Jul
25
Man sued for creating damaging Facebook profile
Filed Under Internet Public Relations, Online, Technology | Leave a Comment
Yahoo News reports that “A British businessman (Mathew Firsht) has won about AU$40k damages against an old friend (Grant Raphael) who put libellous and unauthorised information about him on Facebook . The pages incorrectly described Firsht’s sexuality and political views and alleged that Firsht owed large sums of money. The information stayed on the site for 16 days until spotted. Firsht alerted Facebook staff who deleted the pages and told his lawyers they had been posted on the site from a computer at Raphael’s home. So all you guys posting and creating in Socialmedialand…”you be careful out there!”
Jul
25
Now, PR disasters can be created in Photoshop
Filed Under Blogs, Media, PR Disasters, Technology | Leave a Comment
A man very much on my humour wavelength, Simon Bronson, sends me word of a site - Photoshop Disasters - that scrutinises photoshop artwork, pointing out the flaws and oddities. Becos my WordPress backend is still jiggered, you’ll need to cut n paste the following link to see my favourite; the paella pan-headed, one-nippled lingerie model. Enjoy, and ta Simon.
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/07/intymnie-sorry-i-have-huge-headache.html
Jul
24
The Media Hunter (www.mediahunter.typepad.com) alerted me to the fact that Marta Kagan has a great slideshare presention (www.martazkagan.com) explaining (as many others have before) what Social MEdia is…actually, Marta Z, documents why it’s relevant as well. Good info, and a nice clean layout design. Ta Marta & Media Hunter Valleyists
Would love to paste it in here, but my WordPress console seems gremlin-infested.
Jul
22
When is a mysogynistic slogan not part of your advertising or marketing communications arsenal? When it’s liveried onto company vans, silly! Least that’s the claim of campervan hire company Wicked, which has been censured for featuring spray painted slogans including “Women are like banks – once you withdraw you lose interest” and “If God was a woman, sperm would taste like chocolate”, on the back of its vans. There’a another one that says ‘This van’s a puss…’ well you can guess. Not sure if this was agency-inspired work, or from the client’s fair hand themselves.
Jul
22
My London-based video producer mate Simon Bronson flicks me a legal case of how social media can represent a highly detrimental threat to your reputation. In a case from - where else - the USA, prosecutors have used Facebook and MySpace photos to demonstrate that a DUI defendant showed a complete lack of remorse. How? Two weeks after knocking down and seriously injuring a woman while drunk at the wheel, a jackass called Jonathan Lipton rocked up at a party wearing fake prison-issue overalls emblazoned with the legend ‘Jail Bird’. That helped prosecutors get Lipton two years (and some sensitivity training mehopes?).
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/18/facebook.evidence.ap/index.html
Jul
15
Could Ad campaigns be recyclable?
Filed Under Corporates, Media | Leave a Comment
Over at Marketing magazine, I challenge the Ozzie creative community to consider mashing and re-hashing Ad concepts. I’m proposing we start with a fairly recent Ad for the Commonwealth Bank downunder. Produced by a groovy American agency it’s a ghastly ad for a bank;’ a great Ad for Australian tourism…no?
Jul
10
‘Hollowmen’ TV satire reinforces PR/lobby stereotypes
Filed Under Government, Media, Politics | 2 Comments
I cautiously welcome the ABC’s new political satire The Hollowmen, noting its witty dialogue and sharp insights. But like a cross between ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘The Games’, the Hollowmen show (for me) treads very familiar comedic turf; bumbling apparatchik staff, smug industry lobbyists and fawning political jobsworths. The cast includes a chief of staff, private secretaries, political advisers, a media adviser, party directors and a market research analyst, all buzzing around the PM’s office like homebound bumblebees. ABC reviewer Debbie Enker points out that the characters operate at “that messy intersection where politics meets public relations and policy-making…”; hopefully future episodes break out of the narrow road (geddiT EH, EH?) that last night’s episode drove them down. Though I started off disliking ‘Absolute Power’ from the Beeb, an observational sharpness emerged and I hope for the same in The Hollowmen.
- Click here to link and watch the first episode.
Jul
10
Soccer starlet gets boot after Facebook boast
Filed Under Internet Public Relations, Online, Sport, Technology | Leave a Comment
English pro football side Crystal Palace has released 18-year old Ashley Paul Robinson after he announced on his Facebook page that he would imminently be having a trial with another London side, Fulham. Neil Warnock - Palace Manager - was not amused when someone reported the Facebook post/boast and Warnock simply said: “…it’s probably better that he (sic Ashley) looks elsewhere to further his career.”
From Reuters and Yahoo News reports.