Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

Health clubs, convenience stores, marathons of “A Christmas Story” on TBS, McDonald’s breakfast menu—the best things in life are (or should be) constantly available. Thanks in large part to social media, the news we consume has reached this always-open plateau. As several digital journalists discuss in this recent video from PBS online series “Off Book,” the ceaseless stream of information shared over Twitter is part of unremitting news cycle that’s having a profound impact on journalism—and, as Social Media Today notes, on your media relations strategy.



Sometimes, the journalists even become the news. Case in point: The tweets that came rolling in as viewers fried Matt Lauer’s turkey during his “deadpan” hosting of Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Coming to Lauer’s defense, NBC News President Steve Capus said, “Twitter snarkiness is an unfortunate result of misdirected anger that’s been unfairly placed on Matt,” according to The Daily Beast.

Regardless, judging from the photos shared by Mashable readers both in attendance and at home, the parade looked festive and pleasant.

At least it was more pleasant than the crowds that turned out for Black Friday deals not long after the parade’s final float. Despite opening stores earlier than ever for the shopping event—and all of the insane fights it sparked—retail sales were reportedly down 1.8 percent.

Even “The Oprah Effect” seems to have lost its holiday luster. Winfrey’s “Favorite Things” special on OWN averaged just 870,000 viewers, nearly a tenth of the nine million who watch the last time it aired as part of her syndicated talk show in 2010. “I don’t think I will live to see the day that any show will reach the apex of selling power that Oprah’s 'Favorite Things' show did when it was on network TV,” says PR maven Allison Brod, who placed several brands on the show over the years.

RELATED: Busted! Oprah tweets her love for Microsoft’s tablet—from an iPad

Even The New York Times conveys that Oprah’s empire is struggling, and not just her network. Her magazine is also grappling to find the young audience it seeks.

Perhaps she should try to sex things up. As The Huffington Post reports, marketers are continuing to use sex to sell everything, including coffins.

Speaking of marketers, Advertising Age just named Chrysler Group its Marketer of the Year.

I hope whom ever commissioned these fat mannequins didn’t think the top marketer honor would go to them. According to msnNOW.com, Reddit users were horrified by the figures’ Baroque stature. Everybody knows mannequins are supposed to look like Kim Cattrall or Kristy Swanson.

And even if the claims of drinking Pepsi Special turn out to be too good to be true, this Japanese commercial for the alleged fat-blocking soda surely isn’t.



Neither is this KVUE reporter’s handling of a drunken “videobomb” during a live broadcast from downtown Austin, Texas.



While it’s standard practice that TV stations go by the letters in their respective call signs, but at least one abbreviation might be getting in the way for some brands—CRM. As Brand Republic explains, the technical complexities of CRM (customer relation management) could be getting in the way of building an intimate rapport with consumers.

The intimate rapport we hold with our News Feeds is a slightly different story. Simply Zesty reports how we’ve all become addicted to the Facebook home page feature.

RELATED: Facebook reveals the 4 factors that decide News Feed content

Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.