Off we go again then. Another week has rocketed past, and the stories of the good and bad variety are ready to be judged by yours truly. Let’s get to it.

Ozzy Osbourne airport

I have a spiritual connection to the city of Birmingham. I did my GCSE and A-Level years in that beautiful city and look upon it fondly. So I am always sad when I see a major positive PR opportunity pass it by. Birmingham Airport is under a media onslaught around a story it could absolutely nail.

There are growing calls for the city to rename the airport to the Ozzy Osbourne airport in honour of the master of rock. The airport management team have gone with a blanket no. It is instead going for the cheaper option of “paying homage” to the musical hero via an art tribute in one of the terminals. I declare this is boring comms.

It could have easily said it is going to explore the options around re-naming, and slowly let the story fade away when the financial backing for the move was found to be lacking. Instead, the airport faces public and media backlash for not going for something a bit bigger than some Ozzy inspired art on the walls and concourse.

What could have been a strong PR win has instead turned into a potential PR banana-skin. It also serves as PR lesson. Never say no straight away, it backs you into a corner where the only option is an unsightly U-turn and no one needs that. Bad PR for the hugely experienced Birmingham Airport comms team.

At the time of writing, a petition at change.org to rename Birmingham Airport as Ozzy Osbourne International had over 68,000 verified signatures.

Paddy powers up the pressure on Reeves ahead of the budget

Paddy Power has announced the closure of 57 of its gambling stores across the UK. My personal opinion, based on headlines in the likes of Guido, is that it has briefed the media off-the-record, because of rising staff costs since the previous NI uplift.

It is unwanted pressure for Rachel Reeves ahead of her budget statement in November. Considering Paddy Power's strong brand presence in the UK, the announcement had, in relative terms, a very muted response from the collective media.

Good PR for the comms team and the way they handled the messaging, but some rare bad overall PR for the gambling brand.

AI positives and negatives balance out its comms week

Not a day goes by without AI dominating the headlines, and this is not just in the digital PR industry. This week, the AI overlords get a neutral, if not erring on the side of good PR, from me.

BBC has published a Freedom of Information request made to the Scottish Water powers that be, around water usage at data centres based in Scotland.

It revealed that water consumption in Scottish data centres had quadrupled since 2021. They now use enough tap water to fill 27 million half litre bottles a year. There are calls for the data centre guru’s to find a way to use wastewater instead of tap water.

The bad PR was then countered by a story that demonstrates the good that can come from using AI. Medway Council announced the results of an AI tech-powered trial that keeps tabs on those at risk, in their home, to help them stay living in their homes and avoid having to go into residential care.

The trial has given reassurance to the relatives of those at risk and reduces the overall cost to tax-payers that comes with having to place people into residential care homes. This serves as a fantastic example of the positive power of AI technology.

All in all, I reckon this gives AI a good PR nod this week. Hopefully this means the AI overlords will put me on the good list when the time comes that they take over.

King Charles is bonkers for conkers

The final hood PR of the week goes to King Charles. Thanks to the long, hot, dry summer the world conker championships were at risk. The heat has led to a conker shortage and it looked like the event may be cancelled.

King Charles was made aware of the situation. In my head, he immediately sprang into action; personally fired up the Royal John Deere garden tractor and made his way around his various regal estates to gather up conker supplies. Maybe I am overly romanticising the moment.

The result is that he donated a load to the competition, and it went ahead. One interesting footnote to the story is the competition was also supported by donations from, shock horror, France. Rumours that all the French conkers were painted white are, of course, spurious nonsense. Good PR for King Charles, I am sure he will be delighted.