Episode #41: Robinhood's Huge Unforced Error

Talking Shop Podcast

This year certainly hasn't started quietly! After intense media focus on Washington DC in early January, it shifted quickly to Wall Street this week after Redditors helped launch a small retail stock into the stratosphere. Some have called GameStop the first "meme stock", but it's no laughing matter for some large hedge funds. If you've heard about GameStop, Robinhood, short-selling and Reddit but aren't entirely clear on what they are -- or what happened -- then this episode is for you. Cam breaks down the chronology with a specific look at Robinhood, the popular stock trading app for millennials. With trust so badly damaged, Robinhood may take up a prominent spot in business and PR textbooks for years to come.

Ewan shares a surprising moment from a courtroom in Canada, where counsel and a judge showed some compassion for stressed-out workers. Many are balancing their day jobs with kids suddenly being at home during the pandemic, stretching many people to their breaking point. Ewan tells us why this is a big deal in the context of a culture that idolizes professional pursuits.

Plus: an article almost certain to scare readers about the online dangers to one's reputation, and how alcohol is a bit like cigarettes.

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Links and Show Notes

• In Granting Adjournment, Judge Comments on Difficulty of Lawyering While Parenting During COVID-19 - Law News
• Did Lulz Break Wall Street? - On the Media
• Timeline of a Crisis: r/WallStreetBets and GameStop - PR Week
• An Update on Market Volatility - Robinhood
• What Happened This Week - Robinhood
• Robinhood is Living Through a Branding Nightmare. PR Experts Explain How the Company can Rehab its Image - Business Insider
• Robinhood's Poor Decision will Haunt the Brand Forever - AdWeek
• Robinhood Brings New Investors to the Market - PR & Law Podcast Episode #14

Check This Out

• Canada's Drinking Problem: Why Alcohol is the New Cigarette - Globe and Mail
• Chinese Culture Doesn't Belong to the Chinese Government - Wall Street Journal
• A Vast Web of Vengeance - New York Times

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter. He also contributes to Apple news website 9to5Macand shares his thoughts on PR, media, travel, and technology on his website.