Hordes of fans are calling a new hotline to congratulate the U.S. women’s hockey team on their Olympics gold medal.
PR firm Jennifer Bett Communications partnered with Cosmopolitan to launch a fan hotline at 1-833-SHE-WON1 (1-833-743-9661) that allows anyone to congratulate the team on its 2-1 overtime win over Canada.
The initiative began as a desire to bring attention back to the women’s team after the men’s hockey team won gold three days later. During a congratulatory call to the men’s team, which also won 2-1 in overtime over Canada, he invited them to the State of the Union and then joked he would “probably be impeached” if he didn’t also invite the women’s team.
A video of the men’s team laughing at the remark went viral, pulling media focus away from the women’s victory.
“It was a cheap remark that undermined the women’s team’s major accomplishment and echoed the misogynistic ’locker room talk’ that Trump has long drawn criticism for. That’s why we here at Cosmo have decided to balance the scale,” Cosmopolitan magazine wrote.
Jennifer Meyer, founder of Jennifer Bett Communications, started the hotline to close the “recognition gap” in women’s sports coverage.
The response was enormous, with hundreds of messages pouring in, including from lawmakers, hockey coaches and activists, Cosmo said.
Jennifer Bett Communications says it is ensuring the messages are delivered directly to the players.
• Juliet La Sala can be reached at jlasala@washingtontimes.com.
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