Good PR of the week

There are quite a few PR efforts I'd like to get through this week, so I’ll save you the hassle of reading my carefully crafted prose and keep things short and sweet.

Nokia Lumia lights up

Nokia launched its new Lumia 800 phone in impressive (and undoubtedly obscenely expensive) style this week, by arranging for Millbank, London to be plunged into darkness to create a free “4D” light show projected on Millbank Tower.

The show was accompanied by music from producer deadmau5 (hence the 4D aspect) and has achieved considerable press coverage – if you haven’t seen it already, watch the video below, it’s amazing.

Friend request from unborn child

Brazilian agency AGE Isobar set up a cool Facebook campaign recently to promote Olla Condoms – by adding specific people with friend requests from the baby they might have if they don’t use them.

Thanks to Alistair Flower of Cow PR for sending me this link to AdWeek.

Carphone Warehouse coins it in

Carphone Warehouse has earned itself a place in the record books by unveiling the largest chocolate coin (weighing in at 276kg) to celebrate the launch of their free £200 high street Christmas gift cards.

Freud handled the stunt, aided by experts Food is Art, based right here in good old Gloucestershire, taking 10 workers 80 hours to complete.

Bad PR of the week

Why did God give men penises?

Without leading you into it – and you there, if you’ve already seen this, keep quiet – I’m going to post a Tweet that caused a teensy bit of controversy this week:

Why did God give men penises? So they’d have at least one way to shut a woman up. #DurexJoke

Whether you thought it was funny, offensive or couldn’t care less, it was posted by Durex’s South African Twitter account and upon reflection; it seems to (at least outwardly) understand it was a stupid thing to do, especially seeing as a 2009 report found that more than one in four South African men surveyed admitted to raping at least one person. Although the joke was probably posted hoping that followers would realise it was meant in a consensual, non-rapey way, treading the fine line between humorous and offensive (especially online where tone is difficult to judge) is something we all have to do.

The Twitter bio now reads: “Official Twitter page of Durex South Africa. Lovers of safe and consensual sex. Supports non-violence against women”, so while it was a ridiculous lapse in sense by whoever handles the feed for the brand – and Tweets defending the joke that definitely existed shouldn’t have been deleted, they seem to have come out the other side without ignoring the issue entirely, apologising for the joke the next day.

Thanks to Laura Edwards for Tweeting me with it!

Have you seen any good or bad PR?

Contact PR Rich Leigh with it by Tweeting him @GoodandBadPR or by emailing rich@10yetis.co.uk throughout the week and we’ll happily credit you for your trouble.

Good and Bad PR is a feature on the blog of 10 Yetis PR Agency.