Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Holiday cheers: #PRwin celebrates the victories, for a change

It is easy for journalists and industry professionals alike to chuckle or sneer at PR flops, to pounce on blunders with how-could-they-be-so-dumb stories, blog posts or tweets.

I’ve been guilty myself. How often, though, do we call out the wins—the story placement in a major newspaper, the Christmas tree that dispenses beer, the press release touting bacon-scented underwear?

This holiday season, as we gather in our Norman Rockwell living rooms to sip hot cocoa and guffaw at old family photos, let us reflect on the victories large and small memorialized with the Twitter hashtag #PRwin.

#PRwin offers a range of call-outs: pats on the back, links to articles, guileless self-promotions by PR pros thrilled by a successful pitch. If you’re so inclined, how about joining in?

O tappenbaum!

Consider the beer Christmas tree, cited in a tweet that links to a British newspaper story. The lede, written perhaps by an English-as-a-second-language-speaking intern, reads, “Is this probably the best Christmas tree in the world?” Probably, yes! After all, the stunt by the Danish brewer Carlsberg caught the attention of throngs of passers-by and journalists alike, a double win.

One for the briefs column

Then there’s the editor who tweeted about his press release of the day: bacon-scented underwear, the “gold standard of meat-scented luxury undergarments.”

Unfortunately for the company, the journalist didn’t mention the brand.

The post by Computer Weekly editor Bryan Glick, retweeted by Edwards Harvey PR & Marketing, prompted one woman to question the appeal of wearing underwear that smells of smoked hog fat: “Nobody’s going to chase you wearing those, except dogs and hungry wolves.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Glick responds.

Strangers on a bus

It’s not every day that someone working for a PR agency finds evidence of her success on a first-class travel bus in Texas, but that’s what happened to Paige Dawson.

Speaking of sweets, numerous tweets at #PRwin praise Reese’s “All Trees Are Beautiful,” which may someday win awards as the first campaign ever to successfully fend off a Twitter mob unhappy about a holiday-themed food product that looks like “a turd.” Lego wins admiration for producing brand slippers that protect the feet of parents who step on toys left on the floor by their children.

Many tweets at PRwin link to news reports. As voters in North America and Europe debate immigration, a Wyoming college’s PR program touts a win north of the border. A Canadian provider is offering free cell phones and wireless service for refugees, and it is calling on citizens to donate their surplus phones.

In another tweet about our neighbor to the north, Sheridan admires a hashtag promotion in Canada’s largest city. The college states, “A neighbourhood to call your own. Promoting your personal Toronto with the hashtag #TourMyToronto.”

Grandma’s gift delivery

Elsewhere, PRwin touts a Huffington Post Australia report about a company that uses spare capacity in empty trucks to deliver packages. The story begins, “Concern over carbon emissions from delivery trucks is no longer a valid excuse to not send Grandma a care package—thanks to the emergence of Australia’s first carbon neutral delivery service.”

(Is that your excuse? Shame on you, Aussie grandkids.)

@PRLorie has “Star Wars” and ice cream on her mind, linking to an Adweek story about how a two-store company scored a big-time official licensee designation.

Actor Jeff Goldblum scores a thumbs-up from Seymour PR for his role in a Currys & PC World’s campaign. The tweet cites an article in ShortList that states (dangling modifier and all):

Having battled man-eating dinosaurs and once defeated an entire alien invasion of earth with an Apple PowerBook, exactly how hard can convincing people to gratefully accept dodgy gifts and not interrupt elderly family members watching telly be? Well, very.

But it’s great. So much that we’re now penning a new Christmas wish list to ask for our very own household Goldblum.

Dinner parties would be a doddle.

I’ll admit, I have never attended a doddling dinner party, but count me in. Who knows? There might even be a beer Christmas tree.

@ByWorking

(Image via)

from Ragan.com http://ift.tt/1I9VSXO via video marketing services
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1ZcWRKT
Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)