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public relations
bad ideas
CBS Exec Brags About Fiddling as Network Burns
In an odd bit of television, charming-but-unwatched late night host Craig Ferguson invited a fictional author onto his show Wednesday. The fictional author, Stanley Bing, wrote a book about slacking off on the job called Executricks: Or How to Retire While You're Still Working. But Stanley Bing's real name is Gil Schwartz. And Schwartz is actually CBS's head of corporate communications. Meanwhile, CBS's stock is tanking. So this is maybe bad PR, to admit to not really giving a shit about your job? Asked for comment, Schwartz said "go stuff it." After the jump, Ferguson interviews "Bing" about his earlier book on "Bullshit Jobs"—ones that pay more than they're worth. Heh. More »
books
Sloane Crosley + Keith Gessen = Publishing Synergy
Is Hollywood PR practice infecting New York's lofty cultural industry? Two young stars together are always bigger than two separate entities. "Hot young New York authors Sloane Crosley and Keith Gessen," as the press release says, will do a joint reading next Wednesday in Brooklyn. Ooh! The n+1 editor (Gessen), and the popular twentysomething book publicist (Crosley) both have new books to promote—Gessen has already jokingly (we think) admitted in his NYT Styles profile to keeping a watchful eye on Crosley's sales, which are beating his. It's better this way: if readers get annoyed by Gessen's overblown male characters—at least they'll have her quirky essays to lighten the mood. [BookCourt]
I Don't Even Know How I Ended Up On This List But AWESOME
Wow, so I'm apparently getting blasts from The Sharper Image and they're inviting me to "demo" their new and insane and wonderfully useless products. This is some sort of LASER THEREMIN I think? Should I do it?
do not want
How Not to Pitch a Dance Party
New York's Dance Parade—a parade about dancing and against the city's outdated cabaret laws—is a cool idea, but this bossy e-mail missive to promote it is the worst: "I need your support with this dance parade thing. Monetary or just blast it for me. I know that you charge for this [We don't] but I have no budget to actually pay. I am working so hard to save our way of life... This directly affects you, shit without socialdancing your (sic) out of a job." No, without internet advertising I'm out of a job. Socialdancing is a mere perk.
religion
Black Guys No Longer Considered A Plague
Hey, remember that "Black guy as the plague of darkness" Jewish children's finger puppet set that you derived so much racial and religious amusement from last week? Well Jewishstore.com must have gotten the mild whiff of bad publicity that its crazy puppet was generating, because the black man of darkness has now been magically replaced by a far more vague representation of said plague! Before and after photos of the educational puppet array, below. More »
holidays
Happy "Take Your Inescapable Realization That You've Failed Your Children To Work Day"!
So. It's apparently "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Or "Take Your Child To Work Day" if you're one of those parents who makes their son wear dresses and pigtails. We are hearing reports of dozens of children terrorizing offices across Manhattan, interrupting work with shrieking and face-painting and possibly pony rides. It could be worse, though! You could be the saddest person in the world—the woman visiting her child at work as part of McDonald's new "Take Your Parents to Work Day" initiative. More »
film
Babysitter Prostitute Movie Sure To Inspire Misguided Fantasies
This upcoming film called "The Babysitters" is about babysitters, alright—hooker babysitters. One high school girl starts off as a mere child supervisor, but quickly comes to find that she can build more wealth selling her own body. Then all her high school friends are like "Hey, us too!" This movie may have been made before, but probably never outside the pornography industry. It stars Cynthia Nixon, and John Leguizamo as the lecherous husband, which is the role that John Leguizamo was born to play. The trailer [via Videogum], after the jump. More »
pr stunts
"30-Plus Uncle Sams" to Make Tax Day Even More of a Nightmare
Do people still actually go to the post office to mail their taxes in? If so, the NY-Style Bagel Chip Co. (from, perhaps, the minds that brought us "Brooklyn-style Pizza" and "DC STYLE" magazine) will ensure, next week, that no one ever does again. They plan on sending 30 people dressed as Uncle Sam to six Manhattan Post Offices on April 15th. The Sams will hand out samples of Pretzel Crisps, a new "unique pretzel cracker." Because it's "crunch time," you see. Then the Sams will dispense homespun wisdom about the necessity of military intervention against the filthy Spaniards and the nation's unstoppable drive westward. Then 30 John Bulls will show up and they'll all have a bloody good row. Press release after the jump! More »
this thing looks like that thing
Smarty Documentarians Not So Smart
Here's a feature about how this poster for American Teen, a documentary about five Indiana high school kids, "isn't just just clever marketing." The image is a cute homage to John Hughes' perennial favorite The Breakfast Club, and American Teen "examines a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse, but then delves deeper, revealing these real kids to be far more than superficial stereotypes." But the part that I care about is that it's been done before. More »
marketing
Mary-Kate Olsen Gives Scarf Bad Reputation
Branding experts know that getting the right celebrity to wear a client's clothes at the right time can be worth millions in free publicity. Emphasis on the right celebrity and the right time. An example of the wrong celebrity at the wrong time would be Mary-Kate Olsen, and right now. More »
too soon?
Bad Taste Update
In light of Heath Ledger's tragic death—which might or might not have been related in some fashion to prescription sleep aids!—Paramount Public Relations would be more than happy to arrange an interview with one of a certain health website's many experts in Holistic Sleep Aid Solutions! Blast email attached.
mistakes
'PR Newswire' Employee Slugs Release 'Loony-Bin Rally,' Gets Fired
Flackers, a word? You will almost certainly be fired should you use the slug "LOONY-BIN-RALLY" on a press release about a march for mental illness. Yesterday, Philadelphia Daily News columnist Dan Gross reported that a PR Newswire employee had done just that, prompting her dismissal and a pleading correction from the company, which distributes press releases to over 4,000 news aggregators. How did the company stumble across the faux pas? Why, News man Gross called in the tip himself! Filling a regular column is hard. "PR Newswire deeply regrets an error that occurred yesterday in a news release, re-sent below," the correction reads. "PR Newswire understands that such terminology feeds the prejudice and discrimination associated with mental illnesses and will take steps to ensure that nothing like this occurs in the future." Thing is? The original wasn't wrong, per se. After all, it was a rally for a loony-bin. Full-blown insensitivity, on the other hand, typically warrants something a tad weightier. Like a press release. Release after the jump. More »
myspace
"MySpace Celebrity" Will Render PR Bunnies Useless
MySpace has launched MySpace Celebrity, the celeb arm of the social-networking site. It's very...purple. The channel intends to empower previously disenfranchised celebs to "communicate directly with fans and control their voice." MySpace founder Tom says, "It's a natural extension for us to now offer them an aggregated channel where they can be in control of their own image." Hey, isn't that what they pay other people to do for them? And what about content? Oh, there will be content. Along with an exclusive news partnership with People.com, "Mathew (sic) McConaughey has provided MySpace Celebrity with an exclusive Q&A," among other things. [MySpace Celebrity]
travesties
Grubman Disenfranchised, Nation Weeps
Pedestrian-mowing PR queen Lizzie Grubman can't vote. Because she's a convicted felon! And while some candidates feel no compunction about asking for cash from that particular group, Grubman declines all requests. "A lot of candidates have asked for my help with my contacts and although I'd love to help, I have to decline because at the end of the day my opinion really doesn't matter," Grubman told Page Six. Silly murderess! They don't care about your vote! Don't you remember how much money you have? Oh, wait, she does: "Unless one of them wants to pardon me so I can vote again." [NYP] [Photo: Tana Lee Alves for Wire Image]
memos
CBS Spokesperson Unintelligible On Layoffs; Weblogs Repeat The Blather
Explaining to the press why your company has just axed a slew of people isn't exactly fun times. It's even less fun when the people who have been fired are also members of the press. People don't like that! Sometimes the best bad-news strategy is to issue a memo providing copy to reporters while saying nothing at all! Like late this afternoon, when CBS News spokesperson Dana McClintock sent out a meaningless statement that says absolutely nothing about today's CBS Interactive layoffs—and everyone actually printed it, from FishbowlNY to the Huffington Post (which at least called it "not that illuminating") to TVNewser to the Observer's Media Mob. How bad is it? Read it for yourself! More »
blind items
Which 'Major' Magazine's PR Director Is On The Prowl For An Assistant?
"Major magazine looking for an assistant to supporting their Director of Public Relations," reads this Craigslist ad, posted this afternoon. The position, which is either a "fantastic opportunity" or an "excellent opportunity" (Perhaps both excellent and fantastic! Probably neither!) entails working "side-by-side with some of the top industry professionals in PR and publishing." Also it's a six-month contract job, because God forbid anyone hire anyone ever. This "major" magazine has offices in both L.A. and New York, which narrows it down to quite few. Could Vanity Fair's Beth Kseniak be hiring? (Maybe if you get the job she'll let you clean up the parking lot after the Oscar party!) Vogue, W, and Details are also possibilities. It's Friday afternoon and we got nothing—any ideas?
the gentrification of money itself
