Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com posted this article today alleging that Time Magazine invented facts to claim that Americans support Bush's domestic spying abuses despite several studies, polls and surveys demonstrating the opposite to be true. Certainly allegations of fake news are nothing new lately. But given the continued debate about blogger credibility versus journalistic integrity, now is not the time for sloppy (or fraudlent) reporting from mainsteam media. (Then again, when is the time... Read Full Story
"Goodyear can't build a tire worth a crap," said driver Tony Stewart on Sunday at the Atlanta Speed Motorway about new tires the NASCAR sponsor created specifically for the race. "The tires were made with a harder material so they would not wear down, but that made handling difficult,” said Ed Clark, president of Atlanta Motor Speedway. “Issues with the handling made drivers more cautious and the race less exciting and that disappointed fans.” A video of Stewart vowing to “go home and take... Read Full Story
Charlie Sorrel made a very interesting observation in his Wired Magazine blog yesterday. In it, he describes a post on Martha Stewart's blog in which she espouses the virtues of the new MacBook Air. Those who know me know I love Martha. Sure, she's flawed, but she's also a super savvy businesswoman who turned her hobbies into an empire. That said, as Charlie notes, her comments sound an awful lot like a Apple press release. I was so excited when my new MacBook Air arrived the other day. When... Read Full Story
Now i know i've admitted to watching trashy TV before, but i think both I and Jim Carrey have reached a new low. While flicking through channels this weekend I came across what I think is probably the most shameless and expensive PR stunt i've ever seen! As part of the opening credits American Idol was an animated segment showing the characters of the new animated Dr Seuss movie "Horton hears a who" getting excited about to watch American Idol. On top of this Jim Carrey, the star voice of... Read Full Story
The question was posted on Linked In: Do Consumers Wield Too Much Power? Responses so far have varied from: " consumers have way too much power" to " no they have little power and should demand more." Here's my thinking: Consumers have more power now than they have ever had and that is a GOOD thing for us! Never before have we been able to view consumer motivations, intentions and actions the way we can today. This is because consumers have never before had so much control in their choices... Read Full Story
Burger King are in the news these week after revealing that they are soon to start selling an £85 burger! This will start to be rolled out in high end London locations next month and is rumoured to be made from imported Japanese wagyu beef (though after pressure, plans to include foie gras have been dropped.) £85 Burger King burger reported in the Sun The general consensus is that this is a PR stunt positioning Burger King as a premium alternative to McDonald's. There is widespread debate as... Read Full Story
“She who wants to have right without wrong, order without disorder, does not understand the principles of heaven and earth. She does not know how things hang together.” - Chuang Tzu, fourth century B.C.
I just love Margaret J. Wheatley writings on Leadership and the New Science, how she poetically flows from chaos to order and rediscovering our humanity particularly in the last chapters where she takes us in a wonderful journey through unpredictability, uncertainty and how we ‘participate... Read Full Story
Thursday, March 20th, marks the first day of spring. Hallelujah! I am so glad I will be finally able to pack away my bulky winter coats for at least another 9 months or so! Me and cold, wintry weather just don’t get along! With springtime comes a whole new season of renewal and refreshing possibilities. This is the time of year when people start clearing out their homes, dusting off their furniture and rolling up their sleeves for that much needed spring-cleaning. Out with the old and in with... Read Full Story
The Flack posts an insightful look into the use of YouTube for PR battles in article entitled " The Beeb Battles Back ": One technique we used to counter the news program's growing quest for drama entailed taping the taping. In exchange for access to our newsmaker client, we demanded (and were granted) the right to film the interview. When the news crews' cameras shut down, so did ours. We would then have unedited footage to make available on an as needed basis, but with few outlets on which... Read Full Story
The power of the media can’t be underestimated. Get quoted in a newspaper, interviewed on the radio or television and you gain quite a bit in credibility, respect and awareness. A one or two line quote in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek or USA Today will have your phone ringing the next day. How do you gain that coverage? Big PR firms will tell you that its all about relationships, its all about being in the inner circle. To some extent I believe that is true, but I have also found that... Read Full Story
