Rehab Reality

Lohan, Dunst, Spears, Carey, Mendes, O’Brien…and the list goes on and on. AOL has a special section called Celebrity Rehab, and the host of the popular reality show Celeb Rehab allegedly is a substance abuser.This cartoon appears in the current issue of The New Yorker.

Foodie Flash

Must be nostalgia week. Back in the day when 9/11 was just another day, the Bush in the White House wasn’t evil and stupid, and Soho was what Tribeca was and Nolita is, I handled PR chores for an exceedingly popular restaurant/art gallery called Central Falls on West Broadway at Houston Street, the gateway to…… Continue reading Foodie Flash

Walled-In

What happens when your old-fashioned PR agency, I mean publicity shop, sets up the interview, and then walks away hoping for the best? And what happens when the interviewee, a newspaper gossip columnist, is incongruously asked about his employer’s increasingly vital digital business strategy?The answers can be found in Jeff Bercovici’s Mixed Media blog today…… Continue reading Walled-In

Bin Laden, Bush and Bees that Buzz

Could it be that Morgan “Super Size Me” Spurlock’s new movie may have surreptitiously captured Osama Bin Laden on camera? Just consider the marketing potential if it were true.Spurred by this tantalizing tidbit, the Buzz Brothers Weinstein snapped up the U.S. rights to distribute “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden.” Good news for…… Continue reading Bin Laden, Bush and Bees that Buzz

Birthday Bashed

As our industry redefines itself to capitalize on two seminal changes/disruptions affecting all — the mass migration to digital media consumption and the mass empowerment of consumers as media producers — a great many people still equate pubic relations with event management and party planning.The portrayal of PR in popular culture serves to feed this…… Continue reading Birthday Bashed

A Picture is Worth…

My buddy Howard Bailen directed me to a piece in today’s Globe & Mail that reported on a new study that showed “how the compensation of 1,500 CEOs of companies in the United States rose in the year after getting featured in the media.”The three key findings from the Univ. of Colorado B-school’s study:”A single…… Continue reading A Picture is Worth…

Saturation Point

The headlines seemed contradictory: “Shining a Light: Sometimes non-stop publicity is exactly what a hostage needs” – The Times of London (July 5, 2007)”The Gripe: Too much publicity is an unforgivable curse” – Baltimore Sun (July 6, 2007)Both reporters opined on the fate of two Brits, yet each viewed the advent of media attention in…… Continue reading Saturation Point

Cutting Edge PR

This appeared yesterday in one of the lead chroniclers of the tech sector: “Publicity is, in effect, free advertising.””The downside of free publicity is that you cannot control what is said about your company, product or service.””Newspapers, business periodicals, TV and radio stations, and magazines can all offer the publicity for which you’re looking.””The hook:…… Continue reading Cutting Edge PR