How do you guarantee publicity for a client? Offer a billion dollar prize. That is what Quicken Loans is doing with the backing of Warren Buffett. Of course, the chance that anyone will win it is vanishingly small. One would stand a better chance of getting hit by lightning many times over at the same time […]
Posted on January 23rd, 2014 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 179 Comments »
The auto industry is undergoing major change in messages and themes. It is less power and styling and more technological, presaging the debut of the self-aware transportation machine. This will require a shift in thinking among auto publicists trained in the time-honored news pegs of the business. Technology has been slowly weaving its way into […]
Posted on January 8th, 2014 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 184 Comments »
It is hard to argue for a state lottery. It is self-taxation that the poor and less educated inflict on themselves in pursuit of an empty dream. Yes, they should know their odds are slim, but as advertising says, “You never know.” So they buy tickets and governments raise funds rather than imposing new tax […]
Posted on December 13th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 195 Comments »
Amazon is working on delivering packages by drone Octocopters. Jeff Bezos unveiled the machines on 60 Minutes last night, but was careful to say it might take five years for the service to start and deliveries would be limited to a 10-mile radius of its distribution centers. In other words, there is as much hype […]
Posted on December 2nd, 2013 by admin
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Do scientists hype results? All the time. Here is an example. The National Ignition Facility has been a disappointment in terms of achieving fusion and its funding is hanging in a balance. It is urgent for the scientists, engineers and technicians working on the mammoth laser facility to show progress. So, they did. They are […]
Posted on October 16th, 2013 by admin
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Did someone push a wrong button at Amazon and reveal its forthcoming Kindle Paperwhite reader? Or was the “mistake” intentional and designed to get media attention. It is easy to be cynical about such accidents. Apple’s early iPhones were “accidentally” left in bars and restaurants and became media sensations. Even if these accidents were real, […]
Posted on September 4th, 2013 by admin
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IBM has made world headlines with the best kind of publicity stunt — demonstrating its amazing prowess at the atomic level. The stop-action animation using carbon monoxide molecules is not a work of art, but the fact that one can manipulate atoms to this degree is stunning. Why is the publicity so good? Because it […]
Posted on May 2nd, 2013 by admin
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This almost certainly has been around the internet. I’m late tipping to it. It’s an example of great publicity and PR joined in a single action — making water from the air on a signboard in a desert. One wonders who came up with the idea and who made it real. The design was a […]
Posted on March 8th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 185 Comments »
This is a case of cute publicity that positions a brand. Voting on Monopoly tokens is a way for Hasbro to get its legion of Park Place fans involved with the company and closer to the board game. That it went viral and other companies got involved is only a plus. Hasbro reaped enormous publicity […]
Posted on February 7th, 2013 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 198 Comments »
You’ve got to believe Boeing’s PR department jumped on this bit of information when it heard about it. What a funny but perfect way to tell how Boeing is readying its planes for WiFi. The idea that potatoes substitute for people in absorbing radio signals is not one that anyone but a scientist or engineer […]
Posted on December 21st, 2012 by admin
Filed under: Uncategorized | 189 Comments »
