Social Media Buzz

My recent interview with Cougar Town star and comedic actress Busy Philipps has generated a lot of social media PR buzz for both, PR.com  and for Busy.

During my interview with Busy for PR.com on February 2, 2012, Busy Philipps discusses her love of Twitter as a means of controlling her own voice on the Internet and setting the record straight about her work and her life. During our chat I asked Busy who convinced her co-star Courteney Cox to finally join Twitter, and Busy told me it was her and Cougar Town‘s creator Bill Lawrence, along with Cougar Town fans who finally convinced Courteney to start Tweeting.

Using PR.com’s strong online presence in teh search engines and our media contacts within the online entertainment space, PR.com gained public relations media coverage at the following entertainment news blogs for this celebrity story:

http://www.contactmusic.com/news/busy-philipps-pestered-cox-to-join-twitter_1290512

http://www.busy-philipps.org/tag/busy-philipps

http://culdesaccrew.net/ – scroll through

http://www.new-magazine.co.uk/latestnews/view/38155/Philipps-pestered-Cox-to-join-Twitter/

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/300659/Philipps-pestered-Cox-to-join-Twitter/

http://www.star-magazine.co.uk/breakingnews/view/37513/Philipps-pestered-Cox-to-join-Twitter/

The actress even tweeted about her interview with PR.com, emphatically stating, “Allright dudes- Read this: http://www.pr.com/article/1197 THAT is basically who I am.”

This story was brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Allison Dawn PR Makes 2011 Donation to ASPCA

As a matter of personal and professional priority, Allison Dawn PR annually donates a portion of its revenue to both the ASPCA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The public relations company announced today that it has just made its annual 2011 charitable donation to The ASPCA, a non-profit organization that works tirelessly to rescue abused and neglected animals from horrendous conditions.

“Now, with so many natural disasters and a faltering economy, more domestic animals are in danger of being neglected and abandoned than ever before,” states Allison Dawn PR President, Allison Kugel. “I consider these charitable donations to be a mandatory part of the operation of my PR Firm and a corporate responsibility in helping those creatures who cannot protect themselves.”

The ASPCA is on a perpetual crusade to brings battered, starved and sick animals to shelter, health and safety, as well as working to find animals loving homes.

For more information and to learn more about the ASPCA’s work for animal rescue and animal adoption, please visit www.aspca.org. By getting involved with the ASPCA you can volunteer your time, adopt an animal who needs a loving home, make a donation, or just become more informed about animal welfare.

Have a happy and healthy Labor Day Weekend.

This news was brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Misleading Headline or Antisemitism?

With AOL Huffington Post’s instigating headline “Glenn Beck: Jewish People ‘Drive Me Out Of My Mind’ With Their Constant Talking” is Huffington Post trying to mislead their readership and incite more disdain for Glenn Beck among an already blood hungry mob of liberals? I’m Jewish, so of course this headline grabbed my attention. Upon delving deeper, actually reading the full article rather than becoming up in arms over a potentially misleading headline, I found that Huff Post was rather tricky with their wording.

Glenn Beck was recently on a mission to restore courage on his pilgrimage to Israel, and while making a stop in South Africa, Beck had this to say: “I love the Israelis. I love the Jewish people. But they drive me out of my mind when they talk over each other. They’re constantly talking!”

Ok, kind of a backhanded and obnoxious compliment/insult, right? But in all fairness, and I am no Glenn Beck fan, this statement was taken somewhat out of context. Glenn Beck was explaining that some people had pulled out of the Restoring Courage event in Israel as the nation of Israel was, once again, under terrorist threat. Beck explained, “The reason why they canceled is because they were under death threat… I don’t blame them for [canceling] at all.”

Glenn Beck then went on to clarify his statement about the Jewish people, namely, Israelis, when he commented, “Eating dinner at their house was like having dinner in Israel,” he said. “Everybody is just talking at the same time, you can’t even think!”

Ok, not exactly the most diplomatic thing to say, but in all fairness, Beck was taking a friendly jibe at the manner in which his Israeli hosts partook in dinner conversation, not in their politics. He was also not putting them down as a people or a nation, or a religion.

In my opinion, give Glenn Beck a break. Yes, Jewish people are emotional and we talk a lot. So what?

Is this latest Glenn Beck headline an attempt at further public relations assasination or a justified calling out by the press?

This news was brought to you by Allison Dawn PR

Too controversial for NBC?

New television series, The Playboy Club, starring Eddie Cibrian and Jenna Dewan, is based on Hugh Hefner and Playoby’s exclusive Playboy Clubs of the 1960s and 1970s. The series portrays a theatrical adaptation of the flagship operation which opened its doors in Hefner’s native Chicago in 1960. Other locations later opened in New York and Los Angeles. Back then, the Playboy Clubs promised an evening of unprecedented glamour. If you had that much coveted “key” for entry, it was an impressive and prestiges social coup. Now NBC’s new television series, The Playboy Club, which takes a look back at this heyday in Playboy’s history, is facing a barage of criticism and controversy from various groups before it has even hit the airwaves!

Scheduled to begin airing this fall on Mondays at 10/9c on NBC, one NBC affiliate station has already dropped the show from its programming lineup, according to MediaBistro, and the series has earned the ire of iconic feminist Gloria Steinem. Steinem famously infiltrated the New York Playboy Club in the 1960s for an expose article on life as a “bunny.” The 1963 article was written by Gloria Steinem for Show Magazine and chronicles her time working “undercover,” at the Playboy Club in Manhattan. Steinem’s controversial article was later made into the 1985 movie, A Bunny’s Tale.

Gloria Steinem recently called on the public to boycott the news TV series, telling Reuters in an interview, “It’s just not telling the truth about the era.” Steinem found her brief experience as a Playboy Bunny to be thoroughly demeaning, insisting her time working at The Playboy Club in New York “was not glamorous at all.”

Dawn Hawkins, the Executive Director of watchdog group, Morality in Media, stated, “We will expect advertisers to steer clear of the promotion of the ‘Playboy’ lifestyle and pornography.” Hawkins sneered at the producers and public relations executives who are currently promoting NBC’s The Playboy Club for stating that the show was about “female empowerment.” Hawkins responded by writing, “Sexual exploitation of women is not empowering,” in a recent press release from Morality in Media.

The rub here is, what does the public consider moral, and what do most people consider to be pornography? In an age where we celebrate people for making sex tapes and countless Playboy Playmates have gone on to achieve plenty of mainstream celebrity, why does a period piece television series about the old Playboy Clubs come under so much fire?

The Playboy Club will begin airing September 19th on NBC

Would you go out to see an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in light of Schwarzenegger’s cheating on Maria Shriver with his longtime housekeeper? Arnold Schwarzenegger seems somewhat unashamed and a little clueless as he plows full speed ahead on his long anticipated movie career resurrection.

It seems getting his family’s housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena, pregnant behind Shriver’s back and keeping a love child secret from his wife and children for a decade isn’t a worrisome stumbling block for the bodybuilder/action star/California Governor in his public relations campaign to re-invent himself back into a movie star.

“Now that the scandal has relatively died down,” states one report, “his potential projects are back on the table for discussion.” That’s all well and good, but the question remains, will the moviegoing public be there in the theatres to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies? By and large, the public seems irrevocably angry with Schwarzenegger. The liklihood of the public shelling out $10.00 to see the philandering Governor on the big screen seems grim.

In describing the imminent movie project that Arnold Schwarzenegger is currently looking at, Lionsgate explains, “It’s an old-fashioned Western, specifically designed for a 63 year old, broken down guy with a moral decision whether Arnold decides to stand up for his town.” I am assuming when they say “Arnold” they are referring to his character in the story, and I am certain that playing a character of high morals will certainly demonstrate Arnold Schwarenegger as a talented thespian, wouldn’t you say?

But the question remains: Would you go out to see an Arnold Schwarenegger movie in light of what we all now know about his character (his real character, that is!).

Where do I even begin?

According to CNN, Tiger Woods is set to make a big announcement to air on The Golf Channel today, July 11, 2011 at 11 am ET, on The Golf Channel. The press conference was announced via The Golf Channel’s Twitter account, stating, “Monday 11am ET: Special announcement concerning Tiger Woods on Golf Channel.”

There were no specific details offered up by The Golf Channel, which could be a public relations ploy to add to the drama and intrigue of the televised announcement, particularly after some alleged steroid use by Woods had recently surfaced. Many think Tiger Woods’ announcement will have to do with his leg injury and his lack of ability to bring 100% to his golf game. It’s no secret that the disgraced former golf great has been a dissappointment since the breakdown of his marriage last year.

Still recovering from injuries to his left leg, Tiger Woods recently said, “As I stated at the AT&T National, I am only going to come back when I’m 100% ready as I do not want to risk further injury,” going on to express, “I’m being smarter this time,” in response to questioning regarding his participation in pro golf during past injuries.

Woods described his regret over playing with injuries in the past, citing how it affected his golf game and disappointed golf fans and corporate sponsors as the reason for his reluctance to get back onto the golf course too soon.

Some at Yahoo Sports News are speculating that Woods’ impromtu press conference for The Golf Channel could include some of the following admissions:

Tiger Woods will bow out of golf for the remainder of 2011; Woods needs to have surgery on his knee and Achilles; Woods may offer up a detailed statement on his alleged relationship with Dr. Anthony Gallea, a Canadian “physician” who was recently indicted for transporting illegal drugs across the border for a number of professional athletes; and/ or possibly a specific date when Tiger Woods will, in fact, return to professional golf.

Let’s tune in at 11 ET. Bets anyone?

July 11, 2011 12:38 PM ET – and after all the hoopla, here is the big announcement that had the sports world on edge… Tiger Woods changes managers. Really?? Tiger Woods switches from longtime management IMG to Excel Sports Management.

Pulling a Neil Patrick Harris?

David Hasselhoff is threw trying to be taken seriously. The aged Knight Rider and Baywatch star has accepted a role as a well hung former porn star named Dondo who is now producing girl on girl adult films for major moolah. Hasselhoff will play this role in an upcoming episode of Sons of Anarchy which will air this October on FX.

The real question is, will playing against type and officially throwing his Baywatch rep out the window, once and for all, put him back on Hollywood’s radar the same way 2004′s Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle helped to boost the then-ailing career of Neil Patrick Harris?

Remember when Neil Patrick Harris was a mere footnote, a Trivial Pursuit game card? Ala “Who played Doogie in the 1980s-90s television show, Doogie Howser, MD?” Now on the A-list, with a successful sitcom, a gig hosting the Tony Awards and more film roles, Harris owes much of his revived career to the raunchy cameos he made in the juvenile Harold and Kumar movies. It was the “I’ve got nothing to lose” career move that put Neil Patrick Harris back on the Hollywood map. A brilliant public relations move, some might even argue. Maybe David Hasselhoff, whose well documented struggles with alcohol, nasty public divorce and failed reality show, will benefit from a fictional turn as a sleazy porn peddler.

Allison Dawn Public Relations

Public Relations grassroots campaigns rooted in blogging, SEO (search engine optimization), press release distribution and generation of relevant incoming links are an amazing tool for building a groundswell of recognition and support  for your business.

So many people are in a rush to obtain magazine, radio and television coverage for their business, while neglecting the public relations benefits of online social media and online social networking. In this case I have to credit one of my public relations clients for teaching me this valuable PR lesson.

Not too long ago, I began running a public relations campaign for a new niche social networking and micro-blogging website and after some strategy meetings we collectively, if apprehensively came to the conclusion that the right approach for us would be to first build a thriving online community and a groundswell of buzz before venturing into the traditional media.

Long story short, we vigorously pursued a presence on Facebook, FriendFeed, Xanga and Twitter and then began contacting social networking, dating, relationship and other types of high profile blogs that fell into the site’s proper demographic. Well our efforts paid off, and our greatest public relations advocates became Internet users, who began linking to the site, Tweeting about the site and posting excerpts from the site and our viral reach was outstanding.

Radio soon came calling and there has been radio coverage of the site on an ongoing basis almost since launch. We are now taking all of this incredible grassroots public relations ammunition that we have accrued over the past two months and beginning to approach televison and magazines.

The definition of public relations is changing, and although glossy magazines have prestige they don’t offer groundswell public relations like the blogs do, and nothing else in our modern history does either.

Online social media marketing is public relations 2.0. Gone forever are the days where a company or organization could set about pursuing a traditional media campaign where magazine, newspaper, radio and television coverage are the sole focus. Reason being, the average person now spends more time online then they spend on traditional periodicals and broadcast media, combined. The crowd has moved to a different venue and you have to move with them. Traditional media is still very much ingrained into our collective psyche as having the most cache (though we are likely the last generation to think this way), but prestige aside, the practicality is no longer there.

Nowadays most every business, product, service or organization has an online presence where their goods and services are sold and marketed. If you want to make a sale and turn press into sales conversion do you want someone to read about your product in a magazine and file your information away in their memory to hopefully be retrieved at a later date, or do you want that person to read about you, become interested in what you are selling and be able to access your product at the click of a button?

Online social media and online marketing encompasses many things, all of which equal high quality, targeted traffic to whatever you are promoting. For my company, it means creating a long chain of online information that work in conjunction with each other to raise a client’s overall profile online to raise them above their competition. Virtually every industry is saturated at this point, and the ones that are not become so rather quickly. To raise above the fray, i insist that my clients agree to a combination of online social media, online marketing, search engine optimization and online viral marketing in addition to any traditional public relations efforts we put forth.

Online social media and online SEO marketing should be consistent with traditional marketing and media relations in that it should stay on message, offer information, use targeted keywords, create relevent incoming links, and establish the client as an expert in their field.

I will go more in-depth with online marketing, online social media and online media marketing in my next few blog postings.