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Ever get sick of journalists talking about sleazy flacks and their two-bit pitches and no-good press releases? Well, PR pro Fennimore Moorestead sure did.
Moorestead, founder of Fennimore & Moorestead, mailed a dead fish to the Time offices after a reporter at the magazine called him out at as a “PR hack” at an industry event in Manhattan last week.
It was reportedly a bluegill, which Moorestead caught himself.
The move seems to be a nod to the film, The Godfather. In the movie, a dead fish conveys that the character Luca Brasi “sleep with the fishes.” A bagman presumably delivered the fish in the Godfather; somehow Moorestead managed to send it through the U.S. mail.
So what did Moorestead mean to communicate with his fish?
Does this story stink?
Of course it stinks. It's April Fool's Day!
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Good list, tho a bit US-centric. The world is full of unmitigated PR gaffes; Renault's F1 race fixing; UK PM Gordon Brow...
Comments (5)
Uh yeah. By the way, did the sender realize that in most states there is a law prohibiting the willful and wanton waste of gamefish? A simple call to the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement folks might have resulted in a citation with egg on the face after fish in the mail. Dumb.
Posted by Charlie Powell | April 2, 2009 5:09 PM
Posted on April 2, 2009 17:09
Rahm Emanuel actually did this!
(It's in his book, The Plan.)
In other news: http://gregpress.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/give-me-back-that-filet-o-fish-give-me-that-fish/
Posted by Greg | April 1, 2009 2:23 PM
Posted on April 1, 2009 14:23
So much for reading until the end. Happy April Fool's Day!?!
Posted by TJ | April 1, 2009 10:22 AM
Posted on April 1, 2009 10:22
OK - so it is unprofessional. But come on. Haven't you wanted to do something like this to a self-involved journalist who 1) can't be bothered to respond to your carefully researched and brief pitch or 2) and I love this - doesn't want to be contacted AT ALL by PR people! I've found that the most professional journalists give you a least 30 seconds and respond - while the think-they-are-so-great journalists can't be bothered. I guess class always shows through.
Posted by Paula | April 1, 2009 9:59 AM
Posted on April 1, 2009 09:59
I wouldn't call this guy a "PR Pro." He apparently earned the title of "hack" with this action. Seriously, if he were a pro would he ever tell a client, "This is what you do to improve your reputation. Catch a fish, send it to a reporter, and wait for all that goodwill to build up."?
Another step backward in media-PR relations.
Posted by TJ | April 1, 2009 9:01 AM
Posted on April 1, 2009 09:01