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Common Sense PR

Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

April 15th, 2008

China Spins, World Applies PRessure

A student of public relations can see a belligerent pattern in the Chinese government’s reputation defence during the past year.
Accusation: producing unsafe productsDefence: blame sloppy manufacturing specs provided by clients.
Accusation: human rights abuses in TibetDefence: allege Dalai Lama’s of conspiracy to cause deaths of ethnic Chinese
Tactic:  Olympic Torch Relay protestsDefence:  glorify noble athletes standing […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 3 comments

April 10th, 2008

Olympic Torch Relay: Virtual Edition

Talk about having your symbolism hijacked. The Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have seen the usual positive tenor of the international torch relay degenerate into a platform for political protests over human rights.
The challenge now is to pretend that the torch is being peacefully passed from hand-to-hand with the world looking on […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 0 comments

March 27th, 2008

China’s Pre-Olympics PR: Tibetans Are People, not Props for a Photo Opp

You would think George Bush’s massive failure to communicate himself out of the Iraq invasion quagmire would serve as a lesson for other major powers.
The Chinese spin on the Tibetan protests are clear and consistent: the Dalai Lama is a lying, scheming radical fomenting rebellion in an otherwise peaceful part of China.
In an almost unprecedented […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 0 comments

March 17th, 2008

Making a Promo Opportunity of a Scandal

What cliche is appropriate? Every cloud has a silver lining? You can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear? Sleazy sex scandals can pay off?
The prostitute named in the Eliot Spitzer affair has brought in more than $200,000 in music sales, and gained some minor airplay on at least on commercial radio station.
Still waiting […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 0 comments

March 12th, 2008

Best Angle on Media Spitzerfest

Jon Stewart and his Daily Show writers nailed the highlight of the media’s intense feeding frenzy on the implosion of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s political career.
The Daily Show’s newsreel March 11 showed clips of several veteran journalists expressing naive confusion over how someone might run up a tab and pay one’s bill with a […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 4 comments

March 12th, 2008

‘Off the Record’ Comments Sometimes Aren’t

Journalists often give their interview subjects the benefit of the doubt when they slip up.
That wasn’t the case this week when Barack Obama foreign policy advisor Samantha Power stepped down from her unpaid position after being quoted as calling Hillary Clinton “a monster” in an interview with a reporter from Scotland’s The Scotsman newspaper. She […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 0 comments

March 10th, 2008

Spitzer Can’t Communicate his Way out of Sex Scandal

There are times when the public is willing to forgive the indiscretions of public figures. This ain’t one of them.
The problem Eliot Spitzer faces is of his own making. The hardball approach to wrongdoers that made his career now prevents him from successfully playing the contrition card.
As Conrad Black has learned (or maybe he […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 6 comments

March 5th, 2008

Hillary Spins Primary Wins

Template for candidate messages in a primary:
“(Insert any old accomplishment) is a sign we are on the course to victory.  Any candidate who (repeat any old accomplishment) is certain to be the next president.”
Let’s all forget about those other states that would have been really good to win for the Clinton campaign. As […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 1 comment

February 8th, 2008

It’s Possible to Be too Smart for your Own Good, Archbishop Discovers

We live in a world of simplistic sound bites.
If you don’t believe that, see the hysterical reaction to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s exploration of whether sharia law, like other methods of extra-judicial arbitration, should be granted more formal recognition, to make sure its use is consistent with British law and quality standards.
He might has […]

By Eric Eggertson -- 0 comments

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