Pardon the headline, but it really is the case with Sydney's iconic Coogee Bay Hotel, which has been accused of allegedly putting faeces in customers' gelato after they complained about several issues.
The hotel's novel approach to PR was to offer its customers free gelato. This, from the Australian Hotels Association's top pub in 2005 and 2006.
On top of that, management wouldn't comment because it was "a legal issue" and they said they thought it was sabotage. Heaven forbid they express concern, or that they are taking it seriously.
There's also some argy-bargy going on, with the hotel saying the customers demanded $1m, and the customers denying they asked for any money.
More PR at the PR Lab - http://www.prlab.com.au
Showing posts with label poor-pr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poor-pr. Show all posts
28 October 2008
04 May 2008
Poor PR for PR
The excellent British TV series, Absolute Power, provided viewers on the ABC with a dark comedy that portrayed PR in a poor (some would say, realistic) light.
The fictional firm of Prentice-McCabe dealt with a diverse range of clients, including politicians, drug-taking pop stars, ambitious archbishops and even Osama Bin Laden's cousin, who wanted to buy British Airways.
Each episode seemed to have one quote which summed up the writers' views of PR. Some examples: "Authenticity is not a currency we actually deal in ... PR means never having to say you’re wrong ... Everything we do is predicated on deceit. We’re shit. We’re in the gutter ... PR is intercourse with people you despise." You get the picture.
The trouble is that this show, and others about the profession, such as Absolutely Fabulous and Sex in the City, portray PR as all those things it is not.
Sure, there are many practitioners who used to be like that. And there are still some who follow those mantras.
My point is that the industry does nothing to correct these impressions. Possible it believes no harm will come; that it's just good entertainment. What the heck. They say any publicity is good publicity. Not in this instance.
These types of shows do irreparable harm to the profession's image. It's probably part of the reason few men are not studying PR at university. Males simply don't see PR as a serious subject. This is backed by findings of my PhD study into why more women than men are entering PR.
But why do we so little about it?
The fictional firm of Prentice-McCabe dealt with a diverse range of clients, including politicians, drug-taking pop stars, ambitious archbishops and even Osama Bin Laden's cousin, who wanted to buy British Airways.
Each episode seemed to have one quote which summed up the writers' views of PR. Some examples: "Authenticity is not a currency we actually deal in ... PR means never having to say you’re wrong ... Everything we do is predicated on deceit. We’re shit. We’re in the gutter ... PR is intercourse with people you despise." You get the picture.
The trouble is that this show, and others about the profession, such as Absolutely Fabulous and Sex in the City, portray PR as all those things it is not.
Sure, there are many practitioners who used to be like that. And there are still some who follow those mantras.
My point is that the industry does nothing to correct these impressions. Possible it believes no harm will come; that it's just good entertainment. What the heck. They say any publicity is good publicity. Not in this instance.
These types of shows do irreparable harm to the profession's image. It's probably part of the reason few men are not studying PR at university. Males simply don't see PR as a serious subject. This is backed by findings of my PhD study into why more women than men are entering PR.
But why do we so little about it?
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