Advertising Is Good For You

Most overused buzzwords in press releases

Search and PR strategist Adam Sherk has compiled a list of the 98 Most Overused Buzzwords and Marketing Speak in Press Releases. Here are the top ten:

 

For the rest of the list, and to learn how Adam Sherk compiled the list, visit Adam Sherk's blog.

Not every public relations event includes a codpiece. Savor the moment.

Found at Poorly Dressed, which comes from the wonderful people who gave the world lolcats.

The PR industry takes another hit

First nineteen-year-old Bristol Palin opened her own PR agency.

Now Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy have announced their breakup on Twitter.

Pfizer does something nice

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced a new program that I hope will be copied by other pharmaceutical companies.

People who have lost their jobs and their health insurance will be able to continue to take their Pfizer medications for FREE, for up to a year.

 

As of now, there's no cap on how much Pfizer is willing to spend on this program.

Read more about this program, including how to sign up for it, at Huffington Post.

It's not just dumb, drunk, scantily-clad teens who forget that anything posted on the web can be seen by EVERYONE

James Andrews, a VP at PR giant Ketchum, went to Memphis and didn't like what he saw. So he posted his opinion on Twitter:

Trouble is, Andrews was in Memphis to visit his client FedEx. Memphis is home to FedEx's headquarters. His comment on Twitter came to the attention of FedEx and Ketchum executives who are understandably angry.

No word yet as to whether Andrews is the dumbest PR guy in America or the dumbest ex-PR guy in America.

Source: Gawker

44% of Americans don't believe statements made by companies.

Read more about the survey at The Consumerist.

Whoever is responsible for marketing Cheetos is probably falling off a chair laughing

Typically, marketing managers freak when they hear that their product was used as a weapon during a domestic assault. I think we can forgive the folks at Cheetos for not being alarmed by this story. In fact, considering the popularity of snack foods among young people, a story like this might actually drive a spike in sales.

Sources: Ananova,Bits & Pieces

Seeing company executives suffering is strangely gratifying

To counter recent claims that tasers may cause serious damage to those subdued by the electroshock guns, Taser International company executives volunteered to be tasered on film. Very compelling stuff. Click here to see the taser execs getting zapped.

I can't help but wonder why the footage of Kathy Hanrahan, the only female executive to be tasered on video, is so brief. Did Taser International think it would be improper to show a woman writhing on the floor in pain? Or did she lose control in some embarrassing way that resulted in her screen time being cut short?

Spin, PR Man, spin!

Referring to Dell's decision to begin selling its Dimension PCs in Wal-Mart stores -- and deftly avoiding any reference to Dell's sagging sales -- a Dell spokesperson was quoted saying:

Our customers are asking us for additional ways to purchase our products and we plan on delivering on a global level. Offering Dell Dimensions in Wal-Mart is a great example of this approach.

Source: Wall Street Journal
Image: By Timothy Cummings at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery

Addendum (posted 1 June 2007)

Michael Dell got in on the action. Referring to Dell Inc.'s plans to lay off 8,000 employees, Dell said:

We know these actions are critical to our ability to deliver unprecedented value to our customers now and in the future.

Do you smell it, too?

Source: MultiCultClassics

The classics never go out of style. Even though, perhaps, some should.

You want to get lots of free publicity for your product? Do it the old-fashioned way: build/make a giant version of your product.

Dutch gourmet cheese maker Beemster made a record-breaking cheese wheel. The giant cheese measures 6 feet wide and weighs 1,323 pounds.

Master conversationalist and Beemster CEO Eric Hulst said, "It was a challenge to make such a large piece of cheese. We used special equipment."

Source: Spluch

KFC propositions an American Idol contestant

KFC President Gregg Dedrick has written American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar (photo at left, in case you're one of the other three people who doesn't watch American Idol) an open letter offering the pop sensation wannabe a lifetime supply of KFC Famous Bowls if Malakar would don a bowl hairdo during one of his next nationally broadcast performances.

I don't watch American Idol, I sure as heck am not going to eat a KFC Famous Bowl (690 calories, 31 grams of fat -- 9 of them saturated and 4.5 grams of them trans fat), yet, I love this idea.

For the trouble it took Dedrick to write a letter and have it emailed all over the Internet, he's getting free national press.

And if Malakar actually does get a bowl haircut, what's the cost of a lifetime of KFC Famous Bowls compared with the publicity THAT would generate?  Besides, with all that fat in the KFC Famous Bowls, the kid won't live long enough to eat too many of 'em, anyway.

This, by the way, is a KFC Famous Bowl. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Sources: TV Envy, The Impulsive Buy 

McDonald's peevishness is advertising its brand's shortcomings.

McDonald's has decided to take on the Oxford English dictionary for its disparaging definition of McJob: 

An unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, especially one created by the expansion of the service sector.

Referring to the definition, a McDonald's spokesperson said:

It's a complete disservice and incredibly demeaning to a terrific work force and a company that's been a jobs and opportunity machine for 50 years.

I'm pretty sure you can't sue a dictionary. Especially if it's accurate.

McDonald's is doing the public relations equivalent of taping a KICK ME sign to its own back while the rest of us are doing the same thing kids in a schoolyard would do: we're laughing at McDonald's.

Source: Spiegel Online

Why don't ads promoting 'diversity' try harder?

Just a few of the examples of pitiful 'diversity' advertising posted throughout MultiCultClassics :