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Lord Mandelson, Louis Vuitton and Bags of PR Hell

The Daily Telegraph’s Tim Walker asked me for my opinion, in today’s paper, on Bernard Arnault’s response to Lord Mandelson’s insistence that the Louis Vuitton bag he was photographed with last week wasn’t his… “Bernard Arnault responded with a polite “merci, mais non” when I asked him if he would care to comment on why…

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My Edinburgh

Here’s an unedited version of the piece I wrote for yesterday’s Independent, on My Edinburgh. Trawling Edinburgh Festival for the sites of my old publicity stunts, celebrated in the #Twithibition I have just launched, has been a contemplative experience. The stunts celebrated 25 years of mischief, but that was then. What is now? I thought…

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PR Gaffes in Fashion Retailing

The Daily Telegraph asked for my opinion yesterday on the ruling against Abercrombie & Fitch, who were found to have “wrongfully dismissed and unlawfully harassed” Riam Dean, a 22-year-old woman with a prosthetic limb who was shuffled off the shop floor last year. “Mark Borkowski, a leading brand and celebrity publicist, said: ‘This is probably…

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The News of the World: Tapping on Heaven's Door?

It seems, of late, that sleaze is a gift worth giving and that it’s for life, not just for Christmas or for politicians. The latest example – the News of the World phone tapping scandal – is, in Variety’s slanguage, a “dramedy”. It has the potential for seriously succulent consequences, which might be deeply costly…

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Michael Jackson's Funeral: The Greatest Show on Earth?

And so Michael Jackson is to be put to rest – or his physical form is at least. There is no doubt that his name, his brand and his image will live on for as long as it makes money. Death is merely a chapter break in the life of Michael Jackson – it’s not…

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Michael Jackson the media circus – Jacko v Princess Diana

I have asked my old mate Roger Edwards, who used to be marketing director of Wembley Stadium, to provide me with his own reminiscences on the Michael Jackson circus from the time he worked at Wembley. It is still surprising to consider that fifty nights at the O2 would have translated as five nights at…