Good PR

Morrisons
Morrisons has launched an initiative offering customers £10 worth of food for just £3.09 that started this week (26 November) in a bid to minimise food waste. The first supermarket undertaking the scheme within the UK, Morrisons will take items from its bakeries, fresh fruit and veg and deli items that haven’t been purchased at their full retail price, and these will be available to buy at the end of the day by those looking to grab a bargain on their grocery shopping.

Obviously an amazing idea and one that earns them a ton of Good PR points, although perhaps not ideal for the fussier eaters amongst us. Customers won’t have any idea as to the contents of their food box before purchasing, and will only find out once they’ve collected their pre-packed goodies in store. With the aim to help raise awareness around how much food us Britons are wasting each year (it’s A LOT!), it is also being introduced to help those in need and on a very strict budget – a great idea just before Christmas! Our festive hats off to Morrisons!

Missguided
Who needs websites to buy clothes from when you can now find a website that allows you to shop for clothes AND holidays at exactly the same time?

The ridiculously genius team at Missguided has paired up with travel company Icelolly.com so you can now literally purchase clothes and browse for breaks at the same time. Found your dream beach holiday? Why not secure a bikini that will perfectly complement the colour of the ocean for all your Instagram content?

With the project titled ‘Missguided Vaycays’ , the company has said it wants to help customers shop for what they need whatever their budget, taste or age.

I mean, it’s a great idea. Think of how much less money we are now all NOT going to have, but hey, at least we will be jetting off to Spain with our new clothes and free deliveries!

Bad PR

Vue
Well, this doesn’t look good, does it?

Vue cinemas have had to pull new film ‘Blue Story’ from showing after a machete mob stormed a screening at its Birmingham venue and quickly escalated into a mass brawl. The fight that broke out involved dozens of teenagers, some of who were armoured with machete knives. Vue has now cancelled screenings of the film across all its UK locations, presumably due to the fact that the film itself focuses on gang culture, and there have been other fights within the UK following various other screenings of the film.

According to local reports, police were making efforts to calm down the violence outside the cinema for over 90 minutes during this incident. Vue may face criticism for this decision, and maybe even some money, but what’s worse PR, not showing a film to protect customers safety and wellbeing, or further fights happening across the country and potentially harming or killing those caught in the crossfire?

Sainsbury’s
It’s never great for a supermarket to find itself in hot water around the subject incorrect labelling, but at this time of year with Christmas just weeks away, it’s downright disastrous!

Sainsbury’s is this week having to recall its Hot Buffalo Dip after the recipe was found to contain egg – an allergen that was not stated on the product and therefore could pose a great threat to those with specific intolerances.

Whilst it may seem like a minor mishap to wrongly label one ingredient in one product created for Sainsbury’s, incidents like this are what will stick in people’s minds when it comes to the longstanding trust that one can place into an organisation. I would make a bet that there are a fair few people suffering with allergies and intolerances that no longer shop or purchase food and drinks in certain outlets due to previous PR disasters like this one.

Uber
Uber has, not for the first time, lost its licence to operate in London this week over the safety of its customers.

Sky news reported that Uber has not been granted a new licence to operate after several breaches had put passenger safety at serious risk.

Whilst the company is huge in London, and has certainly changed the way that a large number of those living within the capital approach taxi services and public transport, it’s no surprise to us that the TFL have decided to pull its licence. The company is in consistently hot water surrounding issues such as pay, benefits, security and training, so this has inevitably been a long time coming.

If Uber wants to continue trading within London, surely it will now need to completely reassess its logistics in order to ensure that every passenger is being picked up by the driver they have been assigned, and that everyone is authorised and knowledgeable about the journeys they are navigating.

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