opened up about the toxic culture, discussing a mix of crudity, profanity, and confidential settlements for inappropriate conduct.
After all of this came to the surface, Papa John’s partnership with Major League Baseball snapped, Schnatter has vanished from all ads, and other agencies resigned from their account, including Fallon, Olson Engage, and Laundry Service. However, Powell Tate, a specialty public affairs unit of IPG’s Weber Shandwick, is going to jump in the oven and help Papa John’s with a communications strategy. Hopefully, it doesn’t come out burnt.
2. Facebook Cleans up Their Act
Facebook is still working to clean up their platform. On Wednesday, Facebook said they’re working towards an initiative to get rid of fake news, which includes bringing in local organizations to help judge what can stay and what needs to go. Currently, Facebook bans content that directly calls for violence. The new policy will now cover fake news that has the potential to stir up physical harm. If you remember (how can we forget?), Facebook has been in hot water for helping spread misinformation (AKA Russian bots) and posts that could incite violence — including places like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India.
3. Instagram Adds Spying Feature
Instagram is adding a new update. Now you’ll be able to spy on your friends and see when they’re active on Instagram. A green dot will appear next to their profile picture in various spaces within the app, including the Direct Inbox and your friend list when sharing a post from the feed. It’s a way to get you to communicate more with those people you’re already talking to. However, Instagram’s CEO has said the company is working on features to fight tech addiction and ensure that users’ time in the app is “positive and intentional.” If you’re tired of Big Brother tracking your every move, you can simply opt to turn the feature off entirely. Just go to “activity status” in the app’s main settings to disable activity status (FYI: when disabled, you won’t be able to view which friends are online, either).
