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

What do you think about Kim Kardashian announcing her candidacy for a Californian state senate seat? Are the early stages of granting Tim Tebow sainthood merely a publicity stunt on behalf of the Vatican? Will people tune in for the upcoming “Hunger Games” reality show? Those are just a few of the hard-hitting, not to mention completely false, curveballs posed to credulous New Yorkers by TV news reporter Mike Holland, also known as actor and comedian Dan Hodapp.



To answer a question posed to McDonald’s Canada about why fast food items look different in advertisements than in restaurants, marketing chief Hope Bagozzi, took cameras behind-the-scenes of a recent photo shoot to see how the fast feeder prepares its hamburgers for their close-up.



Now let’s see McDonald’s explain its way it way out of the recent rankings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) that proved the Golden Arches might be a bit tarnished these days. The restaurant came in dead last in the “Limited-Service Category” with 73 percent satisfaction, while Papa John’s took top honors with 83 percent.

So what’s a burger chain to do? Change its style, of course. McDonald’s is doing just that, at least in the U.K., where fashion designer Wayne Hemmingway for AMC’s hit show “Mad Men” has been tapped to overhaul its uniforms.



And unlike McDonald’s, whose shares have fallen 11 percent, rival Burger King hoped its new menu changes might entice investors to back the hamburger chain in its return to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday.

Starbucks, which didn’t fare much better than McDonald’s in the ACSI rankings, might have a better go with its new tea-only venture.

That is, as long as Starbucks stays away from Venice Beach. We’d hate local cafés to scare as easily as the local bodybuilders did when Google moved in on their turf.

Hipsters, on the other hand, are fighting off the evil prowess of large corporate retail, attracting rock group No Age to headline an anti-Walmart benefit at the end of June in Los Angeles. Check out the event’s Facebook page here.

Speaking of checking out places on Facebook, USA Today reports the most commonly checked-in landmarks using the social network’s location-based platform.

I’m sad to say that soon Ann Curry will no longer check in behind NBC’s “Today” anchor desk. According to Businessweek, executives at the network are preparing for her replacement as a result of seeing the show slip in the morning news ratings.

Don’t fret, Ann—if Benetton’s win of the Press Grand Prix at the International Cannes Lions Festival for its controversial “Unhate” campaign signifies anything, it’s that sometimes, even when you get pulled, it doesn’t mean you weren’t the best at what you do.

Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned two of soccer’s best, as well as Nike U.K., about sponsored tweets that used the #makeitcount hashtag. The tweets, which are part of a campaign to promote Nike Fuel, don’t make it clear that they are, in fact, sponsored by the athletic company, according to the ASA.

Next time, Nike, just get an ‘80s pop icon to sing about your products. The approach is working for Old Navy.