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.
IF BOOKS WERE CHOCOLATES
As publishers, desperate to recreate the massive sales of Jordan’s volume of autobiography, continue to flood the market with poor-selling celebrity hagiographies, the Borkowski poet in residence tries to get inside the mind of the audience they seem to be targeting. All I want for Christmas is a book a book about the life of a celebrity cook or maybe David Beckham, or Jordan or Tom Cruise a book about anyone who’s in the news. Please make the cover lovely, make the revelations petty and do make sure the writing has been done by a committee. I don’t want a…
Where the Bee Sucks…
The old movie publicists like Nottage and Reichenbach were very clever in creating false back stories for their clients; exotic lifestyles, estranged family members, passions for couture were the foundations for many of these extravagant biographies. Perhaps the most amusing was when fiction became fact in the case of Clara Kimble Smith, whom Harry Reichenbach had falsely reported as being a great lover of bees. Harry claimed that she spent hours visiting beehives, used beeswax to moisturise her skin and enjoyed studying bees from an anthropological angle. Clara was then asked if she would become patron to the U.S. Honeymakers…
All time "noddy" high!
I have done my 125th interview on Kate Moss, this time for an Australian News Network. The ups and downs of Kate Moss’s life have been a rollercoaster ride. This week an article in a design magazine dug out one of my original quotes on the Kate Moss ferago, when the story originally broke. http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletins/design/article/603548/mark-ritson-branding-hit-scandal-it/ The continuing need for 24/7 news quotes from pundits like myself and Max Clifford, only illustrates that you can comment on a situation as it happens, and as you see fit to comment at the time.
Classical rebels play it demure
Classical rebels play it demure by Maurice Chittenden and Gillian Bowditch Sunday Times 19th November 2006. WHEN Katie Targett-Adams takes to the stage with her Celtic harp in Beijing this week she will not be wearing the suggestive outfit that has become de rigueur for the ambitious young female classical musician. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2460345,00.html
AN ENGLISHMAN’S CAR IS HIS CASTLE
Ken Livingstone intends to charge 4×4 drivers £25 a day to drive through London if he is re-elected as mayor. The Borkowski poet in residence takes a wry look at the phenomenon of the 4×4. An Englishman’s car is his castle. His home’s just a place where he lives. He may be microwaving the candle but he loves the feeling it gives when he drives half a mile to the schoolyard gates to drop off his child and hoot at his mates before gunning to work at 60 top whack then in a traffic jam lurk with the sun on…
Borat Film Banned in Russia
Borat film banned in Russia By Jeremy Last Borat A satirical movie starring a British Jewish comedian which pokes fun at the apparent anti-Semitic nature of some of Kazakhstan’s population has been banned in Russia. http://www.ejpress.org/article/news/11612
Colonel Sanders goes stellar
Colonel Sanders goes stellar There seems to be a “mcflurry” of PR activity in the food and confectionary world. Burger King and Cadbury have both taken proactive steps to pull advertising and sponsorship. It is brilliant brand opportunism perhaps driven by the deep sense of paranoia that these respective industries are consumed by that has forced safety first action. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/stuntwatch/
The cult of Philip Green.
I think Philip Green’s cover might have been blown at long last. Has his obsession with celebrity become his Achilles heel? First he flirts with the Kate Moss brand and creates a dream match, made in heaven, where the supermodel, celebrity and, according to many, the most stylish woman in the world, gets in bed with his brand Topshop, the country’s coolest High Street store. Green, who owns Topshop’s parent group Arcadia, struck the deal personally after meeting Moss and deciding they should work together. “We want to build this into a global brand,” he told the trades. “She is…
BLACKMAIL
Britney Spears’ estranged husband Kevin Federline is reportedly threatening to sell a homemade sex video of the pair unless he receives £16 million and custody of their children. Kevin has allegedly vowed to sell the explicit four-hour tape to a company who want to post it on the internet unless Britney agrees to his demands. Blackmail – when your marriage is dying especially if you cheated and were constantly lying. Take what you can and head for Hollywood’s hills leave your ex-partner on a diet of pills If she doesn’t want the world to see her in the flesh get…
Ahead of the latest James Bond movie's release this week, Matt Keating asks some of the top names in advertising to assess the 007 brand's enduring appeal
Monday November 13, 2006 The Guardian Ahead of the latest James Bond movie’s release this week, Matt Keating asks some of the top names in advertising to assess the 007 brand’s enduring appeal http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1946072,00.html
One of the joys of life for a humble publicist is to marvel at the poetry of pure propaganda.
One of the joys of life for a humble publicist is to marvel at the poetry of pure propaganda. Often when a pro-active campaign is shaped like the proverbial clay on the potters wheel, it is moulded by a ham-fisted half wit resulting in acres of print that work against the original aim. The new Britney Spears soap opera, centred on her marital problems, seems to be holding its own against the real news agenda as it contemplates the results of the U.S. congressional elections and the sacrifice of Donald Rumsfeld. Normally such a truly trivial story would be relegated…
Parrot auditions revisted
According to today’s Daily Star newspaper: “This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a parrot with a big personality. We hope to uncover the next A-list avian superstar. ”The lucky winning bird will first be used as the official “spokesparrot” for the DVD launch of the second swashbuckling adventure, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Dead Man’s Chest’. It will then be flown to the island of Dominica, where it will join co-stars Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley to shoot the final film ‘At World’s End’. Owners hoping to get their parrot on the big screen have been given some expert advice…
THE BLISS ADDICTS
Words of warning from the Borkowski poet in residence to anyone not wishing to make the same mistakes as Paul McCartney, Britney Spears or Robbie Williams, all of whom have mistaken brief, random bliss for something lasting or satisfying. Bliss is short-lived a sun spot on a star’s eye a gutter-pressed candle stuttering out but the need for it asphyxiated romance years ago mutilated the long game the years of caring that underscore a marriage Bliss lives little longer than a mayfly It is a brief pout on lips closing like a letterbox but bliss, whilst it thrives, demands constant…
A Twist on Firestarters
It would seem that the great Harry Reichenbach invested a great deal of time building up relationships with various novice firemen in the early part of his career in New York. He spent time with the reluctant heroes, coaxing some fantastic tales out of them by persuading them to recount their experiences. Harry quickly built up a mental library of disaster stories that surrounded some of the more spectacular fires that they had to deal with. Harry later used this bank of tall tales when he had an established career in movies. Harry also encouraged a number of film makers…
Learn to love a lobby group
There is a row brewing between Puma, the Metropolitan Police and various anti guns lobby groups on the basis of the new Puma trainer that has a machine gun etched on the heel. Let’s not forget that the brand is trying to remain at the cutting edge of fashion as well as pushing the limits as far as they can to get the oxygen of publicity and remain street cred. Maybe this deliberate provocation plays right into the hands of the police and lobby groups as they need these brands to enable them to raise the very issues that they…
ELECTIONEERING
Is it a coincidence that the verdict and sentencing to death of Saddam Hussein have arrived two days before the pivotal U.S. Congressional Elections? The Borkowski poet in residence wonders what George W. Bush might be thinking… Well we got him, he’s going. Saddam’s been shown the door I hope that you won’t think about the budget deficit no more. We’ve got a measure of justice for all those people that he killed. We’ll hang him by the neck to pay for all the blood he spilled, so now it’s safe to vote Republican in the midterms. Don’t be slack!…
What difference is Saddam’s execution going to make to the chaos in Iraq?
Is it a coincidence that the verdict and sentencing to death of Saddam Hussein have arrived two days before the pivotal U.S. Congressional Elections? I would argue that the timings are not only fortuitous, but constructed to create maximum PR. Well prepared forward planning indicates that forethought was given to where the President would be. It’s no surprise that George Bush was safe in Texas delivering his sound bite, setting off on a campaign tour. He thanked the U.S. soldiers for their part in Saddam’s downfall “Today, the victims of this regime have received a measure of justice that many…
THE FIRST CELEBRITY IN SPACE
Paris Hilton apparently wants to be the first celebrity to go into space. The hotel heiress plans to take her reality TV show The Simple Life into orbit and have cameras filming her as she trains to be the first celebrity astronaut. The Borkowski poet in residence imagines how she might react… You only get famous on Earth for being bored, rich and lonely as hell, with your face in the papers every day and only your good looks to sell. If you’re stuck in the celebrity rut there are brief specks of light in the dark but all you…
Publicity stunt that needs some praise
Today’s quote from Michael O’Leary, founder of Ryan Air on Richard Branson’s plans to donate Virgin’s next decade’s profits to developing biofuel suggests that O’Leary should take a course from Branson’s PR people in the art of public relations. O’Leary’s comment about it being “… a great PR stunt but it will take the next 100 years for Virgin transport profits to reach $3 billion” surely suggests that O’Leary should look in his own back yard. Although Ryan Air may be innovative in the cheap flight arena, surely they should spare a thought for the quality of their own customer…
So here now for Brand Beckham?
Where now for Brand Beckham? Independent – London,England, … As PR Mark Borkowski notes, Beckham could be set to become the great champion of British sport, a Sir Bobby Charlton with truly global appeal and a better … http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article1938895.ece