While the gun control debate rages south of the border, there's more to the game's message than the need to ban assault weapon sales. 'I think that the three of us had all been pretty frustrated by the lack of any sort of gun regulations despite the constant waves of mass shootings that happen in this country,' he said. 'I think it's a frustration that a lot of people have.' 'Thoughts and prayers,' the internet meme Lacher said that more than 300,000 people came to share their thoughts and prayers in the first weekend alone, and he predicts the game's success may be due to the same phenomenon that inspired its creation. So, in the time outside of their jobs, the New York-based trio of freelance writers, designers and developers hustled to put out their sixth GOP Arcade game - and the response was worth it. 'My friend Brian was like, 'It would be funny to have a game where your only actions are to think and pray, to put you in that position of powerlessness.'' Murrow Award for outstanding achievement in broadcast and digital journalism.'As usual, all the 'thoughts and prayers' talk was starting to happen and we were like, 'We need to do something about this,'' Lacher told CBC News on Thursday. The news team’s coverage was recognized with an Edward R. In his television management career, Howard helped lead WKYC-TV’s coverage of the shootings at Chardon High School in 2012.

Howard Fencl is a vice president at Hennes Communications, and works to help clients with crises capture the complex and heartfelt emotions they want to convey.

And if you really believe someone’s tragedy is not worth more thought and human emotion than that, then prepare to be pilloried by the always-vigilant, ever-righteous haters who troll social media. They are meant to comfort people suffering. The final offender – which seems fairly new to the bogus emotion lexicon – is the mortifying Thoughts and prayers are the kind of thing you send to sick children, patients with cancer, friends who have lost a loved one to old age or illness. Don’t use this phrase either it has also become vapid and thoughtless. “Thoughts and prayers” will never get you there.Īnother tired perennial phrase that needs to be forever retired: “Our hearts go out.” This ersatz emotion likely crops up because its users, who would normally trot out “thoughts and prayers,” need a quickie message that backs “prayers” out of the picture in fear of offending people who take offense at the notion of praying. If you are genuine about your grief, people will connect with you – and perhaps more broadly with your company – because you are human. These are sincere messages that any one of us may feel when a sudden loss of people we know or love punches us in the gut and grief takes the wind out of us. “We cannot begin to imagine the depth of grief that their families are going through right now.” “ was much loved, and will be missed terribly by all of us here.” “All of us at are in shock over the senseless act that took the lives of our colleagues.”

You might dig deeper and say something like What if this horrible thing – heaven forbid – happened to someone in your family? Take a few moments and put yourself in the shoes of the people who have survived. When that time comes – and it will – don’t kneejerk and immediately toss off a hollow cliché. Should you do it for your organization’s reputation? Yes, but you should do it first and foremost because it is the right thing to do. “Thoughts and prayers” has become a meaningless message, a quick toss-off for those too lazy, and too disrespectful, to stop, turn off their smart phone, close their office door for a minute and think about the tragedy at hand.Ī sincere expression of grief is always appropriate when tragedy happens on your watch. And you’ve seen it recited rotely and mindlessly time and again on social media and in the news media. Don’t pawn off insincere, off-the-shelf template language just because you feel your organization must say something – anything – after a tragedy.Īnother school shooting? “Thoughts and prayers.” Environmental catastrophe? “Thoughts and prayers.” Industrial fatality? Well, you get it. Nobody Cares About Your Thoughts and Prayersĭon’t give me your phony grief.

Thoughts and prayers do something