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.
Pride of The Mirror
In 2002, eight cheezy PRs, including myself, were gathered together by PR Week to decide on the top 20 consumer PR campaigns in the history of publicity campaigns. One publicity stunt that shone out was Live Aid, 1984 which was an iconic event to raise awareness and money for starving Africans. It united the world and achieved its goals. There was a half hearted attempt to do it again ten years later, but that’s another story. Brand events can’t simply be a stunt, they must have resonance. The shining modern example of this is the Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain…
McDeath
An extract from Bob Burton’s Inside Spin: The dark underbelly of the PR industry. Brian Page, a 42-year-old railway worker, had been busy before Easter 1992 buying furniture for a house he had just moved into at Mt Pritchard, a south-western Sydney suburb. On their way home, his daughter Melissa wanted to stop at McDonald’s in Fairfield for lunch. Shortly after returning home, Brian Page began vomiting and had diarrhoea. As Page’s symptoms were initially indistinguishable from a bout of the flu, his doctor gave him a medical certificate and sent him home. Page took to bed for the next…
Steroids are an unstoppable force
Michael Tchong has written an interesting paper on his site Darwin on Steroids: his claim is that while 75% of Americans object to steroid use, Marion Jones is part of evolution SAN FRANCISCO — 08-Oct-07 — Marion Jones is capturing headlines with an alleged admittance that she used steroids. A Friday poll of Facebook members shows that most Americans object to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, with 75% agreeing that steroids use in sports should be banned. But Michael Tchong, trend analyst at Ubercool (http://www.ubercool.com), believes Jones is symbolic of a “Darwin on Steroids” trend, which itself is propelled by…
Is this David Blaine
I love this man…
This guy works at my local take-away
Tayef is going to be a star…
Britney Spears the mythic martyr?
The media vultures are circling high above the rotting carcass that is Britney Spears’ much-vaunted “career”. Her public image has been mashed and trashed by a concurrent series of disasters that has resulted in the family courts ripping her children from her bosom and placing them in the care of her trailer trash ex mate Kevin Federline. The resultant PR meltdown has given the global media a succulent celebrity carrion, but is it all coming to a sticky end? Predictions suggest that a new idea is spreading through the blogosphere and should soon surface off line that there is a…
Election tennis – the PR soundbight game (contd) the rain stops play.
How boy David downed mighty Goliath Gordon. – Cameron accused Brown of indecision and weakness, saying he had put the Labour Party’s interests before those of voters. – Brown Falls Behind in Polls as He Rules Out Election Game to Cameron. Cameron leads one game to love in the first set. RAIN STOPS PLAY
Election tennis – the PR soundbight game (contd)
The Guardian puts Labour and the Tories on 38 per cent, an eight-point drop for Mr Brown’s party, and a six-point rise for Conservatives. The surge follows Mr Cameron’s unscripted conference speech at the annual party conference in Blackpool 40 – 15
Ronnie Hazlehurst, the man who set the BBC to music, dies aged 79.
It was a sad day when the TV world lost Ronnie Hazlehurst, who died in Guernsey on Monday 1st October. Ronnie Hazlehurst, the composer behind some of the television’s best loved theme tunes – from Blankety Blank to Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em – has died at the age of 79. The former BBC musical director wrote the scores for a host of popular variety shows and sitcoms, including The Two Ronnies, Yes Minister, Are you Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine. http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3021329.ece
A New Level of Low
A friendly journalist sent me this press release this afternoon which he received from a PR agent. Its content surely heralds a new phase of celebrity hell. The journalist commented that it was probably one of the most unpleasant press releases of all time, but that it contained some zen wisdom about our celebrity age. He is right. Can the level that these Z listers have plummeted to get any lower? The doctor performing the op is willing to say exactly when it’s going to happen – surely an open invitation to the paparazzi. The press release was sent on Monday – plenty…
Election tennis – the PR soundbight game (contd)
David Cameron has challenged Gordon Brown to call an immediate general election and “let the people decide”. 30 – 15
Countrywide Financial and the cuddly folks at Burston Marsteller
When you are up to your neck in crap and some one with a head cold spits at you what do you do – duck? Perhaps the worst but therefore the most lucrative account must be the Countrywide Financial (CFC). Mauled by the financial media for its questionable lending practices, announcing it will lay-off 12,000 people, and watching its stock price fall from over $45 to $20, Countrywide Financial has just hired Burson Marsteller.
Election tennis – the PR soundbight game
Tories to lift inheritance tax threshold to £1m 15 – LOVE Gordon Brown announces that UK troops in Basra are to be cut by 1,000 by the end of the year 15 – ALL
Pricasso's promotional tool
I spotted this “promotional tool” in today’s Independent. It’s a piece about a rather bizarre artist who paints portraits with his penis. Pricasso (ahem), as he calls himself, has recently demonstrated his talents at the Sexpo exhibition in Johannesburg. But I’m afraid he has all the hallmarks of a publicity stunt – one of the giveaways is that this Australian born artist has already painted portraits of George Bush and Paris Hilton. What great soundbites. I do hope I’m wrong and that he’s real because if he is, then that’s a much bigger story and maybe we’ll see him some…
Phone Gaff
The creeping erosion of PR standards is highlighted again by some poor practice in a resultant picture caption in this morning’s Sun newspaper. Emblazeoned across the lovely Vicky Newton “bizarre” column is a promo snap of Girls Aloud all brandishing mobile phones. Clearly it was staged to promote the handset. The problem is the story and the name of the company didn’t get a check. The hook, or should I say the more compelling narrative, was that one of the pop totty had covered up her pins. Shameful that the phone PR company that was employed did not control the…
Anorexic Gamers
Looking at the press yesterday I saw two examples of attempts to garner publicity, one being positive and the other rather negative. The first was the launch of Halo 3 last night at the IMAX. It’s one of the most successful Microsoft games ever and its press department have obviously treated it as such and given it the red carpet treatment instead of just aiming the launch at gaming geeks and kids. Although holding a premiere is not the most creative idea, the publicity machine has tried to rise to the challenge of the world wide anticipation for the game…
White Striped porn video shock meets race rant
The internet is full of people putting two and two together to make twenty two, not four. I’m still getting emails about Meg White and the sex tape scandal, suggesting these slightly racy pictures are the real reason why White Stripes have cancelled their world tour. http://community.livejournal.com/ Frankly, this is an inventive pornster who has linked his dubious content to this story in an attempt to rustle up viewers and hits to his site. It’s the oldest trick in the book and I’m surprised anyone has fallen for it. I have also been drawn to the debate raging in the U.S….
More PR woe
Recently I commented on the work of what I thought was a minority of PRs – Veet Pain In The PR Neck Rogue PRs Disappointingly, it has provoked a steady stream of anecdotes from industry folk who seem obliged to tell me about other idiotic tales and poor professionalism in the business, all of which reflect badly on us all. It really pains me to recount them, and it’s incredulous to think that the craft of great PR is being tarnished by inept operators. It’s not necessary to disclose where they are from, but it’s safe to say that the firms…
After seven magnificent years, is the Gordon Ramsay era over?
Chef must turn his back on TV and devote himself to restaurants again, critics say. Helen Pidd : Saturday September 15, 2007 :The Guardian For a long time he seemed as invincible as his muse, Action Man. Millions tuned in to see him lose his temper on TV, his restaurant conglomerate notched up 10 Michelin stars and his many books were constantly reprinting. But just as even the best recipes occasionally go wrong, it seems Gordon Ramsay’s hitherto unbeatable formula has failed him, as a string of setbacks and bad decisions look to threaten his empire. “To use Ramsay’s parlance,…