Complaint 1: BAD PR

Welcome to the first of many installments of what I like to call BAD PR. Here you will find some of the worst pitches of the day as well as some of the biggest gripes journalists have when it comes to dealing with PR professionals.

Don't get me wrong--there are those out there that are absolutely a pleasure to work with--those a journalist can call last minute to get a story or a segment together--those who will come through like a super human force and put together Emmy award winning content in a single afternoon--those who can create "something" out of "nothing" and "get" the "impossible get." There will be space for those on this blog as well. But to establish a baseline, we need to look at the worst of the worst.

Here is today's WORST pitch--names and locations have been changed/deleted to protect the identity of those unfortunate few who will land on this site.

Hi there, just heard that your show may be closed down, is that true? If so I was wondering if we can get my mortgage people on before. If not I understand, but these guys are pretty good on TV.

Thanks

This is a prime example of a PR FLACK breaking the first and cardinal rule of pitching a journalist. A little something I like to call:

RULE 1: NEVER PITCH OUT OF DESPERATION

This Flack obviously thought that by appealing to this journalists sense of....What? I can't think of a single thing this appeals to.

First of all.. this journalist is obviously losing their job because of the impending implosion of the show they currently work on.

Second--if this was received on the day the news broke in the tabloids, the Flack is obviously flustered and worried that there will no longer be any outlet for their obviously mediocre guest (the moment a flack tells you that their guest is "great in print" or "great on TV" big RED flags should go up everywhere). There was obviously no thought put into this pitch and the Flack was relying upon the relationship they had assumed existed between the journo and themselves.

After reading this pitch you can imagine the journalists reaction. I am betting this one went to the top of the BLOCK EMAIL list.

This one definitely earns a GOLD STAR in my book of BAD PR!