Canuckflack

1. Issues management – if you worked for J. Edgar Hoover

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   October 20, 2005 by Colin

   Looks like PhRMA, the Washington lobby group for big pharma companies, was caught taking a look into possible black bag communications tactics – or at least dawdling in the conspiracy section of the local bookstore.

   An L.A. agent and his writer claim to have been promised a substantial amount of money by PhRMA to complete a pulp fiction novel that would, in effect, help frighten consumers from buying prescription drugs from Canadian internet pharmacies. The story line of this dubious proposition? “… a Croatian terrorist cell that uses Canadian Web sites to murder millions of unwitting Americans looking for cut-rate pharmaceuticals. …”

   “”We did not commission a book,” [PhRMA EVP Ken] Johnson argued. “The idea was brought to us by an outside consultant. We explored it, provided some background information … but in the final analysis, decided it wasn’t the right thing for us to do.”

   But not before making at least one payment and offering some editorial direction, says Kenin Spivak, one of the authors.

   “… [PhRMA allegedly] said they wanted it somewhat dumbed down for women, with a lot more fluff in it, and more about the wife of the head Croatian terrorist, who is a former Miss Mexico…” Spivak told the NY Post’s Lloyd Grove.

   Considering Johnson’s past as a journalist, this idea sounds startlingly ill-considered. PhRMA’s predicament (or at least their cover story) becomes evident after additional reporting by the Washington Post today. Johnson told the Post that Spivak’s representatives

   ” brought the book idea to “a yo-yo” at the trade association. No book was commissioned by the association’s leaders, he said, and when they found out about it, they stopped it. … the industry did not have to rely on “pulp fiction and loony tunes” to make its case to Congress and the public. “This absolutely was not a project that was approved or pursued by the leaders of PhRMA. . . . This was a screwball idea,” he said.

   … PhRMA head Billy Tauzin “read the riot act” to staffers involved in the project and instituted controls to prevent such a thing from happening again.”(Post)

   Thanks to Capsules for the original pointer.

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2. What if Cigarette Smoking Man had a blog?

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   October 20, 2005 by Colin

   If an organ of the New World Order can get a blog together, what’s to stop the rest of the world’s more parochial government organizations?

   Oh yeah. The lack of an overpriced blogging solution sold and supported by IBM or Oracle, and an institutional default to paralyzing bureaucratic decision-making.

   The World Bank’s Private Sector Development Blog.

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3. Government Spokesperson: “That wasn’t prevarication – it was mithering!”

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   October 19, 2005 by Colin

   James Rubin, the former State Department spokesperson, spoke to the Guardian about his new program on James Murdoch’s Sky News, and his experience as a government spokesperson. He …

   “…still believes the demands of 24-[hour] news can be distorting. “If government spokesmen don’t immediately comment, it does not mean that they are ‘taken by surprise’ or ‘caught off balance’”. The situation required him to remind reporters of that: “My job was to obtain the best possible coverage of the government by holding journalists accountable.”

   “… “Ninety-five per cent of my day was spent figuring out how to encourage reticent officials to let me say as much as possible,” he says, adding: “Most of what I did each day was explaining, analysing and persuading – not spinning, doing soundbites and intimidating journalists.”

   On that note, I’ll point you to my post for the Global PR Blog Week 2.0: The complexities of government blogging in a dynamic policy environment.

   Here’s just a tease:

   “If transparency, speed and forthright dialogue are the hallmarks of the Cluetrain economy, some may argue that government communicators have neither a clue nor a train schedule.”

   Here’s the government blogging post in another format.

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4. From Allen Dulles to Public Relations?

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   October 18, 2005 by Colin

   Eleven years ago, I was in university, analyzing intelligence activities related to the surrender of the German forces in Italy. Looks like someone else likes the subject:

   “Gerhard Krebs, “Operation Super Sunrise? Japanese-United States Peace Feelers in Switzerland, 1945,” The Journal of Military History 69 (October 2005):�1081-1120.

   In early 1945 Japanese navy circles in Berlin tried to begin peace negotiations with the United States. Using their contacts with the arms trader Friedrich Wilhelm Hack, they sent Commander Fujimura Yoshikazu to Switzerland, where he opened talks with Allen W. Dulles of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services. Though the Japanese navy and Foreign Ministry showed some interest, the peace attempts finally failed since neither side took the initiative to an official level. Fujimura confused his government by claiming that the Americans had made the first step, while the U.S. side waited for proof that the administration in Tokyo was backing the navy officer’s initiative.”

   Go ahead. Try to draw the career path that led me to public relations.

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5. Landing the Nieman Marcus Gift Catalog

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   October 14, 2005 by Colin

   Ginger Reeder, the Nieman Marcus staffer charged with finding cool stuff for their Christmas Gift Catalog, spoke to D Magazine.

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6. Bloggers are bilge scum?

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   October 13, 2005 by Colin

   At what point does a blogger become a public-access channel version of Geraldo?

   I’ll tell you how Middle America has characterized blogs. Joel Hinrichs, a student at the University of Oklahoma, blew himself up outside an OU football game on October 1. His motive and method of suicide has prompted commentary and speculation among a few bloggers – and some harsh words from the boy’s father:

   “In an interview, he said he is disgusted by what the bloggers and talk shows are saying. “They’re sensationalists by trade,” he said. “This blog stuff is just smoke. It’s bilge.” (WSJ)

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7. Honda’s lazy-ass copywriter

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   October 13, 2005 by Colin

   The new 2006 Hondas are out, and the accompanying print advertising has hit the Ottawa Citizen.

   Too bad the copywriter – intentionally or not – stole from a twelve year-old episode of Seinfeld:

   Honda: “2006 Civic. They’re Here. And they are magnificent.”

   Seinfeld: “And by the way … they’re real, and they’re spectacular.”

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8. Google, start-ups and inflatable dates

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   October 11, 2005 by Colin

   Chris Sacca – a Google bizdev principal – has some hints for aspiring Google partners proposing deals, including a comment on whether to pump up the volume on your public relations strategy.

   Google’s recent hissy fit with CNet may be fading, but doubts have been raised about the innovative behemoth’s media relations strategy. Still, Sacca has some valuable advice for start-ups:

   “PR is a distraction – As a matter of principle we tend not to do PR with our partners. Truth is, I think PR is just a distraction. I know what it feels like to be a start-up and craving some public awareness. I have definitely been there and can sympathize. However, PR can be very empty and doesn’t add much concrete value to anyone. Focusing on building something cool that users will really dig is the best path for both of us to succeed. Believe me, when that happens, your company and mine will get all the exposure we could want, and more. So, let’s avoid the PR discussion for now and just concentrate on making cool stuff work. If it rocks, the world will know soon enough.

   Like how I threw in the M.A.R.R.S reference? Here’s a quote from Pump up the Volume, the movie:

   Mark Hunter: I was looking for some stamps.
   Brian Hunter: yeah I have some right here. Are you gonna send a letter to a friend back east?
   Mark Hunter: No I was thinking about sending away for an inflatable date.

   Hey! A blog = an inflatable date! Both are receptive to your every impulse, both provide the illusion of personal power, both can be obtained online (or so I’ve heard), and both will let you practice, increase your confidence, and push you to take your mad skillz out of the rec room!

   Hmmm. Maybe we should be counselling our start-up clients jonesing for some media exposure to start up a blog.

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9. Web 2.0: more apps, more personal hygiene

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   October 11, 2005 by Colin

   A lot of debate going on about what Web 2.0 means for the ordinary consumer. Signals vs. Noise had some comments about what 2.0 isn’t, and one commenter noted:

   I know exactly what web 2.0 is:

   * pretentious
   * oversized fonts
   * pastel colors
   * buzzwords
   * featureless �user experiences�
   * overly friendly and self-important copy
   * acronyms

   Basically it�s 1998 with less money and more metrosexuals.

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10. Just back away from the marquee, son!

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    October 10, 2005 by Colin

    

    Well, I don’t know if this was a DQ HQ-approved cross promotion, but it is remarkably tasteless considering the tragedy in Pakistan – let alone that people are still recovering from Katrina and Rita.

    The takeaway? Try and test your micro promotion idea on a group larger than the teenagers on the late shift.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Armand Frasco noticed it a few days ago.

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11. Little Steven, music by committee and radio programmers

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    October 8, 2005 by Colin

    Little Steven tried to tear a strip out of the new “be everything to everyone” radio formats (like Jack) at July’s Radio & Records Convention. Speaking to 250-odd radio program directors, he railed that:

    “Replacing 33 year old New York oldies institution CBS-FM with JACK is like replacing the Statue of Liberty with a blow-up doll.”

    His argument, boiled down to its bones, is that the music industry, and radio in particular, is ignoring the heritage of the 50s and 60s in pursuit of younger demographics with better-paying advertisers.

    “What appeals more to kids, Gene Vincent’s black leather attitude, Eddie Cochran’s teenage frustration, Little Richard’s cry of liberation, and Dion’s total Soprano’s coolness – or the Eagles?

    You want wild? Put together the Sex Pistols, Audioslave, and the Wu-Tang Clan – they aren’t as wild as Jerry Lee Lewis in his prime.”

    That’s historically accurate. Realistically, though, anyone under the age of 45 has only seen Gene Vincent, Little Richard or Dion on B&W filmreels. You can’t sell their work as cool and innovative to the kids, because their albums are sitting in the $6.99 bin at the front of HMV – if there at all.

    The key, he argues, is to weave old and new into a narrative, a story that informs new listeners of rock’s musical heritage.

    “As long as you’re making your decisions based on musical experience, good taste, and an effective, coherent emotional communication.

    As opposed to your Ipod on shuffle.

    (laughter, applause)”

    Still, Little Steven’s diatribe loses some of its independent garage rock cred when posted up on his site – beside ads for Dunkin’ Donuts and Pepsi.

    Thanks to WFMU for the pointer.

    While I’m in the neighbourhood of radio programmers: John Moore took a light swing at A/C radio while making some suggestions about how to liven up public radio pledge drives in 2004.

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12. Coffee & WiFi: it’s 2002 in Canada

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    October 7, 2005 by Colin

    I’m so embarassed. It’s almost 2006, and Canada’s only just getting around to having WiFi at Starbucks. We’ve been missing out on a vital component of the whole multinational beverage retail third place experience.

    It’s like discovering you’ve been wearing your new Yohji Yamamoto outfit backwards – and that none of your friends were au courant enough to notice.

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13. Coffee & WiFi: it’s 2002 in Canada

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    October 7, 2005 by Colin

    I’m so embarassed. It’s almost 2006, and Canada’s only just getting around to having WiFi at Starbucks. We’ve been missing out on a vital component of the whole multinational beverage retail third place experience.

    It’s like discovering you’ve been wearing your new Yohji Yamamoto outfit backwards – and that none of your friends were au courant enough to notice.

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14. Are Canadian Bloggers Pussies?

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    October 7, 2005 by Colin

    Siri Agrell asks, in Maisonneuve, are Canadian bloggers pussies? Why aren’t they breaking stories? Where’s the aggressive hard-charging political commentary? What about hypercriticism of the traditional media? Why, for god’s sake, hasn’t a blogger been able to topple Mike Duffy … or Peter Newman … or even Adam Vaughn?

    “… [Blogger Catherine] McMillan worries that [existing poltical blogs penned by MSM columnists] �where established journalists and politicians may stretch their legs and their influence, but rarely push the envelope�are seen as the most the medium has to offer. �The thing I find about these guys is that they�re very thin-skinned. They get in to pissing contests with each other�and about all they have is insider gossip. I couldn�t care less about gossip out of Ottawa,� she says. �I turn to blogs because I�m a dissatisfied media consumer … why the hell would I read Norm Spector or Paul Wells or Antonia Zerbisias? I�m already reading blogs because [the media are] not doing their jobs.�

    But the real hindrance to Canadian blogger influence may be the Canadian public. Even when the media does jump on board a brewing scandal or circle at the scent of blood, real political outrage or consequence rarely materializes. Janke points out that bloggers followed the Gomery Inquiry religiously, following up and investigating leads dropped in testimony, and encouraging the dissemination of Brault’s leaked testimony despite threats of prosecution. The result, he says: a stronger-than-ever Liberal government and a speaking tour for Paul Coffin.

    Just as the expansion of the US blog empire has been infused by that country’s bred-in-the-bone love of frontier justice and overnight celebrity, the Canadian blogging community seems to have adopted their nation’s polite, self-deprecating modus operandi.

    The reluctance to get dirty or to circumvent the �proper� channels of political recourse is as endemic of Canadian political blogs as it is ingrained in Canadian libel laws. …

    “In Canada there’s an assumption that if you say something nasty, it’s false,” [Toronto lawyer Julien Porter] said.

    So even when individual politicians do open themselves up for critique�visiting their long-time lovers in Paris when they should be responding to an international crisis for example, or using daddy’s money to pay their campaign workers�Canadian blogs might not dare to say anything and Canadian readers might not care if they do.

    “The reason the transformation may not be visible is that we’re seeing a withdrawal in general from political interest,” Jesse Hirsh, an expert in open source intelligence, said of the blog lag in Canada. “People are just saying ‘Fuck it.’ It’s the nature of the Canadian public. We don’t care.”

    Siri Agrell is a Toronto-based reporter for the National Post who reads blogs but doesn’t have the nerve to write one.”

    Of course, by penning this story Agrell has guaranteed that he will hit every blog in Canada. Even if we can’t generate continued anger about political malfeasance, Canadian bloggers can’t be faulted for our experience at introspection and self-flagellation.

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15. Venkman vs. Peck: a lesson in community relations

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    October 6, 2005 by Colin

    The Ghostbusters may have been motivated by a desire to rid New York City of supernatural pests (and a little cash on the side), but what about poor misunderstood Walter Peck? Who’s going to stand up for the EPA?

    Christine Alice Corcos, that’s who. In 1997 (I know, a little old), she used Ghostbusters as an analogy for the environmental regulation debate in “Who ya gonna c(s)ite? Ghostbusters and the environmental regulation debate.

    “… Ghostbusters demonstrates the impact of concentrating massive amounts of waste in a small area to allow the greatest good for the greatest number. The vapors, entities, and slimers that the Ghostbusters accumulate in their storage facility represent the tragedy of the commons and are the ghosts of our past environmental misdeeds; out of sight, and presumably out of mind. That the EPA official who investigates their operation does not believe in the existence of psychic phenomena, preferring to believe the Ghost busters’ services are a fraud, emphasizes the communication problems between individuals and government. …”

    Okay, okay. It’s a little bit long-winded, doesn’t translate very well for simple public relations folk, and her jokes are relatively terrible. Still, a funny read for a crisis communications specialist – or a lawyer.

    Included in the analysis:

    “D. Acts of Gods Defense
    One party who is unlikely to be brought into court is “Gozer the Destructor” in any of its manifestations. As in the case of Satan, service of process on Gozer is, as a practical matter, impossible without serious loss of life. Whether Gozer is entitled to due process is questionable ….”

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