If you haven’t yet seen it, watch it now. Then we’ll discuss.

Minus the PR nightmare Tiger caused when he refused to talk about the scandals (see the blog post I wrote about it here), I’ve said all along that if his dad were still alive, this would NEVER have happened. I’m a big “if you don’t think your parents would approve, don’t do it” person and that has bothered me since last Thanksgiving when this all began to unfold.

But that’s neither here nor there. Bravo Nike! Bravo for taking a stance on showing that they still stand behind Tiger (who is, let’s be real, the greatest golfer of all time), but that they don’t condone his behavior. What a fantastic way to show the world they have integrity!

What do you think?

Today, The Pork Producers Council’s Web site reports http://bit.ly/127gvL “People cannot get the flu from eating or handling pork,” said Dr. Jennifer Greiner, director of science and technology for the National Pork Producers Council. “The flu is a respiratory illness not a food-borne illness.”  The article also states that a worker who recently visited Mexico – and became ill with flu-like symptoms – is suspected of transmitting the virus to a pig.”

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states http://bit.ly/bXjCM about 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu.  Hopefully the negative press will not turn consumers against the $15 billion pork products industry.  There are two sides to every story.  The pig is getting a bad rap; I say BLT anyone?

“EARTH,” Disney’s first movie out of their Disneynature department (which is newest film label to be introduced by Disney in 60 years) gives moviegoers an extraordinary view of our planet. Even better, Disney is using great PR initiative by planting a tree in everyone’s honor who attends their movie during the opening week. Yes, Disney does have the money to do that anyway, but it shows there are big companies that don’t just care about the money and themselves.

Disney’s goal is to ensure trees are planted in areas that conservational is identified as hot spots of biodiversity issues – the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

In my opinion, they made a good business decision. Public relations professionals are not law enforcement officers. We’re not supposed to risk our lives or our safety to ensure our clients appear on the right television shows.

And for that matter, if this crazy baby lady really doesn’t want any help from anyone, which she claims she doesn’t, then she shouldn’t need a public relations team to handle reality show offers and book deals in the first place – she needs DCFS!

Yea, Octomom’s PR team didn’t give up on her, they just realized the mess they got themselves into in the first place and got out while they still could. Good for them!

However, due to your spamming (if you will) issues of unwanted pitches, I don’t think journalists should categorize all public relations professionals in the same boat. There are firms that pride themselves on practicing public relations the correct way by pursuing a relationship first, then business, and that all starts by doing exactly what you say in your article, DO YOUR HOMEWORK first!

A colleague of mine here at Arment Dietrich Inc. received kudos recently from a journalist who works for Newsday, explaining how much she appreciates being approached the correct way by building a relationship first and developing that relationship into a productive pitch for a publication and client win-win situation. There are good public relations professionals out there; we need to praise them too!

However, in Kyra Kyles’ RedEye article last week, she unveiled a shocking truth about the highly anticipated hotspots – they’re not hot!

So my question is: Does it matter?

Initially, I thought that whether the heated bulbs actually provided heat or not made no difference at all. The media attention Stove Top has received from their great, body-warming idea far outweighs a couple bad experiences.

However, after careful consideration, it occurred to me that perhaps the feelings of disfunction, anger, and brutal cold would turn on Stove Top and actually cause more harm than good.

What do you think? Do the cold stuffing signs matter?

While I did find the insight about media coverage on the election fascinating (they can’t wait for it to be over so they can have other things to write about!) They did stress the importance of doing your homework before you ever decide to even make a pitch.  Below are some simple things to remember, and the media will thank you for it.

• Make it short — No one wants to have to scroll down to finish an email, they’ll delete it before they get half-way through.  Short but sweet is key.  But, be informative.
• Do your research — Do not just blindly send a news release hoping it gets into the right hands.  Read what the reporters have written in the past and make sure this is who you want to send it to.
• Provide many ways to be contacted — If a reporter likes the pitch, they don’t want to have to search through the news release to find your information.  Make your information available so the reporter can easily contact you.
• Personalize the pitch — Not only do your research but let them know you did by personalizing the pitch.  Let the reporter know why you think their readers would be interested but make sure you’re correct when saying so!
• Build relationships — Last, but not least, the media are people too, just like us.  Se!nd information that’s important to the reporter and in turn, build a relationship.  More than likely, the reporter will start calling you when they need experts.

This became a PR nightmare almost as fast as the winner crossed through the finish line.  So this year, things were to be different.  They made certain there was enough water and fluid stations for every runner.  There would not be another situation like the one they endured in 2007, only problem is, no one heard much about it.  Organizers were so concerned with averting another crisis, that they forgot to do public relations.

I understand the apprehension, but this race brings in $140 million to our economy.  Sixty-five charities are represented hoping to bring in more than $10 million, these are outstanding accomplishments, not to mention the thousands of runners doing this for the first time or the ninth time. 

These accomplishments deserve to be shared and not avoided due to concern of bad publicity.  I admire you all, even if I didn’t hear your personal stories, all 33,000 of you.

When it come to politics, I know very little and I find it very hard to stayed entertained, but now that media outlets are printing headlines like “Will Paris Hilton’s Energy Plan Work,” how can I not be entertained or keep from laughing? McCain’s attempt to spin the media into thinking Obama is just another celebrity and unready to lead our nation totally backfired on him and in many cases due to the aid of mystery cue cards, Hilton sounds smarter than both presidential candidates by coming up with her own plan, which she calls a hybrid of both their plans to end our oil-energy crisis.

“We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight, while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way, the offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in, which will then create new jobs and energy independence. Energy crisis solved,” says Hilton.

Are there three presidential candidates now? Guys, put your tongues back in your mouth, I’m willing to say it’s impossible the first women president to be Paris Hilton. The only character missing from this breaking news video was Hilton’s dog hanging out of her purse, but her outfit was priceless.

When the political race between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton really began to heat up, I found myself moseying over to a friend’s house, mostly in search of good company. However, I found much more. While my two friends—both amazingly intelligent law students at The University of Iowa—patiently coached me through the ins and outs of political issues and candidate positions, they helped me uncover an unknown passion for political communication strategies.

In my mind, the communications directors of political campaigns have one of the most interesting and exciting jobs a public relations professional can attain. With job tasks like monitoring media coverage, responding to misinterpreted information, and strategically communicating a politically delicate message, what’s not to love?!

As a public relations professional, watching the tactics unfold from Obama and Clinton’s campaign teams was exciting and educational. Strangely enough, it even makes me miss Hillary a little bit. The competition is not as urgent anymore and the coverage is not as interesting. I often find myself hoping that someone will make an embarrassing public mistake so I can watch and learn about good—and bad—crisis communication techniques.

So after four years, I guess I finally get it…politics CAN be fun!