Super Bowl 50 officially kicked off with Media Day Super Bowl Opening Night and there’s a lot going on in Northern California. I mean this could be Peyton Manning’s last rodeo, players are wearing wrestling masks and the game will be on in Hungary! The SAP Center, which is usually home to the chokers known as the San Jose Sharks, is now home to the “Golden Game’s” opening night.

Needless to say, I did not get an exclusive with Peyton Manning.

I really want to know how anyone gets any good stories from this day without insider access. There are literally thousands reporters hunting both teams asking the same old questions and getting the same old answers. Some of the goof balls reporters are dressed as super heroes, clowns, and brides turning the already insane day into a mockery of media reporting.

As I look around the arena, I am immediately reminded and how America is a sucker for everything football. Upwards of 7,000 fans paid $30 just for the privilege of sitting in the stands and watch the players say as little as possible in their quest to get back to their hotel for room service as soon as possible.

Speaking of insider access, Miss Universe, Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines, certainly has it. She’s covering the festivities for Inside Edition. Gossipers inside the madness whispered that a bitter Miss Colombia was denied a press credential…well, that’s what Steve Harvey told me.

I’m still a little bitter myself that the Super Bowl package at the Fairmont hotel seems to be sold out. The five-star hotel has a $1 million party package which includes a four night stay for six in their 6,000-square-foot penthouse and 22 tickets to the game. I was really counting on this package.


Back to Pia, she was up front, sash and all, dancing with the players:

Last year’s Super Bowl XLIX between the the Patriots and the Seahawks was watched by almost 155 million viewers. For those of you scoring at home, that the most-watched show in the history of American television. This is why ads on the telecast cost a whopping $5 million for a thirty second spot. It seems that every single spot will star a dog, a donkey, or Alec Baldwin touting Amazon’s ripoff of Siri featuring the voice of “Alexa.” Early buzz has the Honda Sheep as the media darling. In the spot, sheep sing Queen’s “Somebody To Love.”

Ah, Sheep…the perfect metaphor for the mass of naive consumers susceptible to dreamy television commercials. But seriously, Keith Quesenberry of Messiah College and Michael Coolsen of Shippensburg University came out with a new study of Super Bowl ads, The researchers said that William Shakespeare holds the key to a great ad. Time.com they concluded that the most successful, well-liked ads are presented as mini-movies in a five-act story structure such as that favored by legendary playwright William Shakespeare. Why you ask? Well, the study found many of the best ads follow “Gustav’s Pyramid,” the five-part story structure — exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement — adopted by 19th Century German novelist Gustav Freytag.

Jose Mendin’s Korean Fried Chicken Wings (below)

Sirius XM satellite radio will offer up eight languages of the game on Sunday, including a Hungarian broadcast. Somewhere in Budapest, a woman preparing her goulash (in lieu of chicken wings) is wondering aloud how she’s going to make it to the 12:30a kickoff time.

Speaking of which, how did chicken wings become the official snack of America’s most-watched event? The National Chicken Council estimates that 1.3 billion wings will be eaten by Americans on Super Bowl Sunday. That’s 39 million more than last year! The NCC also notes that that Charlotte residents spend over $1,400 on wings per $1 million spent in local grocery stores. That’s almost three times more than the $480 devoted to wings in Denver. Apparently, the wing is king. I’ve provided a brilliant Korean wings recipe below. Why? Because every great American party needs some culture.

Lady Gaga is performing the national anthem. Considering her performance at the Oscars let’s us know she will do just fine. The betting over/under is 2 minutes 20 seconds for Lady Gaga’s pregame national anthem on Sunday. What prevents Gaga from telling all her family and friends to bet big on the “under” and then coming in at 1:57? Hey, I’m just asking!

The Q Factor. Sports and entertainment research company, Repucom, which measures the metrics on almost 4,000 celebs and athletes and celebrities reports that Panthers QB Cam Newton now has a better “influential score” — the ability to change people’s perceptions — than President Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton. Now you know who to write-in this November.

Helen Mirren’s anti-drunk driving Super Bowl ad for Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser smacks of hypocrisy:

Bud shouldn’t get to preach against drunk driving any more than Smith & Wesson gets to preach about gun violence.

Carolina Panthers cornerback Josh Norman wears a wrestling mask on Media Day Super Bowl Opening Night. Photo: Jerry Lai, USA TODAY Sports

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The Evolution of Barbie

“We believe we have a responsibility to girls and parents to reflect a broader view of beauty.” These are just a few words from Mattel’s senior vice president after the toymaker announced a new line of inclusive, diverse Barbies. The new spot won’t appear on the Super Bowl telecast, but it deserves a spot here on the Media Guy Struggles:

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There’s been some rumor about a trip to Hungary to see the amazing architecture and take in the opera at the Hungarian State Opera House (amazing!). And, I may have needed to be in Hollywood to accept my Emmy (yeah, that’s a thing, woo hoo!). And, I may or may not be stalking mirroring following uhhhhhhhhh, reporting on the global premieres of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 and the fashion of Jennifer Lawrence.

The London Premiere

For this column, let’s go with The Hunger Games. By now, most of you know of my affinity for Ms Lawrence (read: Straight Out of Encino and Dreaming on the Oscars Red Carpet for a better taste of that), so this plum assignment was too good to pass up.

London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Berlin with a side trip to Hungary? Who am I to say no? All the big designers has showed up in style for the Oscar goddess: Burberry, Christian Dior, Dion Lee, Mugler, Thakoon, Schiaparelli, and Ralph Lauren,

The Los Angeles Premiere

So just when I was soaking in Jlaw’s Jimmy Choo gold Dory sandals and her gorgeous, goofy command of the red carpet, I ran into Gaby Lorenzo, a Bay Area marketing genius and she shared why it’s nearly impossible not to draw parallels from the Hunger Games into your life and society.

But allow me to digress a moment with this JLaw tidbit from the world premiere roadie as she admitted on the Conan Show that she made a horrible mistake with her first tattoo. “I feel I have ‘I’m stupid’ tattooed on my hand permanently,” she said. She added to is by telling us that she made a pact with her Hunger Games co-stars to all get tattoos when filming finally wrapped on the series of movies. She decided to get ‘H2O’ to “remind me to drink more water.” But she admitted that she got the ‘2’ in the wrong spot – superscript above the other characters, rather than below. “It’s now H-squared!”

“I didn’t go to school…I’m an uneducated idiot.”

Yet, I digress; back to The Hunger Games and its unique life lessons. Whether it’s politics, romance, business, or even pop culture, there are lessons we can draw from the trilogy and apply to our daily routines. Here key takeaways and lessons learned from the Suzanne Collins’s fictional characters:

The New York Premiere

Develop relationships and network.

With 24 tributes participating in the games, it’s important that you make connections (think about your colleagues and business partners). Your friends and allies are your key assets. Whether you need food, medicine or weapons, all of the tributes must rely on the help of others. The Hunger Games are not something that you can participate in alone. Ask for help when you need it. Seek and create resources for yourself and your team. Everything we do is based on relationships and experiences we encounter with media, colleagues and prospects. The relationships we develop over time help us to produce good work and to continue to advance to new adventures, and ultimately grow. Like the arena in The Hunger Games, the world is smaller than you think, and every day I continue to remain surprised at how often paths will cross.

Your work ethic matters.

The Paris Premiere

At the end of the day, there is no shortcut to getting ahead. The shortcut is working hard. Determination is the key to success in all future endeavors. It’s the work, planning and preparation you put in along the way that gets you to the finish line. Like the tributes, PR professionals must remain committed and strategic in everything that they do to produce stellar results. Hard work rarely goes unnoticed in our industry, and the leaders in the arena like Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark exemplify these traits. They also showcase their many values: dedicated, smart, honorable and ballsy to name a few!

Showcase your skills and value.

The Berlin Premiere

Tributes in The Hunger Games must rely on their special skills. This will help them differentiate themselves from the other tributes. The core competencies that they possess cannot only help them win, but also to get sponsorships from the districts (think investors). This is the value-add, and the players in the arena must leverage their special skills – from hunting, to camouflage, to building a fire and even gathering food. In communications, it’s just as important to highlight your special skills. Are you a good writer? Do you know all of social media’s secrets? Familiar with analyst relations? Are you an expert in Adobe Illustrator? Flaunt those skills! Bring something to the table that no one else can offer. For our clients, they find our special skills to be most beneficial.

Just keep swimming.

The Madrid Premiere

While we are not fighting for our lives day-in and day-out, we need to remember to keep breathing. Naturally, the PR and marketing industry is not as hectic as the arena that the characters face. It’s important to look ahead and focus on the big picture – keep trekking through the workday. Whatever you do, just don’t give up. Finnick, a tribute in Mockingjay once said, “It’s better to not give in. It takes ten times as long to put your self back together as it does to fall apart.” Mind over matter in the games is key, and in real life, it absolutely holds meaning. Remember to stay motivated even when the days can get stressful. At the same time, remember that we aren’t saving lives.

As Effie Trinket would say, “May the odds be ever in your favor.”

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What else could it be than the epic final trailer for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 and  its $40 plus marketing budget:

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