Another Rant Against Bad PR

We’ve posted a few times previously (see here and here) of my disdain for traditional PR. My rationale for being so dismissive is that in this day and age of instant and ubiquitous connectivity and contactability, a simple email, tweet or (shock horror) phone call will do much more than the most carefully worded but untargeted press release.

Well I came across a story the other day over at Drama 2.0 that I couldn’t resist spreading. The author is a (self-confessed) D-list blogger and, as such, is the frequent recipient of PR firm releases. While here at CloudAve we’d consider us a little up the list, we’re also bombarded by some senseless drivel.

From time to time we’re sufficiently humoured/enraged to post about the latest missive. The PR that Drama 2.0 received however put most of ours to shame;

Hello Mr.,

Last week, WSJ writer Jeffrey Zaslow reported that, starting next month, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press will be offering home delivery just three days a week. So, readers who’ve made a daily ritual of perusing obituaries with their morning coffee — and who won’t go out to buy the paper or go online — aren’t necessarily going to learn about the deaths of their acquaintances… But what if there was a technology that kept readers informed about obituary news, anywhere and at any time of day?

That’s where Tributes.com steps in, the comprehensive resource for local and national obituary news and personal tributes. Tributes.com has over 82 million current and historical death records dating back to 1936.

Tributes.com makes sure that consumers can stay informed 24/7 and connected with accurate obit email alerts for any town in the US, alumni, family name, or military unit. Users can set up alerts based on the zip code they currently reside in as well as previous locations they have lived in, and when someone has passed away in their community, an email will be sent to them with names of those who have passed. Those who like to read the morning obits as much as they like their morning cup of joe won’t have to worry about missing the opportunity to leave a message of condolence or to attend a funeral because of missing the news in the paper.

Like it or not, many newspapers are cutting back on home delivery and people want their news quickly and accurately. Tributes.com is the best alternative, go-to resource for obituary news, making sure no one is left in the dark about a passing.

A few interesting facts surrounding this include:

* The obituary market as a $750M-$1B nearly untouched industry

* Obituaries- “last man standing” – every other classified section has gone online and made millions (Match.com, eHarmony.com, EBay, Craigslist, Monster.com, etc.)

* Newspapers lost $64.5 billion in market value in 12 months in 2008

* 2.5 million people die in the U.S. every year, and 12,000 of those people are turning 50 every day

This is so wrong, on so many levels. The impersonal greeting on a PR with such a serious matter. The poor taste of the subject matter itself. But it got worse. Our intrepid correspondent engaged in a little backwards and forwards banter with the PR company asking some questions that, to anyone with an IQ over around 90, were obviously tongue-in-cheek.

So, in a similar vein to the CloudAve Decent Access Initiative (DIA) – we’d like to invite readers to tell us their stories of the worst examples of PR that they’ve come across. We’re not doing this to take cheap shots at the PR industry, rather we’re keen to up the quality of PR that goes on in our industry (and if nothing else give ourselves a few laughs on a Friday afternoon).