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Takes

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Big CatBig Cat

Johnny Manziel should get fat to regain public sympathy

Fat Johnny Manziel is actually a good way to get some sympathy back... You can't... It's just different when you're fat. People won't call him a scumbag as much... You're lovable when you're fat.

Manziel did not follow this advice; he eventually opened up about his struggles with substance abuse and mental health in a more traditional manner years later.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

People are more lovable when they are fat, and losing weight makes the public hate you

People who are fat are better. When Seth Rogen lost weight, everybody hated him. When Jonah Hill lost weight, everybody hated him. When you eventually lose weight, [Big Cat], you're going to be public enemy number one.

While anecdotal, there is a recurring pop culture trope about 'funny fat guys' becoming less popular after losing weight, though it's not a universal fact.
Void
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Steven Adams should use an interpreter to avoid future controversial comments

If I'm Steven Adams, I'm bringing out an interpreter with me for the next interview that I have. Like, I know you speak English in New Zealand. But most people in America don't know that... having that interpreter that you speak through, that explains away a lot of the bad stuff that you're getting caught up in right now.

This is a satirical PR suggestion, not a serious prediction.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Tiger Woods should ditch Nike for Champion or Costco to lower expectations

I think it's time for Tiger Woods to ditch Nike because you see Tiger Woods in the Nike and you think of early 2000s... height of his powers. And you're like, why is this guy not the same? I think he needs to be sponsored by like Champion... or like Costco.

Subjective marketing/PR advice. Tiger eventually left Nike in 2024, but for his own brand Sun Day Red, not Costco.
Win
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

If Steph Curry loses in the finals, the public will turn on him and call him a fraud

Everybody rooted for him last year because he was the skinny kid... Now he's so confident in his abilities, people are starting to turn on him. If he loses in the playoffs or in the finals, they're going to be like, I guess he couldn't hang with the big boys. Guess he's a fraud.

The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 Finals, and Curry was widely criticized and called 'washed' or a 'fraud' until he won more titles.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Steph Curry should get a divorce to become likable again because Americans love a broken person

My advice would be get a divorce. Nobody likes the married guy that's having sex with his hot wife all the time. If you're really good at your job, you get a divorce, you get a lot of sympathy from everybody... get everyone on your side immediately.

This is a satirical PR strategy and not a verifiable claim.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Steph Curry needs a tragedy in his family to become likable again because Americans don't like perfect people

I don't want someone in Seth Curry's family to die, but if someone did die in his family, he would immediately lift the air of like hateability... I'll admit when my take got a little too hot, got away from me... but if someone did die, he would immediately lift the air of like hateability.

This is a dark satirical theory on public relations and sympathy that cannot be objectively tested.
Void
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Americans do not like perfect people; they prefer athletes who fuck up like normal people

The bottom line is Americans don't like perfect... so just like make yourself more like us, you know, like get caught taking like sending a nude to somebody or sliding into somebody's DMs. Like be just like the rest of us normal Americans, you know, fucking up a little bit.

This is a sociological observation and opinion on celebrity culture.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Olympic cancellation rumors are just a PR stunt to remind people the Olympics are happening

I swear to God, they pretend it's canceled the Olympics every Olympics just to remind us the Olympics are coming... how else do you pump everyone up for the Olympics in the beginning of May?... Their whole PR 101 is they just remind you it's happening by scaring the fuck out of everyone.

While it's a theory on media cycles, the Rio Olympics did proceed despite massive pre-game scares about Zika and construction.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

I would trade four months of being sick with Zika to win a gold medal for my country

Why is it that big of a deal to get the Zika virus if you're going to get a gold medal? I would trade four months of being sick as a dog to win, not win it for myself, but win it for my country. I would shit through a screen door for four months if it meant that my country got a gold medal.

A personal trade-off preference is entirely subjective.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Retired players should fake-tweet they are returning to the league just to get back into the news cycle

I think more players should start doing this where they just fake tweet that they're coming out of retirement. Just get people talking about him because I didn't even know Jason Campbell was retired... Jeff George should just tweet something racist tomorrow just to get the rush of being like a celebrity again.

Subjective PR strategy advice.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Jeff George should tweet something racist just to feel like a celebrity again

Jeff George should just tweet something racist tomorrow just to get the rush of being like a celebrity again... That has to be a desire you have to fight every day.

Jeff George has not, in fact, done this to get back into the news cycle.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Never plead guilty to a crime even if you were caught on video

What lawyer tells his client to ever plead guilty? I've never understood that. ... My legal advice for everybody out there: Just don't plead guilty even if you absolutely did it and you're caught on video. Don't do it.

Plea bargains are a fundamental part of the legal system that often benefit the defendant; never pleading guilty is generally poor legal advice.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Spite is an underrated motive for health and longevity

I think that spite is very underrated as a motive for things and just as an ability to help you get through life. ... Just find somebody that you really hate that you want to outlive. Yes, you got to outlive them.

Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Johnny Manziel should become a sports blogger

He needs to become a blogger. He needs to write for the Players' Tribune. I'm sure they'll hire him over there. ... because pretty much all bloggers do all day is they talk about sports and then they get drunk at night. And that seems like it would be like a square peg, square hole situation.

OpinionMediaHotSarcastic
Manziel never became a regular sports blogger, though he did start a podcast later.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Johnny Manziel should buy a house instead of renting to avoid party damage headlines

My PR 101 advice to Johnny would be—this is basic stuff—buy a house, don't rent. Interest rates being what they are these days, you're getting some bad financial advice so just look to buy, don't look to rent.

Subjective PR advice.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Johnny Manziel is actively trying to be a dickhead to stay in the news

He's actively trying to be a dickhead now. That's the thing that's shocking with Johnny Manziel... Now I think he's going out of his way to be like, I'm going to stay in the news. I'm moving in with Josh Gordon. I'm getting in a weird car accident. He's trying to do this.

Subjective interpretation of a person's motives.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

Tyler Summit is the Jackie Robinson of coaches getting their own players pregnant.

The Jackie Robinson of getting a player that you coach pregnant. ... Say what you want about about women's basketball. But I think this is the first time that a head coach has ever gotten one of their players pregnant. ... I don't really know where I'm going with that, except I can tell you that it's never, ever happened in the history of men's basketball. So kind of groundbreaking by him.

Satirical comparison for comedic effect.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

If a coach gets their own player pregnant, they have to marry them.

If I were to tell [Tyler Summit] how to handle this, this kind of no brainer. You got to marry the player, right? ... I think it's probably in bounds as long as you're getting married. If you have an intention to get married, then like, yeah, if you're 25 and the girl is above the age of 20, then I say go for it.

Moral and PR advice that is subjective.
Win
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Greg Hardy's best possible legacy move is to be completely forgotten

The best thing that Greg Hardy could do is be forgotten. That's as good as it's going to get for his legacy. Why don't you get a horse and go live in the mountains someplace and don't bother anybody for a while?

Hardy never successfully rehabilitated his image and eventually left the NFL for MMA, remaining a pariah.
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Big CatBig Cat

Adam Schefter is feeling the heat from Jay Glazer and Ian Rapoport in the insider market

Schefter needs PR 101 because Schefter went on the Dan Patrick show and he started defending Greg Hardy. We call that the Jay Glazer effect. Jay Glazer's doing sit-downs with everyone. Schefter's feeling a little heat there. No one watches the NFL insider market more than I do. Schefter's feeling a little heat.

Schefter's interview with Hardy was widely criticized as a PR failure, and the competitive rivalry between the big three insiders is well-documented.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

J.J. Watt is rattled because he tweeted at me out of nowhere

Here's why I think and I know that J.J. Watt is rattled. This was a totally unsolicited tweet from him... He just tweets me out of nowhere and he says, I thought we were friends now, man... You don't tell someone to have a great day unless you're, like, rattled.

Subjective interpretation of social media interaction, though Watt famously didn't get the joke for years.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

J.J. Watt should commit a small crime like animal abuse to fix his bad boy image

J.J. needs to kind of break out of this goody two shoes, like vibe that he's putting out... I think he just needs to go out and commit a small crime, like animal abuse, you know, a crime. Nobody really cares about something like that. Maybe start a small fire. That would kind of give him that little bit of a bad boy edge.

This is a satirical suggestion.
Win
Big CatBig Cat

J.J. Watt could fix his image by doing 'dizzy bat' and falling on his face

He needs to play a round of drunken dizzy bat because you always fall on your face... Not only is he like, okay, he's a regular guy... He also will fall on his face and will laugh about that. And if he can laugh at himself after that, I mean, he's right back in everyone's good graces.

Watt eventually did lean into more self-deprecating humor and his popularity with the general public remained high.
Void
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

To fix your public image after a DUI, enter treatment, disappear for 40 days, and return with an inspirational tweet.

That's step one, enter treatment. You kind of got to bite the bullet on this one and just say, it's on me, and then disappear for, I don't know, 40 days or something, and then come back with an inspirational tweet, and then you're pretty much good. Everybody will forget about it.

This is a satirical commentary on public relations tactics.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

The Crying Jordan meme is essentially a form of blackface

Isn't Crying Jordan meme a blackface in a way? I've never thought about it like that, but I suppose it is... They blackface literally every person who's ever lost any game ever.

Void
Big CatBig Cat

Coach K is the ultimate sore loser

He basically told a kid [Dylan Brooks], don't showboat. And, like, don't show up the other team while showing up the other coach by coaching a kid that's not his kid. And that's Coach K to a T. Like, he's the sore loser.

Subjective opinion on Coach K's character.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

There is 'no chance' Coach K's program at Duke has been run as squeaky clean as people believe

There's got to be dozens of Coach K scandals that have been covered up over the past 20 years, right? There's no chance that his program has been run as squeaky clean as we've been led to believe that it has.

No major scandals ever took down Coach K before his retirement, though people often debated things like Zion Williamson's recruitment.
Void
Big CatBig Cat

LeBron should toy with the Cavs' emotions by following rival teams

He knows that he can do whatever he wants in Cleveland. So he should just keep toying with their emotions. He should go look at houses in Miami, rent a condo in Malibu. Unfollow the Cavs Twitter account. Follow the Knicks Instagram account. Just basically do all this shit to toy with their emotions.

Strategic advice, not a testable prediction.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

LeBron James will announce he is re-signing with the Cavs by re-following them on Twitter

I actually think what's happening is that LeBron unfollowed the Cavs and that when he signs his option... he's going to announce it by refollowing the Cavs. It's such a shitty, like not cool thing to do, but it's so lame that it perfectly fits something that he would think was a good idea.

LeBron did re-sign with the Cavs that summer, but there was no grand 're-follow' announcement; he simply continued playing and eventually left in 2018.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

The controversy between Raymond Moore and Serena Williams was a staged 'work'

I'm thinking that this guy [Raymond Moore] and Serena were in cahoots. And this was like, let's just get a little buzz going... I think this is all – I think it's a work.

There is no evidence the comments were staged; Moore resigned shortly after due to the backlash.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The best PR move for any scandal is to check into 'treatment' without explanation

Check into treatment... Don't give us an explanation. Just like disappear for 20 days and then you come back and you're like, I'm healed... When you just say it's a real problem that needs treatment, people now all of a sudden can't make jokes about it.

Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Chris Jones should be immune to traffic tickets because of his Combine incident

I feel like if you're the guy whose dick broke through his shorts just because he's running too fast you got to get a carte blanche on driving with a suspended license... I've got to side with Chris Jones on this and not the Police Lives Matter crew.

Hot TakeFootballHotSarcastic
Having a wardrobe malfunction at the combine does not legally grant immunity for driving with a suspended license.
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Big CatBig Cat

If you have a PR disaster like Chris Jones, just do porn to change the headline

If you're Chris Jones, your dick pops out [at the combine], then you get arrested... Maybe you just do porn and like double down again... now you're not the arrest guy. You're the porn guy. You just keep piling on until you kind of cover everything down. Like if I write a bad blog, I'll just keep blogging on top of it and push all the bad stuff down.

This is satirical advice and cannot be evaluated for correctness.
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PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Robert Griffin III needs to cut his hair to look professional for job interviews

If I'm Robert Griffin, I got to cut the hair at this point... You don't want to go into a job interview looking like a hippie... Cut the hair off and be clean cut. Get back to business. Let people know that you're ready to go to work.

Subjective aesthetic and professional advice.
Loss
Big CatBig Cat

Robert Griffin III should rebrand himself as 'Bobby Griffin' to save his career

I got a new quarterback. He's this kid from Texas. He went to Baylor. He won a Heisman. His name is Bobby Griffin. Tell me that guy's not electric... I think Bobby Griffin gets the juices flowing in a GM's mind because you just need to repackage yourself. I'm not RG3 anymore. I'm Bobby Griffin.

RG3 did not change his name to Bobby Griffin, though the take is satirical in nature.
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Big CatBig Cat

I would cut almost any quarterback for 'Bobby Griffin'

If I was the GM of basically any team, except maybe the Patriots and the Packers, I'd cut my quarterback for Bobby Griffin.

Purely satirical and based on a hypothetical name change.
Push
Big CatBig Cat

Chris Jones' NFL Combine wardrobe malfunction will ultimately work in his favor

Everyone knows his name. I think that that actually is gonna work in his favor. This is probably the best possible way to let the whole world know. Like, hey, it is, I'm just, I'm about to become an NFL player, make millions of dollars and Oh yeah. Did you see my [genitals] flop out of the pants?

While Jones became a superstar, the incident didn't become a cornerstone of his brand or marketing as predicted.
Loss
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Chris Jones should embrace his NFL Combine wardrobe malfunction and market himself as the 'big dick guy'

I think he needs to just run with us and totally embrace it and always be the guy with a big dick... show up to press conferences wearing like extremely tight [jeans]... capitalize on it and market himself as the big dick guy. Like he's, there's money to be made out there.

Chris Jones did not follow this PR advice, opting instead for a standard, elite defensive tackle career path.

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