John Perenack And Warren Weeks

Shows

Reputation TownJaguar sales down 98%, RCMP calls traditional values 'extreme', Sportsnet price hike backlash and moreIn this episode, John and Warren discuss some recent stories in the PR and issues management realm, including the growing backlash against Sportsnet's 30% price hike on its hockey programming, an RCMP spokesperson who appeared to say that Canadians exhibiting traditional values might be becoming extremists, Boston Consulting Group's controversy regarding a Gaza related project, Rogers allegedly used 1,000 human customer service employees to train a new AI tool and then proceeded to fire all those employees (and require them to sign NDAs in order to get their severance) and we revisit Jaguar's woke rebrand, which doesn't seem to be going...2025-07-121h 08

Reputation TownJake Tapper flogs a book, No Greatness for the Leafs, Outdoor Boys creator quits YouTube and moreThis week, John and Warren talk about Jake Tapper's new book and the accusations that he was part of the journalistic coverup he's highlighting, MLSE's handling of yet another disappointing year for the Toronto Maple Leafs, YouTube creator Luke Nichols (Outdoor Boys) quits the platform at the peak of his fame to focus on his family, murky water in Stoney Creek during labour disruption and is Tom Cruise the last real action movie hero? 2025-05-231h 00

Reputation TownCoinbase, Frontier Airlines, NHL owner reprimanded for tweet, Toronto councillors' 24% pay raiseWe hit on a bunch of stories this week, including Coinbase flipping the script on hackers trying to extort the company, the viral customer service video from Frontier Airlines, NHL owner Doug Cifu reprimanded by the league for getting into a Twitter battle with a fan, Walmart says it will have to increase prices because of tariffs, Toronto City councillors give themselves a hefty pay raise, Tim Horton's sliding quality, Bernie Sanders justifies flying private and a Nova Scotia police news conference about two missing children starts on an interesting note. 2025-05-151h 13

Reputation TownThe new Pope's PR, Poilievre drops the ball, Belichick's odd interview, the Diddy trial, Michelle Obama's podcastThis week, we break down some of the more recent PR stories in the headlines, including the communications from the Vatican around the new Pope, the curiously low viewership numbers for Michelle Obama's new podcast, Ron MacLean appears to be on a reputation management tour, what happens if you're a celebrity who's named during the Diddy trial, Pierre Poilievre drops the ball in stunning fashion and a former Facebook/Meta insider has a best-selling book talking about some of the company's shady practices. 2025-05-091h 06

Reputation TownLA Mayor's media freeze-up, upside down airplanes, trade wars, Mike Meyers and Wayne GretzkyIn this episode, we catch up on some of the stories of the recent past, including LA Mayor Karen Bass's on-camera freeze-up in response to the California wildfires, Delta's handling of the upside-down plane crash in Toronto, Trudeau's handling of the trade war with the US and a look at some Canadian celebrities making headlines, including Mike Meyers and Number 99. 2025-03-0857 min

Reputation Town2024 Wrap-Up: Top PR crisis stories of the year with guest Molly McPhersonThis week, we welcome back our friend Molly McPherson to help us wrap up 2024 and break down some of the top PR crisis stories. We didn't discuss our topics with each other ahead of time, so in this episode, you're getting our real-time reactions and breakdowns to these stories, including the strategies behind them (or lack thereof) and any lessons learned. Thanks to Molly for joining us and we hope you enjoy this year-end episode. 2024-12-181h 04

The PR Breakdown with Molly McPhersonYear in Review: 2024's Disasters, Recoveries, and Lessons LearnedThey’re back and ready to dissect the year’s biggest communications fiascos. I’m joined by Warren Weeks and John Perenack, my Candian colleagues in crisis behind the Reputation Town podcast, to break down 2024’s most cringe-worthy PR disasters. We’re talking about brand meltdowns, public figures who just couldn’t keep it together, and major corporations fumbling their way through social backlash. From outrageous missteps to the frantic damage control that followed, you’ll hear why these moments matter—and how they’ve changed the game for everyone trying to stay ahead of the chaos.This isn’t your st...2024-12-181h 01

Reputation TownMean Toronto librarians, Biznasty defends restaurant staff, the Canada Post Strike lingers and moreThis week, John and Warren talk about the ongoing Canada Post strike and the damage it's causing, both to Canadians and to the organization's brand, Paul Bissonnette steps up to defend Arizona restaurant staff and finds himself in a 6 on 1 brawl, Paul Krugman retiring from the NYT and how he'll be remembered, Toronto Public Library gets itself into hot water after a staffer refused to let a lost young girl use a phone to call her mother, journalist Taylor Lorenz makes a post apparently celebrating CEO killings and more. 2024-12-0749 min

Reputation TownJaguar's rebrand, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson and BlueSky's big momentThis week, John and Warren talk about the controversial rebrand from Jaguar, the reputational implications from the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight, including for Netflix, which had technical trouble serving its live audience, Space X's COO answering questions about government contracts and the move millions are making to social media platform BlueSky. 2024-11-2248 min

Reputation TownUS Presidential Election recap, RIP Mike Bullard and McDonalds' E. coli crisisIn this 50th episode of the Reputation Town podcast, we do a breakdown of the US Presidential election, looking specifically at the elements of media relations, whether podcasts have eclipsed mainstream media, etc. We also discuss the complicated legacy of comedian and former late-night talk show host Mike Bullard, who recently died at the age of 67. And finally, we look at McDonalds' effective handling of its recent E. coli contamination crisis. 2024-11-0852 min

The PR Breakdown with Molly McPhersonElection PR Showdown: Campaign Predictions with the Guys from the Reputation Town PodcastIt's a special episode featuring Molly's conversation with Canadian PR experts Warren Weeks and John Perenack from the Reputation Town podcast. Just days before the 2024 presidential election, they break down the most talked-about PR moves and media strategies shaping this historic race.Episode HighlightsAnalysis of Trump's McDonald's publicity stunt in PennsylvaniaThe "garbage" rhetoric war between campaignsJeff Bezos and the Washington Post's controversial no-endorsement decisionWhy traditional denial strategies are failing in the social media eraRising distrust in mainstream media and its impact on campaign messagingOur predictions for Election Day 2024Want...2024-11-0551 min

Reputation TownPre-election pod with special guest Molly McPhersonWith four days to go before the US Presidential Election, we're joined by our good friend Molly McPherson to discuss the presidential campaigns, each candidate's use of the media, the role podcasts will play in this year's election, the controversy around the 'garbage' comments and, finally, each of us gives our prediction of what we think will happen on Nov. 5th. Hope you enjoy this episode! 2024-11-0148 min

Reputation TownGrading Kamala's media work, TD's $3B fine, Dave Grohl's side baby, Quantas subjects passengers to R-rated movieIn this episode, we catch up on some stories from the past few weeks, including Dave Grohl's confession about having a baby outside his marriage, Samsung's apology for missing its earnings estimate, Quantas forces an entire plane full of passengers to watch an R-rated movie, TD is fined US$3 billion for failing to live up to its anti-money laundering requirements and the bulk of this episode (the latter half) is spent analyzing the media relations performance of presidential candidate Kamala Harris over the past few weeks. Hope you enjoy this episode of Reputation Town! 2024-10-1257 min

Reputation TownElon/Trump X chat, 900 CHML closes, bad PR for Disney, $18 mill of bonuses at the CBCThis week, John and Warren talk about the negative PR impacting Disney after the allergy death of a guest, the viral Australian breakdancer at the Olympics, the Trump/Musk conversation on X, Kamala Harris's reluctance to do media interviews, $18 million of bonuses at the CBC, a Boeing project manager tries his hand at media relations and more. Hope you enjoy this episode! 2024-08-1454 min

Reputation TownFallout after the attempted assassination of Trump, Crowdstrike outage, Cdn soccer drone scandal and moreThis week, John and Warren talk about the drone/spying scandal facing the Canadian Olympic women's soccer team, the wrap-up of the LCBO strike, the astronauts that 'are not stranded' on the International Space Station, the startup company that spent $1.8 million on a domain name and our main topic of the week, the fallout in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. 2024-08-0157 min

Reputation TownBiden's downward spiral, TTC's weak response to murder, Paul Maurice's great speech, Al Michaels' goes A.I.This week, John and Warren chop up a few stories, including Paul Maurice's touching speech moments after winning the Stanley Cup, the TTC's inadequate response to a recent stabbing murder at Jane Station in Toronto and veteran broadcaster Al Michaels approves an artificial intelligence version of his voice to be used at the upcoming Olympics. We end this episode with a discussion of Joe Biden's dismal performance at the recent Presidential Debate, how his cognitive decline has been (mis)handled by much of the mainstream media and what does this all mean with four months until the US elections. 2024-07-091h 02

Reputation TownTrump verdict, KateWatch, American Airlines blames 9-yr-old victim, study links crisis comms to stock priceThis week, Warren and John talk about stories including the Donald Trump guilty verdict, the continuing absence of Kate Middleton and Kensington Palace's curious handling of the situation, Shoppers Drug Mart posts a job ad looking for people to work for free, a US study tries to link crisis response to companies' stock price and Boston Pizza's curious creative choice for its TV ad during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode! 2024-06-0154 min

Reputation TownLeafs fire Keefe, Cdn army's minecraft logo, university protests and Galen blames the customersThis week, we break down some of the more recent PR stories in the news, including the Toronto Maple Leafs parting ways with their coach (and his video farewell), one of the Leafs players compares his teammates to 'gods', the Canadian army declares war on good design, the handling of the university protests and Galen Weston thinks customers are 'misguided' in their criticism of the Loblaw brand amid high grocery prices. 2024-05-1059 min

Reputation TownMaryland bridge disaster, the Huberman hit piece, cops vs LEGO, MLB, Marineland and Princess KateThis week, John and Warren discuss numerous PR-related stories in the news, including the comms around the Maryland bridge disaster, the reputational implications of the New York Magazine hit piece on YouTube neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, a California police department that got under the skin of the makers of LEGO, MLB's alleged gambling crisis, rumours swirling around the impending closure of Marineland and the continuing scrutiny around Kensington Palace's PR practices. 2024-03-261h 01

Reputation TownDr. Terry Flynn joins us to break down the comms around KateGate and other PR stories of the weekThis week, we're joined by PR legend Dr. Terry Flynn, Graduate Director and Associate Professor for the Master of Communications Management Program at McMaster University. The anchor story of this week is the ongoing KateGate situation, which is the last story of the pod. Other stories we talk about this week include the dangers of over-media training your spokespeople, Toronto Police's advice to homeowners to leave their car keys by the front door to give easier access to car thieves, TikTok's lobbying initiative that backfired, Molson's great PR move to profile women's names on hockey jerseys and Ron MacLean...2024-03-1558 min

Reputation TownBrad Ross joins us to discuss Google's woke AI, Shane Gillis on SNL, Arizona Coyotes and moreThis week, we're pumped to have communications veteran Brad Ross join the pod. Brad was the communications face of the Toronto Transit Commission for a decade and then the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Toronto. He's recently started his own communications business and he joined us this week to chop up stories including MLSE's security snafu, Shane Gillis hosting SNL, the NHLer cut by the Arizona Coyotes following a troubling social media post, Google's woke AI platform, a workplace podcaster who got into hot water and more. 2024-02-271h 11

Reputation TownBoeing, Kyte Baby, Cloudflare, Bill Ackman vs Business Insider and Trudeau's vacationFor the first episode of 2024, we are very happy to be joined by a special guest: US-based crisis and PR expert Molly McPherson. In this episode, the panel does a deep dive into some of the more compelling issues, crisis and reputation stories in the news recently, including Boeing's lingering safety woes, the viral HR stories from Kyte Baby and Cloudflare, the ongoing war between Bill Ackman and Business Insider and the ethcis controversy around Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent vacation. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy this episode! 2024-01-291h 16

The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson271: 2023's Biggest Public Relations Fiascos: A Year in ReviewPrepare to step back in time to revisit the top PR fiascos of 2023. Diving into the recent and semi-recent mishaps of the year and their enduring impacts. Joining Molly this week to breakdown the top crises of the year are two seasoned media and PR pros - John Perenack and Warren Weeks. This episode covers everything from significant advertising blunders to historical corporate crises. It's a mix of the obvious stories you'd expect on this list as well as some surprises. We're discussing what went down, who got hit the hardest, and what it all means for their reputation...2023-12-1250 min