SHOCKing PR

Volunteering has something that has been part of my life from a very early age. I was inspired by Clare’s blog on a “Cheeky Warning”, after my experience volunteering for the Crohns and Colitis Society. I agree that many organizations have jumped on the social media band-wagon and have begun to post messages of awareness on the like of FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube.


Most recently, over the 2009 holiday season, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation created public service announcements that encouraged viewers to give their spouses pap smears for the holidays. This odd and almost humorous gift choice received mixed reviews from audiences. Most importantly however, these add which originated on Television and then to YouTube, had a huge viral appeal. The PSA’s got people talking, and therefore built awareness.




Another trend that we’ve seen on television and magazines for a while is the use of celebrity endorsements. Recently, celebrities have been used in PSA’s. Specifically last month, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention created a campaign called “i know”. The campaign is created around social media outlets, and below you will find the video staring Jamie Foxx that was created in support of the campaign.




Arguably, these videos can make people uncomfortable and can cause a sense of shock – but shock, just like sex works. Shock grabs people’s attention, shock invokes the ‘I just have to tell someone ‘sensation and shock causes people to yearn for more. Public Health campaigns seem to have this down to a fine art – the art of shock. Does shock work in every arena or should it be left for those arenas that are embarrassing and that people don’t talk about unless forced to through shock?!

Mastery of the Blog

When I was determining what to do with my life once I had finished a post-graduate certificate in Corporate Communications, continuing with my education and going on to get a Masters always seemed like the next logical step. I have always believed, that the harder one works, the more they will succeed, or at least I’m hoping that will prove to be true when I’m finally finished after 23 years of consecutive schooling. Thinking about this concept, the importance of higher education brought me back to Sabrina’s post on the validity of PR qualifications.

It is logical that experience is invaluable, and for much of my job search, I have had to learn the hard way, taking entry level jobs as my education greatly surpasses my experience. I do however see the value in gaining an education, and I was pleased that there are programs that exist, such as the one I’m currently enrolled in at the University of Stirling. In keeping with this trend, I began to think more about the importance of education in other realms of communication, specifically in regards to social media. One of the largest areas of social media that we have explored today is the use of the blog. Many argue that as print media become less relevant, blogs are becoming more relevant and therefore more important. Some industry experts have even gone as far as stating that bloggers may well be the future journalists.

In Martin Waxman’s recent blog, he argued that perhaps there needs to be some sort of formal education for bloggers to learn techniques in writing, editing, publishing, etc. - the very same courses that journalism students today receive during their formal education. It is also argued therefore, that as the blogger becomes the traditional journalist, perhaps PR professionals ought to be paying even more attention to them and engaging them more often. This will mean that PR professionals will also have to receive further education on how to reach bloggers, how to capture their attention and how to monitor effectively what is being said about the clients that they represent.

As we find ourselves enrolled in a Masters of Public Relations, will there one day be an option to receive a Masters in Blogging?

The Future of Press Releases

As the world continues to be changed by advancements in technology and the increased usage of the Internet as a communication medium, bloggers continue to crave more information in a timely manner. Traditionally, bloggers write about products, their personal lives, perspectives on various world events or represent a company and promote their own agenda without having to go through the process of getting the traditional media interested in their story. Often, journalists had their own blog and would provide their perspective through this medium. It had been believed that as more journalists turned to the blogosphere, the methods in which stories were fed to them would have to change to meet the urgency demands of the blogs.

In an article written in this week’s PR Weekly by Mark Evans Tech , the notion of the social media press release was discussed. It made sense that to satisfy the demands of these bloggers, current information be delivered in the same method that it would be transmitted to audiences. The social media press release at one point in time, was believed to be the next up and coming trend to hit the world of PR. Not only would this new trend eliminate wasteful paper trails, it would provide journalists and reporters with the opportunity to gather time-sensitive information in a convenient and interactive method.

It is argued that although this method was seen as convenient for bloggers and profitable for PR firms, the trend never caught-on due to the fact that the press release is considered an ‘old’ method, regardless of whether it is published on paper or electronically. If this is the case, if it’s true that the very people that PR professionals spend hours writing these releases for, the journalists and bloggers, aren’t paying attention. Why do we spend so much time learning how to perfect this ‘ancient art’? Is it as Mark Evans argues, are relationships and the pitch that much MORE important? Or, as more and more companies and journalists choose blogs as the medium from which to communicate to their audiences will the social media press release live up to its potential and become a staple in PR practices?

Public Opinion Gone too Far - Save our Childhood Icons

As a little girl growing up in Toronto, it was traditional among my friends and I to have a birthday party at the local McDonald’s restaurant. The visit consisted of a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the kitchen, play-time in play area and most importantly a visit from the big red-headed man in the yellow suit, Ronald McDonald.

When glancing over this week’s US PR Weekly it came to my attention that there is a huge movement to get rid of this heroic icon from my childhood. An activist group has even been created in support of knocking down the Ronald empire and the campaign has grown with popularity through its presence on Twitter and Facebook. The associated website calls for the retirement of McDonald’s ‘most effective salesman’ and asks supporters to donate, speak-out and sign Ronald’s retirement card. The main argument behind Ronald’s forced retirement is that in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of adolescent diet-related diseases. Understandably, fast-food is not great for one’s health, but have these people never heard of moderation? Are the children taking themselves for a visit to Ronald’s haven? Unless the minimum age for working in the US has decreased without me taking notice, then I highly doubt it is the children who have the choice in what they’re going to eat for dinner, every night! Perhaps the real culprit is a lack of exercise – is the next spokes person to go into forced retirement going to be Mario from the Super Mario Brothers franchise?

The Internet provides the opportunity for people to speak their minds and to change the way that companies run business....it also has provided more work for PR people, how will McDonald’s PR department react to the public slamming of their lead spokesperson? Should the public have a say on the spokes people/characters who are used to promote the product? Should McDonald’s listen to their public and if it does, will the retirement of Ronald the icon cause irreversible damage on the McDonald’s franchise?



Ronald – keep doing what you do - I’m LOVING it!