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.
CRADLE OF GLAMOUR
After the success for the pharmaceutical company, Moran was employed by a lesser known modelling agency in Arkansas. To push this agency, Moran needed a real point of difference and after much thought, he created what became known as the “Cradle of Glamour” for a photocall. The idea was to create a Garden of Eden in the Arkansas sunshine where more thoughtful, nature loving girls who also happened to be the models for the agency, learned how to make the most of what mother nature had given them. One class included how to make up your lips, how you drew…
Buzz n Shetty
The Daily Mirror has an interview with Shilpa Shetty which takes up practically a third of the paper. I don’t think this will be the full stop on Shilpa’s story, but what is interesting for a media watcher is The Sun’s front page. The cover has been created as a response to losing the interview to The Mirror, and The Sun has cleverly developed the race debate structuring it in a way that its readers will connect to. Jade Goodey has provided us with a well orchestrated photo, driving into the Priory. She’s obviously going for the sympathy vote –…
Shilpa set to cash in after surviving Big Brother ordeal
The Scotsman 29 Jan 2007 AS TELEVISION reality show Celebrity Big Brother finally ground to a halt last night after nearly a month on air, Shilpa Shetty – the Bollywood actress at the centre of alleged racist bullying by other contestants – was poised to convert her ordeal into a string of lucrative career deals. One leading UK PR expert last night said Shetty clearly had breakthrough potential outside Bollywood cinema, but queried whether it was worth the actress’s effort. Mark Borkowski said: “Bollywood probably generates a lot more money than mainstream television or film in this country. The question…
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty won Celebrity Big Brother last night. The Borkowski poet in residence celebrates her victory. Get ready for the jet set, Shilpa Shetty. You survived Big Brother without being petty and with magnanimity unalloyed forgave Jo, Jade and Danielle Lloyd. Get ready for the high life, Shilpa honey. You won Big Brother, now you’re in the money. Should you want or need it the world is yours; surviving abuse opens certain doors. Enjoy the attention, Shilpa Shetty revel in the flash bulbs and confetti. You’re what celebrity should be about; grace under pressure not just tits ‘n’…
The last noddy on Shilpa Shetty for Radio 5 Live?
I did probably the last noddy on Shilpa Shetty for Radio 5 Live this morning for the breakfast show. What more can be said about this woman who came up with the spontaneous sound bite last night? “This country has given me so much. I just want to thank all of Great Britain for giving me this fantastic opportunity to make my country proud.”
Jim Moran and the school of beauty
Jim Moran was employed to publicise a cosmetics arm of a major U.S. pharmaceutical company. Instead of the usual run of the mill celebrity endorsement, Moran decided to give the idea some intellectual thought and put a back story to the photo call that he organised. Moran used the well known “Delia Collins School of Beauty Culture” in his photo shoot which took only 20 trainee beauticians each year. At the school, the trainees learnt all about the anatomy of beauty and all the major bodily functions. Thus, the idea of beauty therapy was sold, coupling cosmetics with health. It…
She survived Jade, Jo and Channel 4. Now Shilpa reaps her reward
From Guardian Unlimited – UK She survived Jade, Jo and Channel 4. Now Shilpa reaps her reward At 9.46am yesterday, Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actor, began applying make-up. Four minutes later she sat down at the kitchen table. At 9.54am she began brushing rubbish from the kitchen floor, before asking if anyone would like to share a banana. Almost two weeks after incidents of allegedly racist bullying of Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother led to an international furore, events inside the reality TV studio may have slumped into soporific tedium. But outside the frenzy shows little sign of abating. Tomorrow…
Celebrity Big Brother comes to a head
There is a real head of steam building as Celebrity Big Brother comes to a head. Rumours are circulating that Max Clifford is going to be the representative of Shilpa Shetty. If this is the case then agent John Noel who represents: Chantelle Houghton, Dermot O’Leary, Russell Brand, Davina McCall and Jade Goody will have to watch his step. Max had lost Chantelle to John Noel in acrimonious circumstances and it was only a matter of time before he would find his opportunity to get revenge. Expect Shilpa to distance herself from Jade and talk about the horrors she suffered…
It’s shocking news for Hollywood
It’s shocking news for Hollywood http://media.guardian.co.uk/diary/ that Sky is going to screen the Oscars in high definition. I suspect this might have got a few famous Hollywood faces scared to death if they’ve undergone a bit of nip and tuck. If the Oscars are shot and shown in HD, then won’t every scar and crinkle on our beloved stars, be visible to the world? Those who haven’t come clean about surgery might well worry. But as in everything, you get what you pay for. Clever celebrities hire great publicists who spend an inordinate amount of time looking for elephant traps….
Publicity stunt beyond all publicity stunts
This could be the publicity stunt beyond all publicity stunts – are we really to believe that Jade Goody is going to undergo a life changing experience after news that she will visit India to apologise for her supposed racist remarks against Shilpa Shetty. An unattributable source has given this nuggest of information to the media, but is someone just testing the water? Something far more creative could have been thought up to cleanse the soiled image of Jade Goody. Another newspaper suggests that she’s actually been invited to India. It’s interesting to note that all this stemmed from The…
Wireless publicity stunt
One of the biggest money spinners in PR at the moment is the contract for HDTV. Back in 1938 it was another technological break through that was in the headlines, albeit less hi tec. The radio exhibition at London’s Olympia was set up to promote radio hardware in an attempt to get more people to buy a wireless. The U.S. publicist Jim Moran was hired by PIFCO to come up with an idea and so he created a photo call with an ingenious idea. He got teams of char women to clean the entire exhibition centre’s floor while listening to…
Gone with the Wind-up
I have a gentleman named Paul Rigby to thank for a letter he sent me, informing me of one of Jim Moran’s genius stunts in Hollywood. Apparently Moran, who was wanting work in Tinseltown, approached a couple of Hollywood film studios to pitch for business. He posed as a Lithuanian film producer, even learning a few key phrases in Lithuanian, and then spent two weeks with a voice coach so he could speak English with the correct Lithuanian accent. Moran came up with the idea of remaking Gone With The Wind, set in an Eastern European country, and to Moran’s…
IS ALL CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER PUBLICITY BAD PUBLICITY?
Channel 4 is on a roller coaster ride. Every hour this week a new scenario shifts the media agenda and the current interest in Big Brother is at an all time high. The media and the public has been fixated – and transfixed – by the bullying and supposed racism in the house. And whether it is going to derail Jade Goody Inc. Is this all just publicity fall out or manna from heaven? We will soon discover if all publicity is bad publicity? Front page news, radio phone ins, bloggers and the Houses of Parliament are all debating whether…
It was a Goody weekend for me.
I did a total of 32 interviews on Jade and the best are posted up here. There’s the afternoon programme on Radio 4, Saturday’s breakfast show on Radio 5 Live and the Stephen Nolan programme from Saturday evening which turned into a debate on the state of British Television.
KRUSTY BART AND JADE GOODY- "WHO IS HEINZSTEIN?"
What more can be said about the Celebrity Big Brother chaos, the media world is all consumed by comment. I have found a quote from the Simpson’s that at this time we need to jump too for some comic philosophy as we muse on the cult of celebrity. In an episode called Bart the Fink, Bart inadvertently alerts the IRS to tax fraud by Krusty the Clown, who can’t bear to live “like a schnook” after the government sells his possessions. The auction is complete, and Krusty sits by the curb. Bart comes by and asks if he can sit…
JENNIFER, JENNIFER
Jennifer Aniston has recently begun walking around her Los Angeles mansion in a deep sleep and then waking up confused and bewildered. Friends of Jennifer, 37, believe she has started sleepwalking because of stress in her personal life. The Borkowski poet in residence begs to differ. Jennifer, Jennifer, sleepwalking queen, are you rehearsing your roles on the silver screen as you walk round your mansion, eyes shut and snoring or are you dreaming of men who’re no longer adoring? Jennifer, Jennifer, bewildered and lost, do you quest after fame regardless of cost? Are you sleepwalking because men have been less…
Celebrity Big Brother – the fall out
Lets face it Channel 4 are guilty of revenue chasing. I am sure both Endermol and the channel are hoping the tornado will pass before they come up with a strategy rebuild. I think it’s deeply ironic that the totemic Estuary bint that has plundered the post Big Brother universe for revenue should return to finish it off. Mark discusses the PR implications with Eddie Mair on the BBC Radio 4 PM programme, 18th January 2007
BIG BROTHER’S LITTLE RACE ROW
The Borkowski poet in residence takes a look at the aftermath of the racism/bullying hoo-ha surrounding Celebrity Big Brother. From the Houses of Parliament to the streets of Dehli debates are now raging about Channel 4 telly and specifically the show we thought was dead in the water. Now Celebrity Big Brother has every single reporter frothing and slavering for a small slice of news about Shilpa, Jade Goody and her ignorant views She’s not racist precisely, she seems too stupid for that, but she certainly doesn’t realise her stock could fall flat when she exits the house in the…
Lies and newspaper spin
After a particularly difficult weekend helping out a poor innocent who was the subject of some unpleasant attention from a Sunday newspaper. A note arrived in my inbox from a pal who had heard about the dilemma. “Take a look at this to see how the weasel words and lies of a news desk are treated by the on-line community – there was massive fallout from this blackmail letter sent to Abby Lee after she posted it on her site http://girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com/2007/01/three.html. The web is a wonderful resource and now documents the conduct the offline media
Taking a Tiny Break
The German Publicist Wolfgang Mayer created a publicity stunt that could have gone down in history had it not been for the unfortunate timing. Mayer was employed to turn around the fortunes of a little known caravan holiday company located in Bergen, north east of Hanover, who were interested in promoting long distance travel holidays to their clients. Mayer employed a team of the finest Bavarian craftsmen to create a miniature sized, fully working car and caravan to show at the London Open Air Exhibition in 1939 in order to promote these long distance caravan holidays. The exhibit was shown…