'Make Them': PR Lessons From Netflix's Nobody Wants This

A television character's dating advice has become a working playbook for public relations teams. Remi Yuter, Senior Communications Specialist at Hot Paper Lantern, has taken the "Make Them" theory from season three of Netflix's "Nobody Wants This" and applied it to earned media strategy in a new column.

The theory, introduced by the character Morgan (Justine Lupe) during an off-the-cuff podcast conversation with Sasha (Timothy Simons), is a cheeky counterpoint to Mel Robbins' popular "Let Them" theory. Instead of accepting how others treat you, take action. If you want respect, recognition or an opportunity, don't wait. Make them.

Yuter argues the mindset maps directly onto PR, a practice founded on relationship building where visibility, credibility and influence decide outcomes.

What are the four moves?

Yuter breaks the philosophy into four actions for communicators:

• Create opportunities rather than waiting for them.
• Respond thoughtfully when coverage turns negative.
• Build relationships before you need them.
• Pursue attention that serves a clear goal.

Meaningful media attention rarely happens by accident, she writes. It takes understanding what makes a story relevant right now, identifying who would find it valuable and connecting the dots.

What does creating an opportunity look like in practice?

Yuter's own team offers a concrete case. For a tart cherry juice client, they secured a no-cost sponsor position at a "wellness darty" in Las Vegas — a day party that swaps drinking for fitness and wellness — tying the CPG brand's health benefits to an emerging trend.

The strategy did not stop there. It also included facilitating NIL deals with student athletes, signing the brand as a sponsor of the Charlotte Marathon and meeting registered dietitians to understand how the product's ingredients deliver health benefits.

The cost of all of it: a pouch of tart cherry juice.

Why is negative press a strategic risk?

Yuter challenges the old PR saying that all press is good press. Negative coverage, an unfavorable headline or an unexpected controversy can do real damage. The difference between a bad news cycle and a full-blown reputational crisis, she writes, comes down to how a company responds.

She points to a case on another account. A public controversy following a September announcement affected some reporters' willingness to cover a bigger announcement the following month. The lesson was clear: negative attention does not stay confined to one news cycle, and a delayed response can shape opportunities long after the original story fades.

The goal in crisis communications is not to make negative coverage disappear. "It's to give journalists, stakeholders and the public a more complete story to tell," Yuter writes. Sometimes that means acknowledging a misstep. Other times it means correcting misinformation so a single incident does not define an organization.

Why do relationships matter before you need them?

Communicators cannot manufacture credibility overnight, and they cannot make a journalist write an exclusive. Yuter's advice is granular: follow friendly journalists on LinkedIn and X, congratulate them on a new baby when a maternity-leave bounce-back email arrives, ask about the roof repair they mentioned months before a Zoom interview.

"Little relationship-building moments like these matter a million times more than the volume of 'just circling back' follow-ups," she writes.

When a timely opportunity or a crisis hits, those relationships decide whether a brand gets a response or gets overlooked.

What is the so-what for communicators?

Yuter closes with a caution: assertiveness without strategy is just noise. Effective PR requires knowing what you want to accomplish, who you need to reach and what kind of visibility will actually move the business forward.

"The best media opportunities aren't always the ones that find you," she concludes. "Often they're the ones you make happen."