This week's PR Roundup explores a “Your mom” quip from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to HuffPost’s Shirish V. Dáte in regards to a story question, Golin’s latest CEO Impact Index which shows top leaders pulling back from public engagement, and Capri Sun’s Halloween “Trick & Treat” stunt.
"Your Mom"—How Not to Engage Media
What happened: You may remember a different time in press and political culture. One where former Senior White House Correspondent Helen Thomas signaled the end of each press conference with “Thank you, Mr. President.” Or when former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited a group of women journalists to the Monroe Room in 1933. In 1902, former President Teddy Roosevelt decided to give reporters a place to work in the White House after seeing them standing outside in blustery weather.
Things seem to be a bit different now. From the first iteration of “fake news” by current President Donald Trump during his first term in office to former Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refusing to disavow journalists as “the enemy of the people,” the relationship seems to be deteriorating even faster.
Last week the media reported on a viral retort made by current Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to veteran White House Reporter Shirish V. Dáte of HuffPost. Dáte texted Leavitt asking who had recommended Budapest as a location for a high-stakes diplomacy meeting between the United States and Russia. Leavitt texted back with the response, “Your mom did.”
The exchange has since gone viral and spun off into numerous articles surrounding the role and proper decorum of a press secretary. Dáte told The New York Times in an interview: “I was kind of like, this is a serious war that’s going on that has killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians in their homes, and then your response is, ‘Your mom’?”
Communication takeaways: For PR practitioners, the “Your mom” moment ignites a discussion surrounding media relations and professionalism, not to mention becoming part of the narrative. It also highlights how a reporter’s persistence can turn an offhand remark into a wider story. Reporters are always listening, and retorts are never off the record.
Tiffany Guarnaccia, CEO & Founder of Kite Hill, provided some best practices that all communicators should be aware of when working with the media.
- Texting is a privilege, not a first move. Only use it with established contacts, and always confirm their preferred communication method. True pros respect boundaries; that's how you build real trust.
- Only host press conferences if the news is truly significant and demands a live, interactive forum. For most companies, targeted, personalized briefings are far more effective in driving your agenda forward.
- Go beyond pitching. Always be a reliable resource and offer genuine value to build lasting credibility.
Golin’s Latest CEO Impact Index Reveals a CEO “Retreat”
What happened: Golin's semiannual CEO Impact Index, released this week, finds that Fortune 250 CEOs retreated in the first half of 2025 amid regulatory uncertainty and mounting political risks, dramatically scaling back public engagement in the first half of the year.
“The data show a rapid and intentional shift in CEO behavior with leaders pulling back from public engagement at the same time as policy complexity and technological transformation intensify,” says Brian Besanceney, Senior Advisor, Golin. “The CEO role is increasingly a high-wire act that requires a new level of strategic thinking and precision, because less communication is not necessarily more effective for business results right now."
Findings include:
- Earned media exposure dropped 30% for CEOs.
- However, CEO appearances and content did get more intentional—event engagement surged 23%, and LinkedIn activity increased.
- The highest-ranked CEOs paired AI adoption narratives with workforce support, while lower-ranked ones just announced layoffs.
The CEO Impact Index analyzes the top 250 companies of the 2025 Fortune 500, evaluating each CEO across eight areas: earned media coverage, LinkedIn presence, business awards and rankings, employee engagement, events, trade media engagement, megatrends and sentiment.
Communication takeaways: These dramatic shifts show the role of corporate affairs becoming more vital for navigating brand leaders within the public sphere.
"Corporate affairs is experiencing its most pivotal moment in decades," says Sarah Vellozzi, U.S. Corporate Affairs Managing Director, Golin. "The role has evolved from managing communications to orchestrating strategic responses across political landscapes and workforce transformations. Corporate Affairs practitioners are operating in a new era of risk where always-on, cross-enterprise collaboration is more important than ever before.”
Based on the findings, Golin recommends five critical actions for CEOs and their Corporate Affairs teams:
- Engage with Awareness & Caution: Evaluate all public, private and shared mechanisms for policy engagement with heightened risk analysis and mitigation strategies.
- Keep Policy at the Center: Conduct ongoing monitoring of the government/policy landscape and ensure that both government affairs and corporate affairs teams are highly involved in strategic decision making.
- Emphasize AI-Human Collaboration: Pair AI vision with employee training, transparent communication and investments in workforce transformation.
- Show Vision and Impact from Day One: Quickly develop external engagement platforms and rapid delivery messaging frameworks for new/incoming CEOs.
- Intention Over Ubiquity: Prioritize platform control, message authenticity and quality interactions over vanity metrics.
Capri Sun’s Trick or Treat
What happened: Spooky time is upon us, and one of the more fun brand activations comes from a product that might spark some childhood joy (or frustration with that straw!)—Capri Sun.
Capri Sun is turning Halloween into a playful prank-fest with its new limited-edition “Trick & Treat” pouches. The pouches look like the classic Capri Sun but are lined with ripstop nylon and sealed to make them impossible to pierce—giving fans a chance to pull off cheeky tricks and share the laughs.
The campaign boosts social media content featuring fans in action on Instagram, reinforcing Capri Sun’s spirited, playful personality, while leveraging its most beloved asset in creative, shareable ways.
Communication takeaways: Kristina Hannant, Director of Marketing at Capri Sun, says simple truths can make for the best stories, so why not lean into that straw difficulty mentioned above, rather than ignoring it?
“Real Capri Sun fans know that getting the iconic yellow straw into its pouch can be tricky at times…so why not have some fun with it?” Hannant says. “[This] unites fans in a playful way and proves mishaps can spark fresh creative moments.”
She also notes the importance of unlocking opportunities for iconic brand assets.
“From its invention over 50 years ago to today, the pouch remains an unmistakable symbol of the Capri Sun brand,” she says. “It transcends the beverage fans have poked and sipped for generations, becoming an asset that has fueled some of Capri Sun’s most iconic moments, for example our most recent Pouch Purse, that took New York Fashion Week by storm. The pouch is proof that a brand asset can bend with culture and fuel relevance for years.”
Nicole Schuman is Managing Editor at PRNEWS.