ideas: on media

Precious PR and how it can harm

My chances of a date with one of the most beautiful women in the world, admittedly slim to start with, have all but evaporated. And I may never be allowed in one particular retail outlet again.

I’m not surprised, of course. I’ve agitated more people as a journalist than I care to remember. But is it just me, or are you marketing types becoming even more precious of late, if that is even possible?

I recently wrote an innocuous story on the backend operations of a particular retailer that will remain nameless to protect the petty. Naturally, we chose to illustrate the story, in part, with photos of the store’s glamorous spokeswoman (her name we’ll also withhold to protect the vacuous). A beautiful red carpet portrait of said professional model, logos of the store displayed prominently in the background, adorns the cover of this particular national business title. The photos were acquired, under licence, through a professional photo library. Without a mouse-click of airbrushing the pretty clotheshorse looks smashing.

But the retailer is furious. The story reads well, the communications hack admits, but he never allowed photos of their spokeswoman to be used (this was implied, apparently, by not supplying their preferred photos of her). I have put the retailer in a “difficult position” with the model’s management, apparently. The company is now exploring “recourse” against us, and vows to “no longer fulfil any media requests associated with either yourself or the …magazine in the future”.

I can only guess just what the model’s slimy agent has taken offence at. The idea that their client, who prowls catwalks begging photographs to be taken of her, appeared on the cover of a magazine without her knowledge and certainly without payment (plus agent’s commission), no doubt. This after the company demanded to see the copy before publication, made a number of corrections, and then demanded to see another proof of the finished article. To the latter, at least, fat chance.

The behaviour of the communications team at this retail company was fairly hysterical. If the PR hack actually believes any other publication would have accepted a request not to use a photo of the model – when the manager of the business division in question describes his function in the story as “sexy” – they must be one of the more naïve representatives in the industry. But again, none of this comes as much of a surprise.

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