Good and Bad PR: Missguided is misguided, but what’s not to like about puppy therapy?

Good PR

I’m jetting off to Singapore and Bali next week, so one story in particular caught my eye during my search for this week’s good PR; mainly because it also involved puppies.

A hostel and hotel in Ubud, on the island of Bali, received an influx of media coverage, after announcing that it was offering guests there free ‘puppy therapy’ during their stays; basically giving them the opportunity to play with baby doggos, which is enough to make anyone smile.

For those of you wishing to book a stay immediately, run a quick search for the Puri Garden Hotel, which as an added bonus also happens to have been voted one of the most luxurious hostels in the world.

Stays start at £19 per night, and the puppy therapy runs every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:30pm until 3:30pm, so if you’re staying for a week then you could squeeze two or three sessions with the pups in.

The puppies are donated by a rescue charity called the Bali Dogs Association, which the hotel gives money to, presumably until they’ve grown into big puppers and are ready for rehoming.

News of this initiative travelled fast and soon the Puri Garden Hotel was appearing on the likes of the Metro, LAD Bible, Mirror, Daily Mail, Pretty 52 and lots of other titles around the entire globe. You can bet your bottom dollar that Puri Garden Hotel’s bookings spiked phenomenally.

Bad PR

Missguided seems to rarely get good press these days and this week was no different.

After launching a bikini which at full price only cost £1 to buy, shoppers and critics have slammed the product; saying that it’s basically a throwaway item that would end up in landfill and doesn’t do anything to help the fast-fashion crisis.

Despite being 85% polyester and being itsy bitsy (although covering more of the wearer’s modesty than some products out there on the market… wow, I sound old) people questioned the manufacturing process and labour involved.

This tweet sums it up perfectly:

Others called for people to Google the Rana Plaza before considering buying the bikini, the garment factory that collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2013 and killed more than 1,000 people.

The fact that Misguided used influencer Ellie Brown, from last year’s Love Island, to promote the product, also didn’t go down too well.

Coupled with the fact that ministers have just rejected plans for a 1p per garment levy to tackle fast-fashion, this news is a real kick in the teeth for those trying to tackle poor working conditions in garment factories overseas and everything else that comes with the fast-fashion crisis, such as the environmental impact.

Written by Shannon Peerless, 10 Yetis @ShazzaYeti on Twitter. Seen any good or bad PR lately? You know what to do @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email