Good PR

Bottom’s up!

Protestors in Australia have taken a stand against climate change and generated a pretty good picture in the process, which has resulted in some nice media coverage. An environmental conservation group headed to The Strand Beach in Townsville, Northern Queensland, where the stunt was to take place.

The North Queensland Conservation Council (NQCC) and Cranky Curlew (a production team) joined forces to make the image happen. Their protest coincided with The People’s Climate March in New York, which was the largest climate protest in history after 310,000 people took part.

So, instead of hopping on a plane to join the march in the Big Apple, these protesters wanted to send a clear message from the Australian shores. The protestors each dug a hole in the sand and proceeded to drop to their knees and bury their heads.

Around 80 or so people took part in the stunt and the caption on the striking resulting image reads: “Townsville salutes the Australian government for their achievements in combating climate change #headsinsandsalute #PeoplesClimate.”

So, these guys basically had a bone to pick with the Aussie government about its lax attitude and ignorance towards climate change. I think it’s safe to say they got their point across.

The image has gone viral (as all the cool kids say) on Twitter and has also appeared on media outlets like Mashable, BuzzFeed and the Mail Online. Good news everyone, the bums up salute is now well and truly “a thing”.

Bad PR

Miliband blunders

Now, I’m not about to suggest that standing up and speaking in front of a crowd of people is an easy task. I mean sure, I’d probably collapse in a sweaty, beetroot red heap if I had to address people at a huge conference, but that’s OK because I’m not in the running to be prime minister. Or am I? I’m not.

Ed Miliband, on the other hand, is. So, the fact he forgot to mention something very important during his keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester last Tuesday is worrying. And a bit embarrassing.

You see, the Labour Party leader failed to mention the UK’s financial deficit during his speech and also didn’t bring up key points about immigration. He said it was “one of the perils” of delivering a speech without a script. Yep, speaking from memory will do that.

He only took brief notes with him onto the stage, but a prepared text of the speech did emerge which had included a promise to “deal with our nation’s debts” and points about immigration.

So, Miliband did plan to bring the issues up. Chancellor George Osborne tweeted afterwards, saying “Ed Miliband didn't mention the deficit once. Extraordinary. If you can't fix the economy you can't fund the NHS.” Exactly George, exactly.

As you can probably imagine, the media has gone to town on the Labour Party leader and his forgetfulness, so it’s bad PR all round for Mr Miliband.

Shannon Haigh, 10 Yetis, @ShazzaYeti on Twitter

Seen any good or bad PR recently, you know what to do, @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10yetis.co.uk on email.