Brands
VIP launches contest for best RJs
MUMBAI: VIP Industries will be undertaking a multi-media campaign with radio as a lead medium for ‘VIP RJ of Radio Station’. The contest is an intra-station and inter-city competition amongst popular RJs from Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata.
This first ever competition will have RJs participate from various radio channels like Radio City, Big FM, Fever 104, Radio Nasha, & Radio One. RJs like Archana from Radio City, Ruchi from Fever, Shelee from Radio One, Rani from Big FM, Akriti from Radio Nasha and popular ones from the other participating channels of each city will post their stylish selfies with VIP luggage on their social media handles.
For the first time ever listeners will get a close view of their favourite RJs and finally be able to put a face behind the voice they listen to on air every day. Each network’s RJs would further invite their listeners to visit the VIP Facebook page and post selfies. The winning listener will be selected by lucky draw and will win gift vouchers worth Rs 10,000 from VIP.
VIP Industries senior vice president of sales, marketing and service Sudip Ghose says, “Through this radio contest, we aim to reach out to a wide audience of listeners across cities and offer them another reason to continue to associate with brand VIP. We are confident that this one of a kind contest will retain the customers’ attention.”
The RJ from each network with maximum likes, comments and social media share across cities will be announced the winner. The winning RJ will be given VIP bags along with a trophy, and will be adjudged as ‘VIP RJ of the Radio Station’.
Also, the winning RJ can select a listener from their list through a lucky draw.
Brands
Air Canada ceo to quit over “English-only” message after New York plane crash
English-only condolence video after fatal LaGuardia crash triggers outrage in Quebec and hastens succession
MONTREAL: Air Canada’s boss is heading for the exit after a linguistic misstep collided with a national faultline.
Michael Rousseau will retire by October, the airline said on Monday, days after a backlash over his English-only video tribute following a deadly crash involving an Air Canada Express jet in New York. The March 22 collision with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport killed two pilots and injured dozens, but Rousseau’s message, bookended only by “bonjour” and “merci”, ignited fury in French-speaking Quebec.
Mark Carney welcomed the departure, calling the video a “lack of judgment and lack of compassion”. “It is absolutely essential that his successor is completely bilingual,” he said in Toronto. “He did a good job technically as CEO but as the leader of an organisation you have broader responsibilities. It’s the right decision at the right time.”
The row quickly metastasised. Quebec’s National Assembly voted 92–0 for Rousseau to quit. More than 1,800 complaints flooded the federal languages watchdog. Even Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a major shareholder, weighed in. “There is no doubt that the video should have been in both official languages.”
The symbolism cut deep. One of the dead pilots, Antoine Forest, was from Quebec. Language, long a live wire in the province, remains entwined with identity and politics, fuelling the separatist Parti Québécois ahead of an election due by October.
Rousseau, 68, had form. In 2021, soon after taking charge, he drew fire for delivering a Montreal speech largely in English and boasting he had lived there for years without speaking French. He apologised then and again last week, saying he was “deeply saddened” his limitations had “diverted attention from the profound grief of the families and the great resilience of Air Canada’s employees.” He had logged more than 300 hours of French lessons since taking the helm in February 2021.
Operationally, his tenure was steadier. He steered Air Canada through the pandemic and its messy aftermath, though labour tensions, most notably a four-day cabin crew strike, dogged the recovery. Shares slipped more than 2 per cent after the news before trimming losses to about 1.2 per cent on the Toronto exchange.
The airline, bound by the Official Languages Act to serve customers in both English and French, said it is accelerating a succession plan already under way, with candidates to be judged in part on their French. Analysts say the next chief must pair operational discipline with strategic clarity amid fuel volatility, labour costs and fierce competition.
A dual crisis—metal on tarmac in New York and politics at home—has now claimed its most senior scalp. In Canada’s flag carrier, competence got Rousseau far. In the end, fluency finished the job.
