Good and Bad PR: The Royal Family and Lynx rule this week

Welcome to the latest instalment of good and bad PR, in a week where lockdown is starting to feel a little less never-ending thanks to the promise of pubs, restaurants, cinemas and certain other facilities opening on 4 July.

As someone whose hopes of a 30^th birthday party on 11 July have been dashed, at least I’ll be able to get a half decent haircut and queue for hours outside a bar for a cold glass of wine. Anyway, without further ado, I’ll take this away…

Good PR

The Royals

Affordable high street retailers are not something we’d normally associate with the Royal Family, but this week H&M, GAP, John Lewis and Trotters all received a welcome boost in attention thanks to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Photos of Prince William and his three children George, Charlotte and Louis were released to celebrate Father’s Day and his 38^th birthday and the kids were dressed top to toe in high street gear.

Charlotte was sporting a £10 pair of denim dungaree shorts from John Lewis with a striped tee and pink canvas trainers, £24.00, from the same retailer.

George had on a £5.99 H&M t-shirt that he also apparently wore last year to mark his 6^th birthday. Wait, what? The royals wear outfits twice JUST LIKE US? Who are we kidding? He’s probably got 10 of the same style.

Youngest Louis had on a £12.95 Toddler Brannan Bear Polo Shirt from GAP and £22 navy shoes from Trotters.

As you can imagine, the items began to sell out rapidly as people raced to order the exact same outfits for their kids, so the four brands received a welcome boost in publicity and sales.

Lynx

In other news, Lynx has had a splash of attention this week for two reasons. First of all, the deodorant and grooming brand has launched a ‘wtf?’ product that nobody asked for but now everyone is talking about.

Of all the unlikely partnerships to make, Lynx and Marmite (you heard me) have joined forces to launch a Lynx Africa x Marmite scented body wash and body spray, earning the two brands coverage on the likes of the Metro, Mirror, The Independent, Gizmodo and more. This comes after Lynx’s Hot Since ’95 campaign that launched back in April to celebrate 25 years of Lynx Africa.

The other reason that Lynx was in the press, just as unlikely as the last, is because a boy who’d been in a coma for three weeks after almost drowning woke up when his mother sprayed his favourite Lynx deodorant under his arms. Seriously, Lynx is credited in almost every article as if it’s the reason he woke up. I am not a doctor and Lynx is yet to be proven as a miracle-performer for people in comas, so please don’t try this at home.

Bad PR

Villain Katie Hopkins once again disgraced herself, so badly this time that Twitter has permanently suspended her from the platform.

Appearing quite blatantly to mock the Black Lives Matter protests that have been gaining momentum since the death of George Floyd, the former Apprentice star turned far-right commentator tweeted:

“Today is #whiteoutwednesday. I will shortly be posting a picture of my a***. Thank you."

No thanks needed, Katie, the displeasure is all ours.

After this, Welsh rugby player Ashton Hewitt, who plays for Dragons, tweeted:

“Katie Hopkins is fucking toxic”

Then followed the message that would ultimately get her thrown off Twitter for good:

“Am I? He better be hung like a baboon…#katiehopkins.”

Twitter made the decision over a violation of its rules on hateful conduct. Hopkins made a poor attempt to defend herself by saying her reply was in reference to a line from the sitcom ‘Blackadder’, but the damage was already done. She tried to claim that “someone made a reference to myself of a sexual nature involving the f-word…”, which is clearly not what Hewitt’s tweet was at all.

So, there you have it; Katie Hopkins strikes again… and loses.

Written by Shannon Peerless, managing director of 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