LEVICK | September 13th, 2020
CommPRO: The Bucks Stop Here

In CommPRO, Richard Levick urges companies to take this opportunity to lead change in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, not react to it.
When the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted game five of their NBA series against the Orlando Magic to protest police brutality, they took sports’ biggest stand since Muhammad Ali – during the height of the Vietnam War – lost everything and was stripped of his boxing crown for announcing he was a conscientious objector and refusing induction into the U.S. Army in 1968.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t follow sports. The earth stood still on August 26th. Already, in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, the NBA players have demanded and won from team owners the agreement to convert NBA arenas “into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID.” This is enormously big and forever trespasses the line between sports and reality. However, if you have already looked away, you are making a mistake. There is another lesson and it is huge.
According to an analysis by Popular Information, the major sponsors of the NBA have also simultaneously made political donations of $3.3 million to politicians rated “F” by the NAACP. Can you figure out what’s next?
Increased transparency, including obliterating the opaqueness of 527 political donations, means that companies that have historically donated to politicians independent of their brand but otherwise smart for business reasons are in for a reckoning. Brands and politics are no longer separate and the public linkage is accelerating at, well, an Olympic pace. The heretofore “smart” business strategy of donating to politicians either evenly across political parties or because of their sympathetic positions on corporate friendly legislation and taxation are going to find a much less friendly audience…Read more
LEVICK | September 13th, 2020
CommPRO: The Bucks Stop Here

In CommPRO, Richard Levick urges companies to take this opportunity to lead change in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, not react to it.
When the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted game five of their NBA series against the Orlando Magic to protest police brutality, they took sports’ biggest stand since Muhammad Ali – during the height of the Vietnam War – lost everything and was stripped of his boxing crown for announcing he was a conscientious objector and refusing induction into the U.S. Army in 1968.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t follow sports. The earth stood still on August 26th. Already, in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, the NBA players have demanded and won from team owners the agreement to convert NBA arenas “into a voting location for the 2020 general election to allow for a safe in-person voting option for communities vulnerable to COVID.” This is enormously big and forever trespasses the line between sports and reality. However, if you have already looked away, you are making a mistake. There is another lesson and it is huge.
According to an analysis by Popular Information, the major sponsors of the NBA have also simultaneously made political donations of $3.3 million to politicians rated “F” by the NAACP. Can you figure out what’s next?
Increased transparency, including obliterating the opaqueness of 527 political donations, means that companies that have historically donated to politicians independent of their brand but otherwise smart for business reasons are in for a reckoning. Brands and politics are no longer separate and the public linkage is accelerating at, well, an Olympic pace. The heretofore “smart” business strategy of donating to politicians either evenly across political parties or because of their sympathetic positions on corporate friendly legislation and taxation are going to find a much less friendly audience…Read more
- Brand
- Meet Nancy Pelosi
- Delta Airlines and the Georgia Voting Controversy
- Richard Levick on Volkswagen’s April Fool’s
- The Final Episode of M*A*S*H
- Should Companies Consider Appointing Chief Paranoia Officers to Combat Disinformation?
- Can Capitalism Really Be “For Humanity?”
- The Fifth Estate: A Business Guide for Surviving “The Troubles”
- Here We Come
- Corporate Revolt Over Campaign Donations Shakes Political World
- What Happens Next?
- CSR & Sustainability
- Public Perception & the Biden Transition
- Communications
- Corporate Leadership in an Age of Unrest
- Ten Rules For Corporations And Social Issues
- Delta Airlines and the Georgia Voting Controversy
- Developing a Crisis Management Program
- “I Never Felt as Unsafe as I Did That Day”
- How America Scores Changes Youths Through Soccer and Poetry
- Everyone Gets Disrupted
- The Politics Industry
- Look
- The Final Episode of M*A*S*H
- The Regulatory Hall of Fame
- Should Companies Consider Appointing Chief Paranoia Officers to Combat Disinformation?
- Company News
- The Final Episode of M*A*S*H
- Reflections on a Turbulent Year: 2020
- Here We Come
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- What’s a Director to Do?
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with BCG
- A New Look
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- LEVICK Announces Partnership with Jipyong
- Speaking to In-House Counsel
- Childhood Lessons
- Crisis
- Corporate Leadership in an Age of Unrest
- Ten Rules For Corporations And Social Issues
- Meet Nancy Pelosi
- It’s War: The New Dilemma for Corporations and Social Issues
- Matt Gaetz’s Strategic Struggle Makes Him a Target
- Delta Airlines and the Georgia Voting Controversy
- A Call for Elected Officials to Protect Voting Access
- Richard Levick on Volkswagen’s April Fool’s
- Developing a Crisis Management Program
- Standing In Awe
- “I Never Felt as Unsafe as I Did That Day”
- Richard Levick on Top 2020 Crises
- Finance
- The World of Financial Crimes with Tom Ajamie
- Can Capitalism Really Be “For Humanity?”
- GameStop: The Buck Starts Here
- Here We Come
- The Threat to Free Markets
- Advisory & Insurance Services
- WATCH: Revolutionizing Litigation Finance
- Litigation Finance: Revolutionizing Litigation
- Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Event: Consumer-Focused Solutions for Financial Health
- Sports: Power and Money in a New Age of Social Justice
- The Balancing Act: The Role of Whistleblowers in American Commerce and Government
- Guest Column
- Guest Blog: The Mainstream Media Gets an A for Intellectual Arrogance, an F for Journalism
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- Buckle up Directors: Cybersecurity Risk and Bankruptcy Risk Are Not Mutually Exclusive
- South Africa: The Slow Decline of the ANC
- Why CSR Fails and How to Fix It
- What to Expect Following the European Elections?
- Buhari Inaugurated. What Now for Nigeria?
- Marketing- It’s Up To You…
- Crisis Management lessons from the air-crash investigation model
- The Future of War
- Health
- Reflections on a Turbulent Year: 2020
- Food Issues & the Biden Administration
- Covid-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened
- Pharma’s Post-Pandemic Policy Outlook
- Keeping Hope Alive
- Real Herd Immunity
- The Fiction of College Sports Amateurism
- Mac Summit: Crisis Communications in a Post-Covid, Post-Election World
- Travel Industry Communications in the Age of Covid-19
- Track of Time
- Is C-19 Taking Women Lawyers’ Careers Back to the 1950s?
- Post-Pandemic PR Strategy
- In Memoriam
- Snider’s Super Foods: Locally World Famous
- Speak Truth With Love, Not Anger
- In Memoriam: Stephen Susman
- Letter to the Movement
- John Lewis’ Life Bridged the Best of America
- Albert Krieger, 1923-2020
- In Memoriam of Marcia Horowitz
- Jim Lehrer Passes Away
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Harold Burson Passes Away
- Interviews
- CommPRO: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Life & Legacy
- Richard Levick on “My Wakeup Call”
- Primerus Webinar: Into the Wind
- The Future of Baseball Post-Pandemic
- Webinar: The End of Brand Neutrality
- Thought Leadership & Organic Growth
- Man & Superman
- LEVICK Announces New Webinar Series with Turbine Labs
- Navigating Coronavirus Challenges in the Insurance Industry
- VIDEO: How to Anticipate & Avoid a Crisis
- What’s Next? with Julie Chase
- What’s Next?: California Electoral Behavior
- Law Firms
- Digital Upskilling in Legal: More Than Just New Technology
- An Insider’s View of the Legal World
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Latest Top Class Actions
- Litigation
- An Insider’s View of the Legal World
- Buyers’ Guide to In-House Tech
- Fighting for the Rule of Law with Marshall Harris
- Why Should I Apologize? Lawyers vs. Communicators
- A Conversation with Abbe Lowell
- Leveraging Legal Expertise in Communications
- You Took a PPP Loan. Now Get Ready to Talk About It.
- Beyond Black Swan: Positioning the law firm for the new normal
- A Salute to Personal Courage and the Rule of Law
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- When a client becomes a law firm’s PR nightmare
- The General Counsel’s Dilemma
- Our Work
- Bridging the “Preclinical Gap” in Childhood Cancer Research
- Recent Awards & Recognition
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- Crisis Communications & The Age of Cancel Culture
- Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Staying Ahead of the Crisis
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- Infographic: Judgment Free Zone
- Infographic: Barriers to Entry
- Infographic: History Meter
- Assistance for Law Firms Engaged in Pro Bono
- Public Affairs
- You’re the Media and You’re Going to Die
- The Politics Industry
- The Politics Industry with Katherine Gehl
- Real Washington with Former White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart
- From Shareholders to Stakeholders with Don Springer
- The Regulatory Hall of Fame
- Richard Levick on U.S.-China Relations
- The Price of Courage
- Can Capitalism Really Be “For Humanity?”
- GameStop: The Buck Starts Here
- Impeach, Indict, Heal? A Discussion of Post-Trump Washington
- “Crooked Dominion Machines,” Impeachments, Insurrections & The First 100 Days
- Risk
- Should Companies Consider Appointing Chief Paranoia Officers to Combat Disinformation?
- The Price of Courage
- Ingredients of Decency
- ESG Performance and Credit Markets
- The Coronavirus Saga is Just Beginning
- No. 1 Risk of the Decade
- The Risk Evolution of Corporate Risk
- Extend Risk Management Reach
- Collective Action
- Risk Identifying Software
- The New Risk of Doing Nothing
- Political Unrest In Hong Kong
- Social
- A Call for Elected Officials to Protect Voting Access
- How America Scores Changes Youths Through Soccer and Poetry
- Look
- Should Companies Consider Appointing Chief Paranoia Officers to Combat Disinformation?
- The Price of Courage
- Bridging the “Preclinical Gap” in Childhood Cancer Research
- The Ministry of Common Sense
- How to Stop the Madness
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- No ‘justice’ in rep’s vote
- A Call for Orderly & Peaceful Transition of Power
- Recovering from the Greatest Sacrifice
- Technology
- Digital Upskilling in Legal: More Than Just New Technology
- Should Companies Consider Appointing Chief Paranoia Officers to Combat Disinformation?
- Bridging the “Preclinical Gap” in Childhood Cancer Research
- 3 Tech Lessons Businesses Must Learn From COVID-19
- Constella Intelligence Announces Hunter for Improved Investigation Capability
- Cyber Risk Institute Expands Its Profile
- Digital Politics: The Future of Voting Technology
- Ethics in Electronics
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- A First Look at the Google Antitrust Suit
- The Pause
- Cybersecurity Incidents of the Summer
- This Week
- A Remembrance of Tommy Raskin
- A New Year’s Resolution
- Over the River and Through The Woods
- Dropping the Mic
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- The Cyber Bad Guys Are Getting Worse
- What We Hear
- Track of Time
- Video: Conversations with American Legends
- Conversations with American Legends
- A New Era of Insurance Marketing
- American Legend