Corporate comms brace for Congress as ChatGPT ads lag

By Amara Osei

Amazon, Apple, Walmart and Live Nation have received demands to produce records by Jan. 4, the first full day of the new Congress, according to The Wall Street Journal.

PR Daily linked the Democratic majority to public concern over affordability and corruption and said legislators now intend to use congressional investigative powers against large companies and their policies.

The announcement does not specify each investigation, the documents requested or the consequences of noncompliance, so Jan. 4 marks a first production deadline rather than a complete map of the oversight.

What does the congressional agenda mean for corporate communications?

PR Daily expects the demands to trigger extensive internal audits, substantial legal work and preparation for testimony, accompanying statements and communication with internal and external audiences. It described the coming process as a high-stakes communications exercise.

Communicators must also account for an emboldened Congress, a president willing to punish businesses he regards as political opponents and a public angry about rising prices and seeking affordability, PR Daily said.

Against that backdrop, PR Daily expects most company statements to stay deliberately bland:

“Our company is committed to keeping prices low and serving the American people. We look forward to setting the record straight.”

Testimony creates a different risk. PR Daily said congressional questioning can function as both a genuine inquiry and a venue for legislators to grandstand and build personal brands. Most leaders called to testify will already have extensive media training, but testimony before Congress still demands intensive, specialized preparation.

PR Daily warned that excerpts may be taken out of context, clipped for social media and spread virally. It recommends preparing selected “greatest hits” from the testimony and sharing them with the company’s own messaging.

PR Daily’s takeaway: A polished opening statement will not carry the whole communications effort; teams need disciplined testimony and ready-to-publish clips.

Why do advent calendars matter to marketers?

Brands from cheese to fashion are using advent calendars, which let users open one door on each of the first 24 days of December and receive a small treat, PR Daily said.

Influencers turn that item-a-day format into an all-at-once unboxing show, revealing exactly what is inside and advising followers on whether to buy.

PR Daily said the format can market products from tinned fish to jars of jam, drive sales during the holidays and build brand knowledge and affinity afterward.

PR Daily warns that audiences can react sharply when a calendar underdelivers or its cost feels disproportionate to the treats inside.

The New York Times reported that Skims’ $150 advent calendar contained a handful of scrunchies and bobby pins, which creators compared with items found under a couch. Skims offered full refunds.

PR Daily said communications teams should act as consumer advocates when a product fails to deliver on its promise.

PR Daily’s takeaway: A worthwhile daily surprise can extend a campaign, while one disappointing box can quickly undo goodwill.

How is Sesame Street staging its comeback?

PR Daily describes Sesame Street’s recent years as tumultuous and its current trajectory as a comeback. The children’s brand faced disruption when its HBO deal ended and federal funding fell significantly. New partnerships with Netflix, YouTube and Tubi now sit alongside celebrity collaborations, social-friendly content and live events.

Those events include Abby Cadabby speaking to children affected by wildfires in Washington state.

Joseph Giraldi, chief operating officer of Sesame Workshop, told The Hollywood Reporter:

“We did an incredible event for all the families that were displaced as a result of those fires, and brought the Muppets and Abby into an environment where they could really bring some hope and a sense of comfort to those children and families who are dealing with what was a terrible situation there,

and that was acted upon with incredible agility by the team to be able to pull together,”

PR Daily said the wildfire response demonstrated Sesame Workshop’s ability to act quickly and provide comfort. It also said Sesame mixed its traditional formula and built partnerships both in front of and behind the camera, preserving relevance for decades while drawing new audiences.

PR Daily supplied no audience, revenue or partnership-value figures, so the scale of the comeback remains untested.

PR Daily’s takeaway: New distribution can broaden a brand, but the live and social work still has to feel recognizably Sesame.

What do ChatGPT’s early ad results show?

OpenAI’s plan to place ads inside ChatGPT met user skepticism at launch, and advertisers remain skeptical even though 100,000 have signed up, PR Daily said.

Business Insider’s early tests show ChatGPT earning advertisers $0.89 in revenue per U.S. session, compared with $2.45 for Google search ads.

Business Insider reported:

“Right now, the growth of OpenAI’s ad business is limited by the size of ChatGPT’s free user base, the scarcity of ad-relevant conversations, and the tight ceiling on how many ads users will tolerate before abandoning the product,”

PR Daily called the audience attractive in theory but said practical results remain to be seen. It said generative engine optimization (GEO), the practice of improving visibility in results generated by large language models (LLMs), seemed especially powerful as paid options fell short.

PR Daily’s takeaway: ChatGPT has advertiser scale, but advertisers still need proof that ads inside conversations can match returns from established search.