Posts tagged as PR
David Denby Does Something Relevant
Over the weekend, Sony freaked out when they heard David Denby's review of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was coming out in the New Yorker today, sending out a dramatic "please respect our embaaaaaargo" email to all and sundry. (The "embargo" date is December 13. Forced to define the rationale for embargoes, their reasoning is tepid, at best: "[E]mbargo dates level the playing field and enable reviews to run within the films’ primary release window, when audiences are most interested." But, you know, trailers should come out four months before the film. Mmm hmm.) Then producer Scott Rudin wrote an email to Denby, which was so clearly for public consumption, as it was immediately "leaked," because you have never, ever seen such a calm and polite communication from Rudin. What Scott Rudin is this and where is the real one? Denby's points in debate with Rudin are decent, if not particularly relevant: he's definitely right that critics (and even movie-goers) are pretty hosed that Oscar movie season is like a few weeks long and also over the holidays. (And then, the February – April movie season assaults our intelligence.) People break embargoes all the time; but because this is an Oscar movie, the studio is treating it like the publication of the Pentagon Papers. READ MORE
Writers Have Always Been Hustlers
Are you a literary harlot? You are not alone. READ MORE
Four Loko Delivered Just What Its Marketing Department Promised
Back in July, in assessing the sudden prominence of awful beverage Four Loko in rap, we decided that "rap songs about consumer goods will never be the same again." But there were bigger things on the horizon for Four Loko. In New York, the Latin Kings forced their rape victim to chug 10 cans of Four Loko before torturing him. Out west, a bunch of Central Washington University students "over-dosed" on the drink. New Jersey's Ramapo College has banned it from their campus. To put it mildly, and to stress the least important part of these stories, Four Loko has had a rough month for PR. READ MORE
Game Over! "EMI’s Virgin Records Unveils Groundbreaking Social Media Technology"
From the inbox, regarding the long-considered, much-discussed fate of the troubled making-money-off-music industry: "I am writing to bring your attention to a new a new social media technology that has been embraced by EMI's Virgin Records to help strengthen Music fans' experiences when following their favorite band. The technology is powered by RecreateMyNight.com and provides a social media platform that allows users to re-live concert experiences by streamlining online information. The Constellations are the first band to utilize RecreateMyNight.com, which is being touted as the next generation of social media technology — harnessing the power of existing social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, to provide a streamlined view of nights out." The emphasis is in the original.
"Internet PR is about as useful to making a living as a ‘Boycott Israel’ twibbon is to a West Bank school under mortar fire"
"What Prince has figured out is that the proportion of effort/return on pushing the internet user to actually BUY music is not worth the resources it takes to do so. When 80 – 90% of your PR effort disappears into non-revenue online areas (piracy, Spotify), the PR needs to be 8-9 times as ubiquitous as in the pre-internet era to make the same gains. He's done the sums, and has figured out that even if he only stands to make a penny profit on each CD that goes out on the cover of various European newspapers, that it's worth more to him than a hundred million people retweeting a video clip of his track on YouTube. Newspapers are an established physical distribution platform, to make them the sole legal source of your music is a mark of genius thinking. Why SHOULD Prince make his music available to be listened to at will, for nothing (or as close as dammit) on YouTube, Spotify or Mog.com? For YOUR convenience? So that you can enjoy his work and display your musical credibility to your dinnerparty guests without the painful business of compensating the artist in question? Oh how RUDE of dear little Prince to deny you the opportunity." READ MORE
Karen Hughes and Mark Penn Claim They're Out of the "Just Making Stuff Up" Business
An exciting and phenomenally unintelligible press release went out this morning from Burson-Marsteller, the challenged PR and lobbying outfit that represented Blackwater, Colombia, Argentina and Union Carbide, as well as other extremely-challenged institutions. They are announcing that they have a new "methodology" which is "evidence-based"! I have no idea what this means. Your translations of this heaping pile of crazy are very welcome. READ MORE
Eliot Spitzer's Trial Balloon Is Just Stupid--Or Maybe Fake?
So someone is putting before the public, via the New York tabloid press, that maybe Eliot Spitzer will be an elected official somewhere, some day. For what office, his people do not say. Not governor! That did not work out, due to his visits to prostitutes. So will he run for.... Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate seat? No. Here is what my focus group says: he cannot even possibly run against a woman. All she has to do is look at him with a pitying gaze during one debate and the whole thing is over. Meanwhile, he is apparently teaching an undergrad class at City College? Sheesh. But who's running this operation, which gets two days of tabloid play? Well here are two theories! READ MORE
Military Flack Debilitated By Prevarications
British military press officer John Salisbury-Baker is suing the Ministry of Defense on a disability claim contending that being forced to tell "government lies" resulted in post-traumatic stress syndrome. Do with that what you will.
