About William Moss
Trans-Pacific spin doctor. Head of Global Media Relations at TSMC. Occasional writer of humor and PR analysis. This is a personal blog and opinions are my own. More information at “About Imagethief“.
Also on Substack (where full posts live now), Bluesky, the usual places.
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Tag Archives: Crisis Management
The People v. McRib
The press bites on a sandwich lawsuit Here’s a possibly controversial theory: Lawyers are just specialized PR people. I can hear my lawyer friends clenching their jaws, but hear me out. Contracts are communication. Courtrooms and arbitration hearings are communication. … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, Crisis Management, Food, Litigation, Media, Public Relations
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The Kiss-Cam of Resurrection
Born Anew in the New York Times Remember the Coldplay concert kiss-cam disaster of last July? The CEO of software company Astronomer, Andy Byron, and the head of human resources, Kristin Cabot, were caught in a suggestive embrace by the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, Crisis Management, Internet, Media, Public Relations
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In Space, No One Can Hear You Spin
Crisis PR for science fiction’s most evil company Note: Minor spoilers for the recent “Alien: Earth” series. I was eleven in 1979 when my dad took me to see Ridley Scott’s Alien at the Geneva Drive-In, in South San Francisco. I watched … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Crisis Management, Humor, Media, Memoir, Pop Culture, Public Relations
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Growing Popularity of Alien Brain Squids Fuels Controversy
Squid-wearers call for mankind’s extermination, but some say we should hear them out DES MOINES, Iowa—Aug 31, 2025—Debate raged today over the sudden popularity of head-worn squids in this normally sedate midwestern city. First noticed in social media posts from … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Crisis Management, Humor, Media, Rants
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Red Packets in the USA!
Evaluating a New York media scandal on the international beer metric Twenty years ago last March, I wrote my first blog post about PR in China. I had been living and blogging in China for nine months, but my early posts focused … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Beijing, Business, China, Corruption, Crisis Management, Media, Public Relations, USA
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The Life and Death of a Cool Phone
That time we tried to make the Moto X in the U.S.A. I’d been working for Burson-Marsteller in China for nearly six years when I got poached away by our client, Motorola. Jumping from agencies to clients can be tricky, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged China, Crisis Management, Motorola, Public Relations, Technology, USA
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The Kiss-Cam of Annihilation
The reputational risks of being a Coldplay fan Here is proof that the universe hates you: You go to a Coldplay show with your paramour thinking you will be safely anonymous in a darkened arena full of 50,000 people with … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, Crisis Management, Pop Culture, Public Relations
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Who Speaks for the Killer Shark?
You’re gonna need a bigger PR plan I saw Jaws for the first time when it premiered on network television. This was in in November 1979, just after I’d turned 12 and more than four years after the movie had been in … Continue reading
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Tagged Crisis Management, Pop Culture, Public Relations
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Decapitation!
Doing comms when a leader is ousted. Also, travel fun! I just got home from a trip that took me around the world, from San Francisco to Amsterdam, from Amsterdam to Taiwan, and then back home. I arrived in Amsterdam … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Business, Crisis Management, Media, Public Relations, Rants, Travel
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The Art of Keeping Your Mouth Shut
Never go to war with a popular TV program Way back in the early nineties, there was a popular sitcom called “Murphy Brown” set in a TV newsroom. The plot device of the lead character’s single motherhood offended then vice … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Crisis Management, Internet, Media, Public Relations, Reputation
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Imagethief 