the sPRint: Hot Jimothy Summer

August 28, 2026 | We talk about Neutrogena backlash and pay tribute to Dolly Parton. Plus, what is newsjacking and how does it work?

The Warmup

Fun Facts 🎂The National Park Service turned 110 years old on August 25th! With more than 400 national parks, the National Park Service provides protection, management, and maintenance of these beautiful, historical, and recreational properties. Learn more here.

Back to the UK 🇬🇧Prince Harry and Megan Markle are heading back to the UK with their two children. After six years in California, the decision to move back centers around King Charles’ health along with having their children enrolled in British schools. Check out Today’s coverage here.

Client Wins 🎉 Check out Spry PR clients this week in CNN, The Philadelphia Inquirer,Facilities Management Advisorand Sales & Marketing Management.

Fast Twitch: Hayden Panettiere & Neutrogena’s Response to Backlash

Hayden Panettiere’s tragic passing on Aug. 16 came as a devastating shock to her fans—and reignited conversations about mental health. After the devastating news broke about a very talented woman gone too soon, a brand crisis began to resurface for Neutrogena.

In 2015, Neutrogena suddenly fired Hayden, who had been a partner and spokesperson of the brand for a decade. The decision to part ways came after the actress and singer openly discussed her struggles with postpartum depression in an interview on Live with Kelly and Michael. You know, that health issue that up to 1 in 5 people experience after giving birth, and that makes up part of the paltry 2% of medical research spending that goes to pregnancy, childbirth, and reproductive health worldwide.

Now, back to Neutrogena: If you thought “that’s not a good look,” you would be entirely right. And, the brand’s response made a bad situation even worse.

After 10 years of partnership, Hayden revealed she received radio silence from the brand after her firing. Following the shocking news of her death, the animus toward the brand has returned as fans call for a boycott of Neutrogena. In response, they posted a statement on social media, screenshotted here on CBS News:

There have been a myriad of articles and LinkedIn posts covering PR pros’ takes on how Neutrogena handled this situation, so we won’t belabor their arguments. We could argue all day about the ethics of their decision and about employment law, I guess, but from a brand perspective, they handled this all wrong—especially given that women (the ones experiencing postpartum depression btw) are their core audience.

Read some takes from PR pros in PR Daily or dive deeper into the story by Melissa Gaffneyhere.

The High: “Hot Jimothy Summer”

Viral sensation Jimothy descended onto the scene (and into our hearts) from Seattle, Washington. He’s a raccoon with a speculated spinal deformity that has taken the internet by storm, with Jimothy memes making it as far as a Seattle Mariners game earlier this month—the MLB team dedicated a special night in his honor. And, he must have been a good luck charm as the Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-2.

Using memes as an opportunity to drum up engagement is not lost on brands. In fact, memes have the potential to reach people that wouldn’t normally see your content. This is a great example of a viral trend being tied into a brand event (see also in viral raccoon lore: the drunk raccoon that had the internet and the entire state of Virginia in a tizzy last year).

Learn more about Jimothy’s influence on the Seattle Mariners and Jimothy Night here.

Slow Twitch: A Tribute to Dolly Parton

Country music legend Dolly Parton passed away at 80 years old on Aug. 25. This is an epic loss with the rare (these days) cultural power to bring Americans together in their grief.

We’re not going to use this section to talk about what we learned about PR and brand from Dolly (though there certainly is plenty, starting with being a genuinely good person with strong core values). Instead, we’re paying a little tribute here to a truly incredible artist and philanthropist.

Dolly’s father could not read or write, which served as the inspiration for her famed Imagination Library. The program has nationwide reach, providing free books to children from birth to 5 years old. Literacy was an issue not taken lightly by Dolly, and even the Library of Congress named her a “titan of children’s literacy.”

In 2020, Dolly donated $1 million to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to support Covid-19 research which became crucial in the early vaccine development. Shortly after, she donated another $1 million to the Medical Center to support research into pediatric infectious diseases.

Where natural disaster strikes, Dolly could also be found supporting families devastated by events such as the wildfires of East Tennessee in 2016 and post-Hurricane Helene in 2024. This barely touches all of her achievements and recognition in philanthropy that helped her build and maintain a personal brand that was based in love.

Aside from her astounding philanthropic contributions to the U.S. and world as a whole, Dolly also had a major influence on efforts in Appalachia as well as for inclusivity and women. In 1986, “Dollywood” opened in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and attracts millions of people to the site every year. The park was built to help revitalize the area she loved more than it was about expanding her brand as a celebrity. Dolly has also always been outspoken about her support for the gay and lesbian community, and as a powerful woman herself, she has helped move women up in the business and entertainment worlds.

For more about Dolly Parton’s philanthropic contributions and recognition, read Shafiq Najib’s article for ABC News hereor Julia Carpenter’s piece for History.com here.

The Home Stretch: Newsjacking

Coined by David Meerman Scott in 2011, newsjacking is a technique that allows brands to layer their own commentary and perspective on top of a breaking news story for increased visibility.

First, the news breaks—then, you newsjack, taking advantage of the key moments when journalists are still scrambling for sources, and your audiences are hungry for information.

Here’s an example: This week, news broke about retaliatory tariffs from Canada following the collapse of trade talks between its government and the Trump administration in the U.S. Working with our client, Peacock Tariff Consulting, our newsjacking efforts racked up coverage in more than 45 outlets—including The Philadelphia Inquirer—and their expertise was featured in nearly 100 unique and syndicated stories.

Commonly used on social media and in media relations, newsjacking is an effective technique across multiple channels. Benefits outlined in an article from Embryo include increased brand loyalty, authority, credibility, and higher engagement rates.

Like the sPRint? Share it with the rest of your team!

This is a 100% human-written newsletter (imagine that!). Be kind and share the marketing goodness here 👉 https://sprypr.co/newsletter-subscribe