10 Yetis Examples of Good and Bad PR - Wednesday 9th January 2019

Happy Wednesday. I was planning to do this Monday but, you know, life gets in the way - so here's this week's good and bad PR. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Good PR

Three words: Fiji Water Girl. What an absolute babe!

So her real name is Kelleth Cuthbert and it was simply her job to stand on the red carpet at the Golden Globes Awards with a tray of Fiji Water and ensure the celebs were hydrated as and when they needed it. She got to wear a gorgeous blue dress and mingle with all the stars - doesn't sound like a bad job to me.

What's more, whether it was meant as a PR stunt or not, Fiji Water Girl has blown up the internet. Forget whatever it is the Kardashians may have done, Fiji Water Girl struck her poses, worked her magic and photobombed some of the best celebrity red carpet photos. First up was Richard Madden, followed by many more including Idris Elba, Julianne More, Jim Carrey and Jamie Lee Curtis (who was NOT happy about providing free publicity for the water brand).

Bad PR

There are more vegans in the UK than ever before, and with the rise of Veganuary there are many making it a New Year’s resolution to lead a better, healthier, more conscious lifestyle.

Kori Swabey is new to the vegan lifestyle but making an effort to stick to it, that was until he recently went to Pizza Hut. Trying out their Veganuary range, he tucked in and enjoyed a jackfruit pizza with no issues. When he enquired about the ice cream and toppings, he was told these were also in the vegan range. Being mindful, he checked the ingredients and noticed the ice cream contained milk, yet his friends were convinced the waitress couldn’t be wrong – not in the restaurant where she works. She’s trained and knows her stuff, you’d assume. Wrong.

We’re not sure if he tucked in to the ice cream or not, but I’d hazard a guess that he did when he got home and tweeted about how ice cream was included in the vegan range at his local Pizza Hut… only for them to reply that it wasn’t.

He went on to make a complaint and be offered a free meal – he says he won’t be taking it (I’ll take it off his hands if he’s not) – but this highlights the importance of dietary requirements and how restaurant staff need to be trained and clued up on what they’re serving. Thankfully this is a lifestyle choice for Kori, but this could be an allergy issue for others and lead to more serious events.

We're also calling out Boohoo in this week's bad PR for real fur being found in their 'fake fur' pom pop jumper. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) launched an investigation and found that Boohoo, as well as another brand called Zacharia, breached rules with 'misleading advertising' and 'substantiation' - leading to ads for both brands being banned.

Both have also been warned not to advertise 'faux fur' if the products do indeed contain real fur.f

So, not for future shopping, if it looks like fur and doesn't say 'faux fur', it's likely real and should be avoided!