The thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat. Overcome with excitement about the pending Olympics, and awash in potential related PR opportunities, I have decided to take a break from the frenzied pace of things and feature highlights from the past week with a special focus on unfortunate outtakes in the realm of news and public image.
Here are my picks, I welcome your feedback and suggestions.
John McCain "No He Di’nt" Shouldn’t Have Gone There Mash up
OK, comparing Obama to Britney and Paris got lots of attention but does McCain want or need this kind of attention? Does he really want to be taking guff from Paris and her family, and the media for pointing out that the Hiltons have donated to his campaign? Or from Paris’ mom, for crying out loud?
Watch this hilarious video from Funny or Die, which features Paris referring to John McCain as the white-haired dude from the "olden days," and proposing a surprisingly lucid energy policy.
Obama Flat Tire Spill out
Obama, I am on your side, but did you really need to give the Republicans a gift by suggesting that properly inflating our tires and tuning up our cars are ways out of this energy mess?
Bi-candidate Flip Flop Somersault
When is a flip flop not a flip flop? Both candidates struggled to explain their evolving positions on offshore drilling this past week.
Strong Man Wallet Crush
Yea, they pay tons of taxes, and their profits are proportionately not as high as Google and many others, but $11 billion in profits is $11 billion. Reports about oil company profits left them, and the right, with lots of explaining.
Financial Markets "Hell in a Hand Basket" Crash and Burn
It was always the really smart guys who landed on Wall Street, and in general made tons of money. These days the markets look like Dante’s Inferno. Whether it’s news about the effects of rumors and short selling on the markets, or oil traders driving up energy prices, the possibility of a new round of foreclosures, the Bear Sterns debacle, or news about how Wall Street’s struggles effect Main Street and local economies (especially New York’s), it just seems to get worse and worse. Maybe greed is not so good, and Wall Street is not the place to be.
"Be Careful What You Wish For" Gala Event
PR-wise, it was a
net win for China to host the Olympics, but many of the news stories
have focused on all the cleaning up they are doing to prepare, issues
with journalists’ access to websites, the pollution, etc.
