For those of you who were not in PR
at the time, or do not remember – although how you could forget I do not know –
there was once a PR person at a big agency named Amber who represented a
company called Hot Pockets. After 9/11 she sent out a press release about how
people might want to check out this comfort food after what happened on that
day. Unless she was the bosses’ daughter – actually even if she was – Amber lost
her job when the Washington Post published her release with a commentary.
There are far more bad PR people than
good and as a service to those of you who are looking for an agency or need PR
here are a few articles about the worst that PR has to offer. One of the
biggest issues is that so many of the PR people who don’t know what they are
doing are young, untrained and trying to get the attention of actual
journalists in the same way they would create a tweet or Facebook post. PR requires
a real story to tell and a respectful pitch note.
For your amusement here are some of
the worst pitches out there:
From Deadspin
From: Chris Brown - Wantster
To: tips@deadspin.com
Subject: Chris Brown and Wantster to make sick kid's wish come true
To: tips@deadspin.com
Subject: Chris Brown and Wantster to make sick kid's wish come true
For Immediate Release - Toronto, Canada – July 16, 2013
CHRIS BROWN AND WANTSTER TO MAKE SICK KID'S WISH COME TRUE
When social site Wantster.com learned of Chris Brown's support
of the Kids Wish Network following a backlash of media reports of locals trying
to boycott Brown from headlining the Energy Rush concert series, the company
decided to get involved as a major sponsor. Wantster is working with Kids Wish
Network and Chris Brown to fulfill the want of a child who is battling a life
threatening illness. "We wanted to check off "MEET CHRIS BROWN"
from one lucky child's want list by granting them an up close and personal
meeting with Brown himself and VIP access to one of the concerts taking place
in Halifax, Winnipeg or Toronto", says Kathy Brewer, publicist for
Wantster.
From Bob Garfield in MediaPost
American Ladder Institute Exhibits at NSC Expo
CHICAGO – The American Ladder Institute (ALI), a not-for-profit
association dedicated to developing ladder safety standards and promoting safe
ladder use, will be exhibiting at the 2013 National Safety Council (NSC) Expo
taking place September 30 – October 2 in Chicago.Look, guys, I don't want to be too smart-alecky about this, but if I didn't bite on your Ladder Safety Month release, why would I promote your convention booth? In future, please address your ladder-awareness news to Curly@TheThreeStooges.com. My inbox is no place for your spam. And by the way, on the subject of pork and pork byproducts, this arrived from Peter Marchese of Playback Producers:
.Intv Opp-Bacon Nation
Hi, folks! Are you a bacon-lover? Check out these 125 recipes that show bacon isn’t just for breakfast anymore!! Please let me know if you’d like to book an interview!
Best,
Peter
From Gawker
Hello! My name is Veronica. [Hi.] I
found your blog through my research on Technorati, Google, and Social Media
sites. [Thank you,
fascinating.] After
reviewing your site, I commend you. I respect your work. I know that blogging
is more work than most understand. [God damn right Veronica.]
I'm reaching out to you to start the discussion of working
together. I'm looking to promote our easy, convenient, and confidential car
title loans as an alternative to other traditional lender options for those
across the nation with financial hardships.[Let me stop
you right there, Veronica. You see, we are a humorous general interest blog
site with little to no connection to the topic of car title loans. Furthermore,
we are not in the business of promoting specific car title loan companies. Even
our car site, Jalopnik, where you should have sent this email (if only you did
not think we are The Huffington Post), does not do that. So you're really
wasting your time here. Thanks anyhow. You may stop writing, hit
"Cancel," and continue on doing something more productive with your
day now.]
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