Gordon Brown and the Jinxed Career
Gordon Brown is jinxed. At the Number 10 reception to mark the second anniversary of the Prime Minister’s Talent and Enterprise Taskforce, Perri Luc Kiely, the frizzy haired 13 year old dancer with Britain’s Got Talent winners Diversity, took a tumble, hurt himself, burst into tears and is now taking top billing in the press […]
Churnophrenia: the News Disease
Maybe I’ve reached a midlife crisis of confidence in the news, given how long I’ve worked in PR, but the more I read the papers or listen to the radio these days, the more I find myself considering the underbelly of the stories that I’m hearing and pondering on who exactly delivered a particular story […]
The Eccentric Orchestra of LA
My old friend, the maverick director Tony Kaye, best known for American History X and a slew of fine music videos for Johnny Cash and the Red Hot Chili Peppers amongst others, is looking to bring the strange and unusual back into music by holding an open audition in Los Angeles for any musician this […]
Exploding with Energy Drinks
Lucozade is going through PR hell at the moment, in the wake of lurid headlines such as “The Lucozade Bombers” referring to the thwarted plot to blow up seven planes with bombs concealed inside bottles of the energy drink. The Guardian asked me what I though that Lucozade would be doing about it, in an […]
All the President's (Short) Men
What is Nicolas Sarkozy’s problem with his height? He can’t seem to go a week without turning up in the press reportedly wearing a pair of stacked heels and standing on tiptoe in an effort to make himself feel taller – be it next to Barack Obama or factory workers in Normandy. His latest stunt, […]
Dissecting the Spin Doctors
I’ll be taking part in the Radio Academy debate on Spin Doctors in the Gibson Building in Rathbone Place next Wednesday at 6.30 p.m., joined by Katie Hopkins, who founded her own consultancy after saying ‘No’ to Alan Sugar in The Apprentice, and the politicial blogger Guido Fawkes. The chair for the event is Jeremy […]
Fixing the Polls
Bearing in mind what I wrote in yesterday’s post about transparency and trust, it doesn’t really help that there are still PR firms out there who will go to any lengths to be popular. Seventy Seven PR recently put up an adhoc poll to find out which PR firm people admire the most. A nice […]
Of Sweat and Politics
Politicians may have a lot to sweat about at the moment, but the appearance of actual sweat can knock back their image management incalculably. The Guardian published a piece on this today, with reference to the MP Bill Rammell’s sweat-drenched appearance on the BBC a couple of nights ago, and asked for my opinion on […]
Truth, Nakedness and PR
A career in PR always provides challenges – certainly I am cautious about some of the work I’ve undertaken and have, in retrospect, had to face out some of the poorer decisions I’ve made, such as promoting alcopops. With this in mind, it’s interesting to see that the Climate Camp 2009 protestors have targeted Edelman […]
Lord Mandelson, Louis Vuitton and Bags of PR Hell
The Daily Telegraph’s Tim Walker asked me for my opinion, in today’s paper, on Bernard Arnault’s response to Lord Mandelson’s insistence that the Louis Vuitton bag he was photographed with last week wasn’t his… “Bernard Arnault responded with a polite “merci, mais non” when I asked him if he would care to comment on why […]
My Edinburgh
Here’s an unedited version of the piece I wrote for yesterday’s Independent, on My Edinburgh. Trawling Edinburgh Festival for the sites of my old publicity stunts, celebrated in the #Twithibition I have just launched, has been a contemplative experience. The stunts celebrated 25 years of mischief, but that was then. What is now? I thought […]
Stunts and the Art of Celebrity Maintenance
Today’s Independent features a story about stunts at the Edinburgh Festival, mentioning me and a number of other Edinburgh stuntsters, notably Malcolm Hardee. The article uses a number of the stunts that made it into my online and on the streets #Twithibition, as well as a number of more recent stunts and is a good, […]
PR Gaffes in Fashion Retailing
The Daily Telegraph asked for my opinion yesterday on the ruling against Abercrombie & Fitch, who were found to have “wrongfully dismissed and unlawfully harassed” Riam Dean, a 22-year-old woman with a prosthetic limb who was shuffled off the shop floor last year. “Mark Borkowski, a leading brand and celebrity publicist, said: ‘This is probably […]
Unidentified Flying PR Agendas
I’m intrigued by the Daily Mail’s leap to the defence of computer hacker Gary McKinnon and am certain that there’s a certain PR agenda underlying their campaign on his behalf. Whilst it is utterly in keeping for the Mail to campaign to keep the trial of a man with Aspergers Syndrome in the UK so […]
Andy Coulson: Tapping in to the Tories
As the former editor of the News of the World turned PR man for David Cameron, Andy Coulson’s appearance before the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee the other day was always likely to be difficult – this is a high-pressure enquiry into the phone hacking scandal. His performance was a masterstroke, […]
Backpacker is cleared of faking bush ordeal to make £100,000
AUSTRALIAN police have spoken out against claims British backpacker Jamie Neale faked being lost in the Blue Mountains National Park in order to sell his story to the media. The 19-year-old, who slept under shelters made of bark and lived on kangaroo berries for 12 days, sold his story to Australian television for £100,000. But […]
Rebranding Sarah Brown
The Independent ran an article on the rebranding of Sarah Brown and asked several people their opinion on her efforts, including myself – see the excerpt below. To read the full article, click here. “The publicist Mark Borkowski, a prolific user of new media, believes that Sarah Brown has shown herself far more adept in […]
The News of the World: Tapping on Heaven's Door?
It seems, of late, that sleaze is a gift worth giving and that it’s for life, not just for Christmas or for politicians. The latest example – the News of the World phone tapping scandal – is, in Variety’s slanguage, a “dramedy”. It has the potential for seriously succulent consequences, which might be deeply costly […]
Michael Jackson's Funeral: The Greatest Show on Earth?
And so Michael Jackson is to be put to rest – or his physical form is at least. There is no doubt that his name, his brand and his image will live on for as long as it makes money. Death is merely a chapter break in the life of Michael Jackson – it’s not […]
The Art of Careful Twittering
I was asked for my opinion on how to maintain an online presence by the Guardian, for a piece published yesterday, looking at the ways you can be vetted by employers through postings to Facebook, Twitter etc. Here’s an excerpt. “Publicist Mark Borkowski encourages his clients to make good use of the web, though he […]