The PR Blog

The Story of the Judgement of King Solomon is well known. Two women, each claiming to be the mother of an infant, appeal to the King for his Judgement. He rules that the baby should by cut in half and one half given to each woman. One woman cries out and says “ No! “ Give the child to her, only do not cut the child in half! “ King Solomon announced that she was indeed the Mother because the true mother would prefer to lose her child to someone else rather than see it murdered.

This morning I went to the supermarket. It is a sleepy little area, on the coast and always easy to find parking. I pulled in alongside a scruffy looking campervan – the sort of thing that the local surfers live in while they search out the next wave.

The man who owned the vehicle was standing outside, leaning in through the open sliding door on the passenger side of the truck. Perched on top of the surfboard, the blankets, the jerry cans and empty pizza boxes and the like,  were 3 little kids. Quiet as lambs. They had their little knees hard up against their chest and chins. They were sobbing.

It’s not funny what has happened to humour. Last week, the great Barry Humphries was punished for speaking his mind. The “ Barry Award “, given to the outstanding comedian of the year at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, will have a name change. It will now be known as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award. Apparently, Barry Humphries is too offensive these days. In 2018, he upset the snowflake lefties  when he called transgenderism “a fashion” and said, “how many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it’s pretty evil when it’s preached to children by crazy teachers”. The Festival organisers said “Barry’s comments obviously came into play and they moved things along about. Barry’s comments were hideous. It is good that our awards have a name that any person within the festival and can comfortable about. “  

Barry Humphries once said  "There is no more terrible fate for a comedian than to be taken seriously."

It seems that fate has had the last laugh. But is there something that can be done? He has two friends who could step in right now. Why haven’t they?

Has Sir David Attenborough gone too far this time?  His documentary “ Our Planet “ features a disturbing scene shot from an aerial view that shows Walruses plummeting off a 250 foot high cliff, apparently chased by Polar Bears.It seems that the Polar Bears chased them; or maybe it was because of receding sea levels; maybe they were hungry, had poor eyesight, couldn’t see that the water was a long way down……. Or maybe not.

Maybe it was because they were terrified by the overhead helicopter or plane from which the film crew aimed their cameras? Maybe they stampeded to their deaths in a futile effort to escape the monster overhead?

My money is on the more logical explanation that the stupid idiots in the chopper/plane  caused the stampede and it made for a good bit of tragedy to sell the  “ Climate Change, Global Warming, We are all going to die in 12 years “ narrative so beloved of the leftie greens.

Attenborough, a man I admired and respected for many years, has gotten to be as trustworthy as Dr Mengele when he said “ Trust me, I’m a Doctor. “

Can one pair of shoes save a Company?  It all depends on whose feet the shoes are worn. The right feet can change the fortunes of a struggling brand and so too can a Political or Social ideology surge to popularity if its message is delivered from the mouth of the right person.

We say that it is a modern phenomenon, this brand recognition and marketing strategy that can see a complete transformation, seemingly overnight, from failure to success. The opposite is also true: Bad marketing decisions can see the destruction of a Company faster than a rat up a drainpipe. However, selling a brand is a very old concept. It is only the sophistication of the selling tools that has changed.