We discuss why you shouldn’t kiss frogs, why the Pope is still a Catholic and spam spam spam spam spam.
Don’t kiss frogs!
This call to action is not, as you might think, a transparent attempt to steer people away from showing affection to the French, but instead acts as a warning to the nation’s children about the dangers of kissing amphibians, following the release of Disney’s latest animated film, The Princess and the Frog. More than 50 children in the US and UK have fallen ill with salmonella poisoning after copying the actions of Disney character Princess Tiana, in the film, released in the UK in December.
The illnesses have prompted the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians to issue a public warning explaining that for any child considering getting up close and personal with a frog, they are much more likely to end up with a serious illness than a charming prince.
All of which begs the question: could Disney have handled the release of the film differently? Obviously, the knowledge of what is safe and what isn’t safe to do is largely a matter of common sense. Having said that, particularly given how impressionable their audience is – most were girls under 10 – it’s worth questioning whether or not Disney could have been more proactive in terms of communicating the dangers. Instead, they are having to face a PR nightmare reactively – and their film is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Papal attack equals negative PR
It’s been a tough week for the Pope, who caused outrage by urging Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK’s Equality Bill with “missionary zeal”. Pope Benedict XVI said that the bill, introduced in April 2009 to champion equality and democracy, “violates natural law”.
The Pope will be visiting the UK in September, at which time he will face a raft of negative publicity as a result of his most recent comments. MEP Stephen Hughes has led the counter-offensive, arguing that: “As a Catholic, I am appalled by the attitude of the Pope. Religious leaders should be trying to eradicate inequality, not perpetuate it.”
The Papal visit to the UK later this year will be the first since 1982, and the Pontiff’s remarks are sure to spark outrage and controversy – in the media and amongst groups campaigning for gay rights. So were his comments designed to fan the flames ahead of his visit, or were they just poorly timed? You decide.
I’m in the mood for dancing
According to figures from Foundation for Community Dance, nearly five million people are now regularly involved in some sort of dancing, from salsa to street-dance. The foundation credits the popularity of programmes such as the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and, Sky’s Got to Dance. The story quotes Sadler’s Wells theatre, as the UK’s most famous dance-based theatre to back up the research, with the theatre’s chief executive affirming that: “We haven’t been on such a high for a long time and I’m hoping that will stay.”
On the face of it, this looks like a nice story about the popularity of dancing, but it’s important to note that almost all online pick-up of the story has resulted from linking to the original story from Sky News. Rather than simply reporting on a new dance craze sweeping the nation Sky have worked cleverly with their news outlets to ensure that their programming is seen as relevant and interesting, and for this they deserve huge credit.
Spam and deliver…
Finally, a nice piece of PR for the much maligned tinned meat of legends….spam. Various resources have reported on how Corporal Liam Francis was left without fresh food after insurgents downed his helicopter in Afghanistan, forcing him to make do instead with hundreds of tins of spam.
What makes this a nice story not the way it illustrates how surprisingly sturdy tinned spam can be under gunfire attack, but the way in which Corporal Francis used the tinned pork and ham to create a variety of dishes. “I was surprised what we could do: sweet and sour Spam, Spam fritters, Spam carbonara, Spam stroganoff and Spam stir fry. “
A Spam spokesperson is even quoted as commenting: “We were most impressed with the recipes Corporal Liam Francis came up with. The soldiers do an amazing job and we were pleased that we helped in some small way.”
A nice PR job from Spam too, we’d suggest. They have demonstrated Spam’s versatility in an engaging, relevant way, which shows them as ‘doing their bit’ in the war effort.
spam
