Mark My Words Blog
Welcome to ‘Mark My Words,’ the digital sanctuary where insight meets intrigue, and commentary sparks contemplation.
Delve into the dynamic world of PR maverick Mark Borkowski as he unravels the threads of media, culture, and communication. Mark’s blog is a treasure trove of industry wisdom, offering a backstage pass to the inner workings of publicity and the ever-evolving landscape of modern media.
Nottage in the New York Post
Dustin Hoffman’s interest in playing Maynard Nottage has taken the story all over the world, from India to California. The story crops up on the Cinematical website, which says that Nottage: “lived a pretty wild life… touring with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and enjoying the booze and the babes he encountered along the way. His partying ways caused him to fall out of favor in the moralistic Prohibition era, and he died, a Hollywood outcast, in 1965. “But as if that’s not movie-worthy enough, there’s more! Nottage’s life was largely forgotten until he became the focus of Mark Borkowski’s…
Winning with Wispa!
The last time we entered the PR Week Awards was fifteen years ago. Then, we won the award for Best Promotional Activity for a publicity stunt that involved a circus and a clown. It was a well-earned award, beating Freud’s Planet Hollywood campaign. For many reasons, however, we have not entered since then. This year, however, our new business director, Suresh Raj, thought it would be a good idea to put forward our Wispa campaign for Best Digital Innovation. So the team and assorted clients turned up to the Grosvenor House Hotel last night to eat rubbery lamb and sip…
Nottage's family hire LA PR firm
In yesterday’s blog I wrote that Maynard Nottage’s family had hired PR council and were preparing a release to rebut the Times’ assertion that Nottage was a hoax. They have hired Los Angeles PR firm Jaffe & Co and the press release has now hit the internet. Click here to read more.
More Maynard Nottage movie news
As I mentioned yesterday, there’s a star name being attached to a possible Maynard Nottage biopic – and that name has been revealed in today’s Daily Mail, in Richard Kay’s column. He says: “Uber PR Mark Borkowski’s rediscovery of Twenties Hollywood publicist Maynard Nottage has caught the eye of actor Dustin Hoffman, who wants to play the notoriously hard-drinking womaniser on screen. “For his best-selling book The Fame Formula, Borkowski researched the life of Nottage, the Forrest Gump of his era whose talents stretched from touring with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show to indirectly helping the Nazis adopt black shirts…
A weekend with Maynard Nottage
The frenetic 48 hours at the end of last week turned into a furiously busy weekend, coping with the response to the Times’ article suggesting that Maynard Nottage was a hoax. I have been fielding calls from producers interested in buying the rights to the Nottage story (there’s at least one director interested in the project, who has an A List star in mind to play the part of Nottage); answering emails of support from a great many people, including Victor Lewis Smith, Piers Morgan and Steve Jaffe; writing a letter of response to the Times (click here to…
How a bad picture can be a PR disaster
After John McCain’s monumental pratfall, Archie Bland explains how one picture can undo an entire political career His tongue is sticking out. He is doubled over like the hunchback of Notre Dame. And, from the photographer’s angle, John McCain appears to be reaching for his opponent’s Democratic ass. The picture, taken at the end of last week’s final presidential debate, records a moment of confusion after McCain was told to head off the stage in a different direction. But the camera is a cruel witness, and it really does look as if the Republican is intent on the Obama rear…
Borkowski on Madge
Madonna v Guy: Mudslinging in Vogue as war begins By CLAIRE SMITH Scotsman WHEN their divorce was announced earlier this week, celebrity commentators queued up to tell us that Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s break-up would not follow the muck-raking Mills-McCartney model. Publicist and media analyst Mark Borkowski said it was common practice for stars to leak information by means of close friends. He added: “When something is a known truth, the newspaper will sometimes put it down as ‘a friend’ to protect themselves – but they have to be fairly sure of their facts. “Somebody in the camp will give…
Maynard Nottage: not so mysterious
It’s been a frenetic 48 hours, dealing with the Times’ article, printed today, which suggests that Maynard Nottage is a hoax. Well, he’s not. Or, as I was quoted in the Times, “Did I consider I was being hoaxed? Of course I did. But I don’t think so.” The reason for my belief is this: Nottage’s rough collection of papers, the majority of which were written in hindsight in the 1940s and 50s, were handed to me after lengthy negotiation with his cautious family, just prior to writing The Fame Formula, at the beginning of 2007. Nottage’s family was deeply…
Cheltenham Festival via A Good Read
I had a busy but invigorating weekend at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature, promoting The Fame Formula on Saturday and discussing my favourite book with Sue McGregor and Terry Jones for BBC Radio 4’s A Good Read in the great stone wedding cake that is Cheltenham Town Hall. I was astonished at how busy it was, especially on the Sunday – the Festival seems to attract a great many people, what with its mixture of book-writing celebrities, poets, journalists and surprise visits by relaxed-seeming prime ministers. The Fame Formula event went well – between 60 and 70 informed and interested…
Gordon Brown strikes back..
All the madness engendered by the slumping, declining, crashing money markets has thrown up some interesting residue. One of the most immediate changes is the way that Gordon Brown seems to have reverted to his ruffled, dishevelled old skool persona and has dumped the carefully spun version like so much laundry – and I think he seems more real now than the neat persona his behind the scenes people created for him. Every time Brown has taken centre stage since the crisis began, he has had the look of a world leader struggling long into the night, the captain at…
The Fame Formula hits Canada!
Johanna Schneller and I were speaking on the Canadian CBC network’s Q arts, culture and entertainment show yesterday, about the ways to maintain a celebrity brand, alongside Suzanne Somers (who is mentioned in The Fame Formula thanks to her association with Jay Bernstein) on how to maintain life as a star brand and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. The podcast is now available to listen to – if you’d like to hear it, click here.
Absolute fabulous radio.
Absolute Radio, the rebranded Virgin Radio has launched a multimillion-pound TV campaign,today . The station introduces the catchphrase “That’s good, that’s real good.” All a bit predictable, I remember the Dutch pirate station that ran an ad campaign with the tag “ We’re FUCKING GREEEAT. The series of ads touched the psyche and got straight to the point. History suggests the station was not as good as its hyperbole
NEVER MIND THE BUTTER, HERE’S JOHNNY ROTTEN
I have been in a reflective state, bordering on shock, since I saw the Johnny Rotten Country Life butter advert. It really has been a long time since 1976, when the punk movement’s anarchy and infamy – and Lydon and the Sex Pistols in particular – caused popular outrage nationwide. Well, obviously the former punk has taken a huge chunk of change to don a tweed suit, which makes him look like a wizened version of Malcolm McLaren, and run around the countryside telling folk why he prefers Country Life butter. But who would have thought the former rebel without…
Lee Atwater politcal spinmeister
Please watch the BBC 4 doco on Lee Atwater the Darth Vader of the Republican Party. Atwater’s tactics were legendary described as unethical and dirty, he was widely regarded as a near-brilliant political operative who helped the likes of Bush Pt1 and Reagan get into power. Its currently on the BBC IPlayer
Burger King public relations "U" turn
Last December, Burger King generated some positive PR chatter when it signed an EU undertaking to end fast-food advertising aimed at the under-12s. Well, that hasn’t lasted. I have just noticed that the food behemoth is preparing to launch a global campaign for kids next month with a toy promotion featuring characters from The Simpsons. The incentive offers a free toy with every Kids Meal. Tactically, they have softened the idea by proclaiming that the toys can be played with individually and “are not dependent on the collection of a set”. No feverish collection frenzy, eh? They know full well…
Credit Crunch Meltdown
In only a matter of weeks the political panacea that was Sarah Palin, the untried Governor from Alaska who seemed to be rejuvenating the fortunes of the republican cause, has morphed into a PR nightmare. Firstly, her unorthodox outburst about the mining initiative in Alaska left many feeling burned. Then came an enquiry into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power to settle a vendetta against her sister’s ex- husband and, most recently, her flabbergasting performance in an interview with Katie Couric last week, an interview in which she gave such rambling, dim-witted responses to predictable questions that “Saturday Night…
Politician drowns in election publicity stunt
As the curtain is drawn on the Tory Party love fest this link popped into my inbox yesterday. It’s a cautionary tale for all aspiring would be political spin meisters. Take five minutes to read the article it does proves that all publicity is not necessarily good publicity news.yahoo.com
Thrills, spills, reviews, readings and parties
Thrills, spills, reviews, readings and parties: it’s been 60 days since The Fame Formula came out and it’s been a rollercoaster ride. And, with Festival season upon us, there’s much more to come. In the brief pause as the rollercoaster climbs up another slope, before I rush on down into the Festival season, it’s time to reflect on what’s happen and bask in the memories in the last heat of the Indian Summer. It seems much longer than 60 days since the book hit the shelves in a flurry of press and radio, from local radio to the Jonathan Ross…
Search for a slogan
Search for a slogan. Oxfam is asking the public to write four memorable lines to be displayed on digital billboards around London. But how hard can it be to bash out a catchy, punchy, effective slogan? Ravi Somaiya: The Guardian, Monday September 29 2008 How difficult is it to write an advertising slogan? Oxfam will be hoping not that difficult, given that the charity is about to launch a campaign allowing the public to put their own words on huge 6 metre by 3 metre digital billboards around London. Miscalculations will be difficult to hide. The idea is simple. Would-be…
Handbags at the Labour conference – spat between lobbyists
I’ve just read a piece on SpinWatch on the recent spat between lobbyists at Labour Party Conference: http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/5160/29/ . Its will worth a look.