Good and Bad public relations time and I am not going to lie, it has been hard work this week. Apple is dominating the media at the time of writing as its iPhone 8 (I am not pandering to its desire to call it an iPhone X) has been launched to great fanfare.

Bad PR

Poundland goes nuts
Poundland found itself in the eye of a media storm this week due to having a product on its shelves that was accused of stigmatising mental health issues. The product is a M&M rip-off called “nutters” and the packaging included peanuts with crossed eyes.

The store has said that it has sold the products for over 12 months and they have proved to be very popular. MPs and various mental health charity bosses still want them culled. Poundland has stuck to its guns though and say it is not getting rid straight away, but they will be reviewed in the next product-buying meeting. In media terms, the damage has been done thanks to the big-hitting media giving Poudland a right clout.

The PRCA
On the bad public relations front it has been an odd old week. Bell Pottinger has gone into administration courtesy of its rogue campaigns, but there is growing disquiet amongst the PR industry about the way in which the PRCA has used this as a member-growth marketing campaign. Interesting that the trade body has been far quieter on the topic this week. Although not in PRmoment, here is a podcast for those who wish to indulge.

Killer Osborne
George Osborne has done little to shift his reputation for being cold. An Evening Standard staffer has given a nice soundbite where he is alleged to have said that he would not rest until Theresa May “is chopped up in bags in my freezer”. Sinister! That being said, there is another quote where Theresa May is alleged to have been rather patronising whilst she gave him the Spanish Archer (El Bow). All in all, painting the political world to be packed with the kind of childish squabbles that we all suspected in the first place. They run our country!

Bride wars
Is the next one bad PR for potential brides or a good PR opportunity for stag and hen companies? A bride did a bunk with the money from her partner’s stag do and the UK media went bonkers for the story. Rachel Doran (the bride) is alleged to have run away with the £13k of cash meant to pay for the stag do. She had previous for fraud and once arrested she said that she had done it because she thought her fiancé, Chris Mahone, had cheated on her. He should have used a stag and hen party-planning business!

Good PR

EasyJet flies high
The good news of the week is similarly tame. EasyJet got a tonne of positive column inches thanks to it now being able to let customers book long-haul flights direct from its website. The company has partnered up with a few long-haul companies to be able to offer this service, and also made it easier to book two, connecting, separate EasyJet flights in one trip. All hail EasyJet!

Blackpool lands coverage
Some good news for the people of Blackpool came through this week when their local airport got sold to the council and looks like it may open up again. A few questions here… who knew Blackpool had an airport? Why was it shut? Who would want to fly into Blackpool?  

I went there once on a stag party for one of my fellow scouser relatives. The highlight was jumping over puddles of vomit and leaving. Anyway, I digress, Balfour Beatty apparently owned the airport and decided to close it. The local authority clearly sees this as a bad thing and, in quotes about buying it, cites the excitement it has about opening it again.

Mammoth value soars 
Finally, old skeletons got a boost this week as it was revealed that they have a low rate of depreciation. A 20,000-year-old family of four mammoths that were found and dug up in the Siberian city of Tomsk in 2002 are set to go to auction in London with an anticipated value of £400k.

What I found to be missing from the story is who is going to be profiting from the sale of the wannabe elephants? Is it the digger uppers or the government of Siberia? Either way, a nice windfall and well worth you checking your garden for dinosaur remains.

Let’s hope that next week is more action packed than this week!

Written by Andy Barr, head of 10 Yetis
Seen any good or bad PR lately? You know what to do @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email