Good PR

Namecheck for Lego
You may have seen that there’s a new film coming out this weekend called the Lego Ninjago movie, which I’m sure kids everywhere are eagerly awaiting (and the parents not so much). In a bit of a genius PR move, to celebrate the launch of the movie, Legoland in Windsor is granting free access to the theme park for children with a certain name.

“What does this have to do with the Lego Ninjago movie?!” I hear you scream. Well, it’s quite simple (as the best PR stunts usually are). Any child sharing a name with one of the main characters in the animated film can enter Legoland for free between 13 October and 30 October later this month.

The names are Lloyd, Kai, Jay, Nya, Zane and Cole and the child sharing a name with one of these characters must have ID to prove it. Spelling variations of these names won’t count and those parents thinking of legally changing their child’s name to get the free ticket for them will be disappointed to hear that it’s probably not worth the cost or effort. The ID would take too long to arrive and, to be honest, that’s just really bloody daft.

I’ve seen the story being covered on The Sun, Metro, Birmingham Mail, Nottingham Post and loads more so far, so I’m sure footfall and ticket sales will be up this month as a result of the stunt.

Aldi’s Yorkshire
In other news, Aldi has launched a Yorkshire Pudding Burrito and the internet has collectively swooned over the culinary creation. The Yorkshire Pudding is wrapped around a beef brisket that was slow cooked in a porcini mushroom sauce and served with red wine and onion gravy. The internet is very happy that such a thing has been cooked into existence and the coverage speaks for itself in terms of PR success; with every title from the Daily Mail and Metro to the Evening Standard and Huffington Post covering the story.

Bad PR

Monarch hits turbulence

Monarch Airlines is the latest flight provider to collapse, leaving passengers stranded and people with travel plans scrambling to make other arrangements to where they need to be.

The CEO Andrew Swaffield was heard on BBC’s The Today Programme to blame terrorism for the closure of markets like Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey which then contributed to Monarch’s demise.

The 50-year-old airline was the fifth biggest in the UK and since administrators took control there are 1,900 jobs at risk. The government has begun an effort to fly around 110,000 passengers back home who are stranded abroad currently, which is being called the “country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation.”

More has come to light since the collapse of the airline which makes Monarch, and more specifically the CEO, look pretty terrible. First of all, an email was sent to employees by Swaffield himself just days before the collapse telling them to avoid speculation about the airline’s problems, giving them false hope at a time when they really needed to be preparing for the worst. Monarch also continued to push a big sale on flights three days before the airline entered administration, meaning it was effectively encouraging customers to book flights that would never even be taking off!

The CEO pocketed a £583k annual salary and also registered himself as the director of another business before the problems become public. Everything is pointing towards a messy exit for the airline and although no transport collapse of this scale ever goes smoothly, the situation isn’t being helped by all the information coming to light.

Holidaymakers and passengers are quite rightly outraged at the situation, leading to extreme PR turbulence for brand Monarch, which is set to be no more.

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