As we find ourselves stuck in what I like to call ‘the limbo’ between lockdown and regular life, with many of us still making the conscious decision to avoid crowded public spaces and work from home; it’s very telling how many ‘celebrities’ and notable public figures are seemingly happy to begin enjoying luxury holidays again, start up their highly publicised court cases and resume total normality as though this global pandemic was just a mild inconvenience that isn’t still killing thousands of people around the world every single day.

Luckily, this does of course mean I had an abundance of options for the ‘Bad PR’ section of the column this week…

Good PR

Nandos

Following last weeks announcement by Rishi Sunak regarding VAT reductions (20% down to 5%) across the UK restaurant sector, Nandos has made every chicken lovers week by announcing that from Wednesday 15^th July, prices have been cut across its menu, with home deliveries also being rolled out across the country.

As it stands, a total of 360 Nandos are open for delivery and click and collect options, with just 10 currently offering an eat-in service.

There are some pretty impressive savings to be made, with a family platter of two whole chickens and five large sides down from £43.50 to £38.25, and 10 peri-peri wings down to £9.60 from £10.95.

Looks like I know what I’ll be ordering as my takeaway treat this weekend!

Barbados Government

If there’s one small positive that has come out of the past few difficult months for me it’s the clarification that working from home is a viable option for the majority of office workers, and can seriously help in regaining healthier and more acceptable work/life balance.

One team who clearly also agree are the government in Barbados, who’ve announced in the past week that UK residents have the opportunity to fly out to the picturesque Caribbean island and work there remotely for up to A YEAR.

Sounds too good to be true right? Apparently not.

According to Barbadian officials, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has creative the scheme in order to increase the country’s GDP and boost tourism and visitors to the island following the COVID-19 outbreak. An official start date for applications has not been announced yet, so those interested in making the beach their office in the near future will need to keep their eyes peeled for further information.

NASA

According to reports this week, NASA has confirmed the existence of a newly discovered, 13^th zodiac sign called Ophiuchus. This obviously puts quite a spanner in the works for most people who have now realised their star sign isn’t the same.

Whilst A LOT of people on my Twitter timeline are nothing short of outraged following the news that the star sign they’ve assumed they are all their lives turns out to be wrong, you’ve got to hand it to NASA for breaking the internet with a topic that a large majority of people would agree is total rubbish!

Bad PR

Bristol City Council

Bristol City Council are being condemned this week after taking the decision to remove a sculpture of a Black Lives Matter protester from the plinth in the city where a statue of slave trader Edward Colston once stood.

The statue of Jen Reid was only erected on Wednesday but removed just over 24 hours later, with the council tweeting to say that the sculpture will be held at a museum for the artist to collect or donate to a collection.

Ms Reid said she’d felt an ‘overwhelming impulse’ to climb on the empty plinth during last months Black Lives Matter protest, and that the sculpture is ‘about making a stand for my mother, my daughter, for black people like me.’

Huawei

Chinese tech giant Huawei have been denied access to the UK’s 5G telecoms network just six months after being given permission by the British government amidst national security fears.

It has been made clear this week that the company will not be allowed to supply up to 35% of equipment for the UK’s 5G’s plans as originally planned, and will be kept out of the core network.

This move by the UK government comes after Donald Trump and his team have made further sanctions on Huawei, which they believe is a tool for spying by the Chinese government and they refer to as a ‘threat to national security’.

Lauren Goodger

Well I had to include this because it is just one of the most bizarre and worrying stories regarding photoshopping I’ve ever read.

Controversial ex-TOWIE star and former fiancé of Mark Wright Lauren Goodger has landed herself in further hot water this week after it was revealed she’d photoshopped a throwback image of both herself as a young child and her father. The image that she shared to her 757k followers

Now, don’t get me wrong, photo editing is something that EVERYONE with large followings probably does from time to time in order to ensure their social platforms look as aesthetically pleasing as possible, but being so embarrassed or unhappy with how you and your dad look in a photo from more than two decades ago that you completely alter your appearance on it? That’s pretty messed up.

Written by Lauren Wilden, head of PR, 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