6",12" or 2"
A pizza chain in OZ has produced a YouTube video suggesting employees of a rival chain have small penises, in a bizarre war over the size of their tasty treats. I love this stunt which isn’t generating the ink it deserves. Eagle Boys Pizzas in Australia has attacked Domino’s Pizzas for secretly reducing the size […]
Matthew Freud's Brother in Law
Matthew Freud’s power and influence of will be boosted into the stratosphere due to the promotion of his brother in law, James. I expect the bitchy PR world will continue to take swipes at Matthew, especially when the small minds of the major PR networks finally comprehend the significance of the new shape of the […]
Product placement a new era.
Here is an interesting feature from Tuesday’s New York Times – thank you Spinwatch for highlighting it “Product placement is hardly a new phenomenon, and the morning [U.S. television] shows long ago mastered the quid pro quo of daily television: Actors give interviews timed to their latest projects; authors are recruited as experts just as […]
Media Guardian Awards for Innovation
I spent most of the night studying the entries for the MediaGuardian Innovation awards, an idea cooked up by the MediaGuardian to celebrate innovations in the media industry. I’m judging the PR and Brand Identity sections and I have to admit I found the homework a depressing task. Hopefully, when the judges all gather to […]
"A public conversation with my old mate Trevor Morris"
I had an enjoyable evening last night, pontificating to 300 PR souls at the Old Cinema at Westminster University. The event was in “a public conversation with my old mate Trevor Morris”, who prompted me to respond to issues that were pertinent to modern PR. The final half hour of the evening was taken over […]
Campaign for Media Democracy stages the "Falsies Awards"
At the end of each year, the Campaign for Media Democracy stages the “Falsies Awards,” to recognize the people and players that take spin and propaganda to new lows. I have been told that 2007 is a vintage year and has some all time lows. Corrupt PR practice in the US plagues the media across […]
Jungle rumble to Cerys comeback?
Out of the jungle and into the spotlight for Cerys Matthews Cerys Matthews might have sung “It’s all over the front page” in trademark song Road Rage, but the same could not be said of her in recent years. Until three weeks ago, that is, when the former Catatonia singer joined the gaggle of famous […]
The effect of sales promotion ..
When ever I walk across the Paddington Station concourse I marvel at the genius of sale promotion agencies that regularly use the space. The art of great sales promotions is to connect a brand with potential customers in a creative and engaging fashion. I was drawn to the current Brazil promo at the busy commuting […]
Verity Lambert R.I.P.
I learn from a Guardian obituary http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2216886,00.html that Verity Lambert has shuffled off to the grand TV studio in the sky. Many years ago, I developed a situation comedy with a dear friend and journalist Peter Freedman. Peter did most of the hard work and penned a pilot script entitled “Hype” It was a factual […]
Prank vs Prank
My old friend Joe Staggs sent me a link about an American TV company soliciting for pranksters for a reality TV show. http://pranks.com/2007/11/26/so-you-wanna-be-on-tv/ The question is, is this in itself a post modernist prank? It could be a prank to out prank pranks, after all, it’s Monday morning and I’m still confused from the weekend […]
The media got to Scott Carson but not to Paul Gray
What a depressing week – I hope the coming weekend will erase the memory of the last 5 days. From data cock ups to sporting ignominy a battalion of incompetents have presided over a series of lamentable events. The nation is left with a clutch of black ostrich feathers to wave at the cemetery gates. […]
No gossip, no cry
I heard today on the radio about a PR company in Chicago, Empower Public Relations, which has made office gossip a sackable offence. When Sam Chapman started his small company, Empower, it was partly because he left a company where vicious backbiting was an epidemic. He felt it damaged careers and morale. I whole heartedly […]
VIVA Heather Mills
I don’t mean to bash HM but reading this mornings tabloids it’s difficult not to comment on her latest PR action. I was shocked to see Heather Mills McCartney across the media today in the guise of ambassador for Viva – (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals). When a celebrity is so high profile and under […]
"It Pays To Watch"
An old friend of mine in New Zealand sent me some information on a classic piece of guerrilla marketing that is causing a kerfuffle in the Southern Hemisphere. To coincide with the launch of Mintshot.co.nz, an entertainment website which rewards people for watching ads online, it appeared that Rangitoto, an extinct volcano, was actually erupting […]
Jay – Z and a very modern publicity stunt
Jane Fonda and John Lennon created a PR backlash for the US administration when they used their celebrity 35 years ago to protest against the Vietnam War. In the 21st century, red faces in the US administration are caused by the rapper Jay-Z dissing the dollar. This stunt indicates that modem celebrities feel that the […]
I Used To Be A Publicist, Get Me Out Of Here
Another year, another bout of IACGMOH, addictive mind candy satisfying our latent lust for the guilty pleasures of a reality TV series. Please drop the faux intellectual bollocks that it’s corrosive, we all take a sadistic pleasure in watching it! Before I judge Lynne Franks’ first few days in the comfort of the Australian bush, […]
Virulent H5N1 – the PR spin
The bad news is that the type of bird flu found in turkeys on a Suffolk farm is the virulent H5N1. The government has stepped in to calm the media. Sorry to be the harbinger of doom but I detect the hand of a shadowy PR spin doctor with a damage limitation plan. Take note, careful […]
Absolutely Fabulous – Michele Elyzabeth rejoins Heather Mills
So Heather Mills has a new PR ubermouth. It was reported yesterday that she has hired a self-styled French aristocrat and beauty salon owner Michele Elyzabeth as her “official worldwide spokesperson”. She is said to originate from France and started her career with Rogers and Cowan in the Seventies. Sir Paul McCartney’s estranged wife dumped […]
I'm A Has Been, Get Me In Here
The last 48 hours have been very odd for me, not only because I have the flu, but I’ve been taking calls from Malcolm McLaren from Brisbane, the location for yet another series of “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here”. He’s not a client of mine but a friend asking for advice. Clearly […]
'I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!" – Mclaren update…
I have just heard from Malcolm Mclaren he told me that he has decided not to join the mayhem in the Australian bush and is heading back to Europe. Perhaps it was the eleventh hour intervention of Ant and Dec that did the damage.