Few Things Are More Worthless Than a PR Firm Survey

12/14/15 3:35pm

Someone went to all the trouble of surveying one thousand American consumers. Why?

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7/14/15 11:40am

PETA says that an activist who participated in the group’s protests against mammal prison Sea World for years was actually a Sea World employee sent to infiltrate them. “Grab your pitch forks and torches. Time to take down SeaWorld,” the whale-torturing corporate whore wrote on Facebook at one point.

We Tried to Interview This Rich Guy About His Rich People Book

6/29/15 11:25am

This month, New York advertising man and chronicler of the wealthy set Richard Kirshenbaum (pictured) published a new book, “Isn’t That Rich? Life Among the 1%.” We tried to interview him about it. It did not work out.

Here's How Sprite Tries to Buy Off Reporters With Free Tickets

2/03/15 12:20pm

Here is an email illustrating how brands (Sprite, in this case) pay off reporters and bloggers with free stuff as a direct quid pro quo for coverage. There's also some info about a TOP SECRET Drake and Nas concert we would like to share.

11/26/14 1:08pm

The oil company TransCanada has announced that it's dropping Edelman as its PR firm after documents leaked in which Edelman advised the company to attack opponents of its oil pipeline plans.

Attack Oil Pipeline Opponents, Advises Bad PR Firm

11/18/14 9:50am

For controversial companies, the tactic of the moment is clear: attack! Attack! Attack your opponents, and smear them! The latest PR firm to offer this advice is Edelman, which advised an oil company client to attack the vicious, uh... community groups that oppose their plans.

Please Don't Be Cynical About This New Site's Huge Corporate Sponsors

10/07/14 11:28am

What happens when you combine the editorial sensibility of Upworthy with the world's most powerful corporations and filter it all through Vice's ad agency? Collectively.org, a new site that will save the earth. Cynical? Stop being part of the problem.

Walmart Spokesman Lied. What? Not a Walmart Spokesman!

Top Walmart spokesman David Tovar has reportedly resigned after the company found that he lied on his resume about receiving a college degree. Lying? Not Walmart spokesman David Tovar!

Celebrity Gift Bag Peddlers Use Robin Williams for (Bad) PR

Robin Williams' death—like many celebrity deaths—was marked by an outpouring of clumsy attempts to use it as a way to get PR for something other than Robin Williams. Today: we honor Robin Williams by using his name as a way to peddle celebrity gift bags.

PR Firm Explains the Best Way to Get Publicity From a Celebrity Suicide

8/13/14 10:08am

When a popular public figure like Robin Williams takes his own life, the public needs a chance to grieve. The best way to do that: by listening intently to our international PR firm tell us how to leverage these suicides to build our #brand.

Here's How Conde Nast and Mo Rocca Are Making Propaganda for Monsanto

Genetically modified agribusiness and pesticide conglomerate Monsanto has a reputation (rightly or wrongly) as one of the most evil companies in America. Here's one way they're working on their PR: by enlisting the help of Conde Nast, and Mo Rocca, and some desperate charities.

Do PR People Deserve Our Sympathy?

6/12/14 11:05am

We often make it a point to mock the very worst public relations people and pitches that we see, on the principle that mocking PR is an honorable and useful activity. But are we all being too hard on the poor PR peons themselves?

Eleven major PR firms have signed a pledge not to surreptitiously edit their clients' Wikipedia pages. Countless lesser PR firms have promised no such thing.

"The U.S. boasts 4.6 public-relations specialists for every reporter or correspondent. Those PR pros earn 40% more a year on average than journalists."

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Pinpointing the exact moment when a press release fails: "[Name], In case you're pulling together a list of the top quick-service fish sandwiches," (failure occurs).

PR Dummies: "What You Eat Defines Who You Will Date"

The first rule of public relations: when sending out a press release, make sure it is racially offensive, full of misspellings and grammatical errors, and— most importantly— strategic.

Here Is the Fourth Known Photo of Fox News Attack Flack Irena Briganti

Irena Briganti is the Fox News PR attack dog described as "The Most Vindictive Flack in the Media World," by us. Despite her high profile job and use of the media to smear reporters, Briganti herself takes great pains to keep all information about her out of the public realm. In the spirit of public interest, we…

Here, a former writer for the Long Beach Post explains how the paper routinely ran press releases from advertisers verbatim, as news stories.

Here Is Ruthless Fox News Flack Irena Briganti's College Yearbook Photo

6/28/13 11:34am

Irena Briganti, the Fox News PR assassin known as the media world's most vindictive flack, is quoted in the press all the time. But she's notoriously photo-shy. In fact it's been almost impossible to find a decent picture of her. Until now.

ABC News Picks PR Man to Take Over Ted Koppel's Chair [UPDATED]

6/20/13 11:11am

For a quarter of a century, newsman Ted Koppel lent an air of gravitas to ABC News' Nightline. And now, years after Koppel's retirement, the network has finally found the right person to replace this icon of journalism: a guy who owns a PR firm.