10 Yetis PR News

10 Yetis Insight - How Real Are Pr Reality Shows?

So, let me start this off with a confession... My name's Hannah and I am a reality show addict. Yep, I watch pretty much every reality show there is out there, no matter how awful. I just can't help it. I feel like I know the Kardashians better than my friends sometimes.

So, I thought: what better subject to write an insight blog on than how true to life PR reality shows are? Of course, to write this blog post to the best of my ability I really had to do my research. So I set to watching some reality shows. Yep, it was a tedious task but someone has to do it, and that someone was me. (Alright, it wasn't such a task and in most cases it was me watching these episodes for the millionth time over and loving it!)

First off, let's talk about one of the best reality shows ever made in the history of life, the Hills! For all of you who have been living on mars for the past 6 years, I'll give you a quick synopsis. The Hills focussed on a group of friends who were originally from Laguna Beach in California, and moved to LA to chase their dreams of fashion, love and a career. It included your typical reality show highlights; fights, romances, awkward silences and most importantly lots of DRAMA. Now let's fast forward to the PR bit. Heidi Montag started off the show enrolled in FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) School. She swiftly decided that the education route wasn't for her and 'magically' landed herself a job at the public relations firm Bolt House. Her job was actually an event planner for the PR firm. Over all, the work that Bolt House seemed to do was quite true to life. However, within a matter of a few episodes Heidi went from stuffing envelopes to practically running their nightclub events. Where I do agree that you get thrown in the deep end when you come into PR, that amount of responsibility comes with time and hard work; something that we will all have to assume remained off camera for Heidi! Since leaving Bolt House, Heidi has taken the same route as most reality stars do: married a fellow reality star, underwent a series of plastic surgery and starred in more reality shows when the funds from the previous one ran out.

VERDICT- UNREALISTIC

Moving swiftly on to your next dose of PR reality. The show was called Kell on Earth, it featured Kelly Cutrone, the owner of PR agency People's Revolution. Kelly was also briefly in the Hills when one of the cast went to work for People's Revolution. Kelly is renowned for her no nonsense approach to the industry, with her catch phrase being 'if you have to cry, go outside'- one of my personal favourites! Because...

I have to say the whole show is quite true to PR life. Her employees work hard and they get results, and to be perfectly honest that's the PR secret; there is no secret! You just have to work hard, understand what your client is after and have brilliant ideas. During the show, there are the usual dramas of clients refusing to pay, employees leaving due to the pressure and the occasional glamorous party. So well done Kelly, she truly did portray the realities of PR in her show instead of selling dreams.

VERDICT- REALISTIC

In the opposite corner comes the Spin Crowd; a reality show produced by Kim Kardashian featuring her long term friends Jonathan Cheban and Simon Huck, who co-own PR firm Command PR. Now, whilst the work they did was true to PR life, the attitudes and the general day to day running was definitely not!

The firm put together red carpet events and worked with high-profile celebrities. However, what the show featured the majority of the time was a lot of arguments between colleagues, a lot of crying and the PR professionals being very overly-friendly with their clients. Very little, real work actually seemed to be done- with most time being dedicated to reacting dramatically to every situation. Whilst it is brilliant when you can build up a good relationship with a client, there is a certain level of professionalism than should be kept to avoid dramatic and awkward situations.

VERDICT- UNREALISTIC

So to sum up what have we learned here? Well, basically the revelation that reality shows aren't that real!

But I still love them and will continue my addiction. And leave you with this parting thought...

	Hannah Pritchard posted on 20/05/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad Public Relations- Friday 17th May, 2013

Hello All! Emma here with today's Good and Bad PR...

Good PR
Don't you just hate it when you call an automated phone line, and have to spend (and pay for!) approximately 10 minutes of pressing numbers to get through to the right person? Well, suffer no more, thanks to today's Good PR winner!

IT Manager Nigel Clarke has taken the time to trawl through hundreds of different automated call centre phone numbers, noting exactly what number sequences are needed to get through to the person you're after. Listed on the site www.pleasepress1.com, people can simply go on to find the best shortcut to who they need to speak to at organisations including Sainsbury's, HMRC and Sky.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the site has got some great PR today- and has undoubtedly come to the rescue of many consumers at the end of their tether with automated call centres. What a ruddy bloody good idea, Nigel; well done you.

Bad PR
Not a good day for everyone's favourite (or not, according to this research) high street newsagent, WH Smith, which has been branded 'Britain's Worst Shop.'

According to a Which? Consumer survey, shoppers voted WH Smith in bottom place in the list of the high street's top 100 retailers; with shoppers commenting that the shop is 'messy' and 'expensive'. This comes as a blow for the newsagent after Mary Portas, "Queen of the High Street", called the store a 'dump' and claimed to hate visiting there. Tough words for the chain to take on board; let's just hope it's no reflection of times to come.

Bad times for WH Smith

	Emma Kent posted on 17/05/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad Public Relations - Thursday 16th May 2013

Good PR

The PR machine that is Ryanair is at it again and this time an announcement from the airline has generated a fair bit of positive media coverage.

Ryan Irwin, aged 19, completed an intensive 18-month course at the Oxford Aviation Academy and, within weeks of completing it, received two job offers. He landed the job as a pilot with Ryanair and will become one of the UK's youngest ever commercial pilots once he completes his training in September.

The teenager, who attended Wirral Grammar School, said "It sounds clichéd, but it's what I've wanted to do ever since I can remember, as young as four or five."

It's a nice positive story and I've already seen it on The Sun and Daily Mail. However, it seems it wasn't quite a strong enough story to bury a slightly more negative one. A Ryanair flight to Kefalonia was diverted to an airport 200 miles away because the pilot said it was "too dark" to land. As you can imagine, this story hasn't had the most positive pieces of coverage.

Bad PR

The Italian restaurant chain launched by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been fined £8,000 after a woman who told staff at the restaurant three times that she was allergic to gluten was served wheat pasta; you know, the thing that people allergic to gluten can't have. Oops!

38-year-old Kristy Richardson visited Jamie's Italian in Portsmouth with her husband, Kevin, for a wedding anniversary meal. Having been diagnosed as a coealic suffer when she was 19, Kristy Richardson is unable to digest wheat and told 3 different members of staff that she'd require a gluten-free pasta dish.

However, when staff served her food, it was normal wheat pasta and it made her sick for 5 hours afterwards. Apparently, she'd spoken to the maitre d' and was told that gluten free pasta could be provided. However, a phone call to the restaurant a few hours after her visit when she was suffering from nausea and vomiting confirmed that it was normal pasta she'd eaten.

This was all back in November 2011 and an investigation was launched by environmental health experts. The waitress serving Mrs Richardson was said to have thought her customer had ordered a vegetarian dish, not a gluten-free option. Anyway, the case it wrapped up now and Jamie's Italian has to cough up £8,000. Ouch.

	Shannon posted on 16/05/2013		post a comment

10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad Public Relations - Wednesday 15th May 2013

Hello All, here is your midweek does of good and bad PR!

Good PR

We are all guilty of becoming addicted to particular games and apps that we download on our phones and tablets. However, the latest craze that has hit us all called 'Candy Crush Saga' has overtaken Angry Birds as the world's most popular game.
This is quite an amazing achievement. Angry birds have stormed the mobile app charts since its release in 2011. Since their success angry birds have also released their own merchandise.

So what does this mean for candy crush? Will we be able to buy candy merchandise? Will candy crush release their own candy? There are just so many unanswered questions!

I can't imagine this news will do anything but make the angry birds increasingly angrier. However, in the mean time I am content with being one of the many addicts to candy crush saga.

Bad PR

Oh goodness... this is a definite face palm moment. A couple, who own of Amy's Bistro restaurant, engaged in a social media melt down after Gordon Ramsay walked off their episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

The episode showed the couple clash with Gordon Ramsey over extreme issues with the restaurant including; slow service, keeping staff's tips and being rude to customers who complained. After it aired the couple took to facebook to take on the mass of haters.
Here are some of the posts from the couple:

The torrent of angry status updates rolled on for days until coming to an abrupt halt with the following status post on Tuesday:

Maybe they got hacked or maybe they just came to their senses and needed an excuse to cover up the messy situation they created. Who knows. But, what we do know is the show alone was bad PR for the couple, who were the first restaurant owners Gordon Ramsey had ever walked out on.

	Hannah Pritchard posted on 15/05/2013		post a comment