Good and Bad PR: Retail heroes and villains

Happy hump day to you all. Hopefully, we will all be able to see some more nice weather this weekend, but whilst you are still stuck in the office, why don’t you grab a coffee and read this week’s good and bad PR?  

Good PR

Bags in Boots
Boots has announced that it is banning plastic bags from 53 stores across the UK, with all profits from the new paper bags being donated to Children In Need. However, some people are questioning if paper bags are the way forward (considering it does rain 300 days out of the year here in the UK) – perhaps this is a big push to bring your own plastic bags or for us all to go and invest in eco-friendly durable bags? Kudos to Boots though, I know I am a hoarder of its massive sale sacks, especially at Christmas.

We are changing our plastic bags to 100% recyclable brown paper bags, with all profits going to @BBCCiN. pic.twitter.com/w8df8FP7wl

— Boots (@BootsUK) 24 June 2019

IKEA constructions
IKEA seems to be doing very well at the moment in the world of good PR (I’m assuming you all saw the images it created of famous living rooms where it costed up the furniture?!). The Swedish company has been given the green light to build affordable homes that can be constructed at a low cost and it plans to build the homes in Worthing, West Sussex, where the properties typically cost 12 times the average salary in the seaside town.  

Ikea gets green light to build affordable homes in UK https://t.co/k880E66FY0

— The Guardian (@guardian) 25 June 2019

Bad PR  

Phantom ASOS pregnancy
I can’t take credit for this find as I have no interest in Love Island (I think I’m one of a small pool of people here). However, fans of the show have found Arabella Chi online doing a maternity shoot for ASOS – with a fake bump, obvs. Twitter peeps picked this up pretty quickly and have slammed the brand for not using actual pregnant models for maternity wear. It didn’t even cross my mind that they used fake bumps for maternity shoots with clothing brands. The brand has come out and said it does o this so as not to keep pregnant models on their feet for many hours, back to back. But I know one thing for sure, I am adamant that any expecting mother would not mind being paid to model maternity clothes – it definitely beats paying for an overpriced pregnancy photo shoot.  

explain to me how it is okay to sell clothes to pregnant women by using a model who is not pregnant #loveisland pic.twitter.com/Yo1I06ghW6

— abs (@abigailpopple) 24 June 2019

Sweet pushers Marks
Marks and Spencer has been caught being naughty this week, plastering sweets all around its self-service checkouts. M&S reported that it had cut back in 2015 by removing all sugary snacks at till points in a bid to tackle Britain’s obesity crisis, but the photos tell a different story.  I am all about healthy eating, but I am prone to a couple of Percy Pigs now and again, especially when they’re right there in front of you.  
 

Written by Paige Dana-Marie Evans @paigedanamarie, PR exec over 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