California - The Sunshine State or the Pot State?

I’m sure almost everyone has heard about the dire situation that the state of California finds itself in. Their budget is sitting in limbo right now with a $42 billion gap and no way to close it. Thousands of ideas and proposals have flooded the governor’s office, but there is one that keeps coming out on top.

Most people refer to this solution as a sin tax, which is a tax added to those items (alcohol or tobacco) that are deemed vices and unnecessary. Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed an increase in taxes on alcohol and Assemblyman Tom Torklakson proposed an increase in taxes for cigarettes.

Now, it has come to light that if California would decide to legalize marijuana and then tax it heavily, the state could quickly close their budgetary gap. The marijuana crops grown in California equal $13.8 billion annually and approximately 14.5 million Americans use marijuana monthly.

If marijuana were to become legalized, the state could collect taxes on all that marijuana that is currently being sold in the underground market. It would also save the state the money they are spending on prosecuting those people that are using, selling, or growing marijuana illegally.

This is what the public relations world refers to as a hot button topic. On the one hand, the state is thinking creatively to decrease their budget deficit, which is great. On the other hand, they are thinking about legalizing a substance that was long ago determined to be detrimental to the growth of society.

The state’s public relations department will have to give this topic a lot of consideration before picking a way to support this. Remember, the goal of PR is to always portray your organization (or in this case, the state) in the most favorable light while still relaying all information correctly.
No matter which way you cut it, this is going to be a hard battle to fight. There are many pros and cons from each side, and many details that need to be worked out before a decision is made. It will certainly be an interesting legislative session in the state of California, and I’m sure the PR reps and the media will be happy to keep us informed.

$1 Starbucks

When I was scanning the MSN home page just now, I almost tipped my drink into my lap. Under the “Money” section of MSN, there was a link that alluded to $1 coffee at Starbucks. After righting my cup, I had to learn more.

I thought that it must be a joke; Starbucks has never offered any drink for less than $2.50. I have to add that spending that $2.50 does not get you a soy mocha latte; it gets you a hot chocolate or a regular coffee. If they are offering coffee for $1, there must be something seriously wrong.

It seems that not even the coffee giants of the world are immune from a recession-like economy. Even though we have seen the effects locally (the closing of several FM Starbucks locations) I don’t know that the international Starbucks had quite felt the pinch.

CEO Howard Schultz has been quoted as saying that consumers want fewer material goods and more quality of life experiences. He has also said that once the recession passes, people are more apt to remain with their newfound frugality, rather than revert to their old, more expensive, habits.

Now, we all know that corporations don’t do things out of the goodness of their hearts. There is usually an ulterior motive behind their Good Samaritan actions. This transformation of Starbucks is no exception.

This move will allow Starbucks to increase its share of the instant coffee market. Another type of coffee gives them more shelf space at the grocery stores. A new product to promote is more media time on the airwaves that can be credited to something other than wasting money in tight times. Offering a more affordable product opens up doors to a whole new audience that they weren’t reaching before by offering their coffees for $2.50 or more.

I have to applaud the PR department of Starbucks on this one. Even though this whole switch is to help stabilize their position in the stock market, they come out smelling like roses. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry on the street will be so grateful to Starbucks for recognizing their needs and offering a line of quality coffee that they can afford.

This is definitely what Dr. Vanhorn and our text calls telling the truth while portraying your company in the most favorable light possible. Starbucks’ PR reps, if this was a college course, you would be getting a big fat A+!

Football's Losing Favre?!?

I don’t believe it; I truly don’t believe it.

No, really; I just cannot believe that Brett Favre is retiring! For someone like me who does not like sports, that name sure rings a bell…

Oh yeah, he’s the guy from last year that said he was retiring. Then we heard about him every other day because he wanted to be released from his contract. Then it turned out that he really wasn’t retiring, he just wanted to go play for a different team.

Talk about a real-life soap opera! I cannot imagine the upheaval that his family has gone through in the last two years. Moving across the country, making new friends, and learning to play with a new team must have kept them all pretty busy and stressed out.

I have to say that working for Favre is not something I would enjoy. I am sure the pay is great, but I like change and variety. I would hate having to tell the same story two years in a row. Do you think when Favre announced his plans to retire in 2009, did his publicist just have to reach into his/her file cabinet and pull out the binder from 2008?

For someone that doesn’t like to put forth a lot of effort, this would have been a great gig. Just white out where it said Packers and insert the word Jets and you’re basically done. Change a few other small details and you’ve got yourself a five-minute press release.

Okay, perhaps I’m being pretty tough on the guy. It does sound like he truly plans to retire this time. His paperwork has even been filed with the NFL, which was not done last season. He was even quoted as saying, “I really felt like it was time,” when asked if this was the real deal.

This is just another example of how even the best of publicists must be prepared for their employers to wreak havoc on their carefully ordered plan. Favre’s publicist probably had no idea he did not really plan to retire at the end of last season; they were just doing their job by getting the news out there for the fans. Then they looked like liars, which just reaffirmed what a lot of the general public feels about this field anyway.

Take heart, faithful publicist. It looks like this is the real deal this time!

Nanny or Publicist? Every Mom's Dilemma!

A loving husband/wife, two and one half children, a furry dog named Mylo, a little house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, and two compact cars equals the average household of the United States. For some, being average is just not acceptable.

Nadya Suleman, with her 14 children, is one of those people. Through her publicist Joann Killeen (who I will get to in a minute), Nadya is described as a smart, articulate, college-educated woman. Nadya’s publicist says that her client has always wanted a large family, and that she is working toward a master’s degree in counseling. She already holds a bachelor’s degree in child and adolescent development.

This lady has a publicist?!? Besides the obvious shock that a virtually unknown woman has a publicist, this fact also triggers a couple other questions in my mind.

With 14 kids to feed, clothe, and shelter, how the heck is she paying for a publicist? I guess she is really pinning her hopes on someone to offer her a book deal or for a well-paying talk show to start pounding her door down.

How does the same person go from not wanting her name released to anybody to needing a publicist to coordinate all the stuff she has going on? Obviously there were reasons in the beginning when she asked to remain anonymous; what happened there? I know everyone is entitled to change their mind, but this is like going from lavender to lime green for a wedding color!

This just goes to show that the PR field offers limitless opportunities for immersion in the job market. If you decide to throw your hat into the PR ring, you are entering into one of the vastest job markets the world has to offer. You can work for a multi-billion dollar corporation like Microsoft, with a non-profit like the United Way, for a public or private school or university system, for a celebrity, or for the person next door.

Dirty Politicians = PR Fodder

I have to be brutally honest here: I am so sick of dirty politicians that I could almost scream. It seems that for the last two years all we have seen or heard about is the seedy side of politics. We have run the gamut from soliciting bathroom sex to selling Senate seats to accepting money from questionable sources.
The most noteworthy of these dirty politicians has been Rod Blagojevich, the impeached governor of Illinois. He came under fire in December 2008 for trying to put a price on the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. He was also charged with conspiring to sell his own office several different times.
In January 2009 Blagojevich was impeached by a 114-1 vote, making this the first time such action has been taken against the governor of Illinois. His impeachment trial will begin on January 26, and is already slated to be aired on several major stations.
Over the last two months, even though no one can pronounce it, the name Blagojevich is on the tip of everyone’s tongue. How could it not be when it is everywhere you look? Blagojevich is on a self-proclaimed media blitz that includes interviews on The View, The Today Show, Larry King Live, and Good Morning America.
Through it all, Blagojevich has proclaimed his innocence. He has stated several times that “private conversations” he had were taken out of context. “You figure your home is a sanctified place and you’re allowed to have private conversations,” he is quoted as saying recently.
If you Live Search the phrase “Blagojevich media blitz” you will come up with 79,700 results. Surprisingly the first few pages that I looked through were all relevant to my topic and were all from fairly credible sources.
I bring this up because it is a testament to Blagojevich’s PR team. Even though things are looking pretty bad for their employer, they are still kicking butt and getting their side of the story out there. They are keeping his name in the forefront of everyone’s mind, and as a result, having to deal with the occasional accusation about their motives.
The Blagojevich case is a great eye opener for everyone in the PR field as well as for those that are thinking of or working toward a career in this field. Always research the company or person you will be working for and learn what you can about the reputation the company or the individual has before accepting a job offer. Declining a good paying job because the employer has morals that do not match your own is much better than neglecting your morals to keep that good paying job.

Public Relations Meets the President

On no other day is public relations so closely linked to the presidential circle than on Inauguration Day. The Inauguration of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, was no exception. Come to think of it, the five days prior to January 20 were not an exception either.

I find it somewhat amusing that this country is going through a recessional period, but we still have millions of dollars to welcome our new President into office. I ask you, what would have been wrong with just swearing Obama in on the National Mall and throwing one inaugural ball in his honor? Was it really necessary to hold 20 press conferences and 11 balls for the guy?

If you are a public relations specialist for the presidential team, you bet it is necessary! Inauguration Day is your bread and butter; it is what you’ve lived for since hitting the campaign trail with Obama almost a year ago.

All the speculation about what Michelle Obama would be wearing; all the insider information on what moving day in the White House looks like; the well planted “leaks” about the note that incumbent George W. Bush left for Obama in his desk; they are all carefully orchestrated to catch readers’ attention.

If you were to Live Search “Inauguration Day 2009,” thousands of links come up. The majority of those have to do with events that were coordinated throughout the day. There was the church service this morning, the actual swearing in at the National Mall, coffee with the Bush family, the limo ride, and appearances at several inaugural balls; all of which was hyped to the fullest.

The number of articles already written about this day, the hundreds that are still to come, and all the links popping up left and right are the proof that Obama’s PR team is a keeper. Without their organization, flair, know-how, and downright doggedness, this day would not be so well publicized.

Good journalism comes from good internal PR, no matter what topic is being discussed. It is our job as PR specialists to make the right things important. By that, I mean that if we place more importance on the attire of the President and First Lady than on what his inaugural address addressed, we have not done our job properly. Once the public’s attentions shift, it is difficult to get them back on track.

The PR team for Inauguration 2009 gets two thumbs up in my book. They helped to orchestrate one of the biggest days in the history of this country, and besides Senator Kennedy suffering a seizure at lunch, it went off without a hitch.

Golden Opportunities for PR Specialists

If I asked for a show of hands on how many people watch the Golden Globes religiously every year, I would guess more hands would be up than down. Why? The Golden Globes, and other similar award shows, are the most publicized events of the year.
No matter where you live or what you do in your spare time, you have heard of the Golden Globes, the Emmys, and/or the Grammys. Entertainment News reported that last year, over 20 million viewers flipped their channels to watch at least part of the award show. Another 1/2 million viewers watched the announcement of the winning names on E! the following day.
This astonishing number begs the question "Why do so many people watch these events?" The answer is remarkably simple: the public relations that surround these gala award shows are huge. It takes a team of hundreds all year to plan, coordinate, book, publicize, and pull off these huge shows.
Working in the PR department of any of these events entails quite a bit of differentiated work, I’m sure. PR reps for these huge events must work day and night up until the big event, just to verify that everything goes off without a hitch.
There would be the planning side of things, where the PR rep must act as an event planner. A venue must be selected and all details ironed out with that venue. A menu is selected, seating charts written out, and security hired, to name a few of those details.
The press side of things is where the meat of the job always occurs. Every time a new category’s nominees are confirmed, press releases must go out. Each time a presenter is secured, a brief has to be written. Good working relations must be maintained with all the major television networks, radio stations, and newspapers that cover the event.
All of that hard, continuous work leads up to the success of some of the "biggest nights on television" each year. Although working for big gala events like the Grammys is every publicist's daydream, there are thousands of other opportunities for PR specialists in our world today. There are over 200,000 PR specialists working in the market right now.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of public relations specialists is expected to grow by 18%, much faster than the average. The BLS website also states that the need for good public relations in an increasingly competitive business environment should spur demand in all types and sizes of organizations.
This is good news for people that are just getting started on their career. If they keep dreaming about doing the PR for a major event like the Emmys, the Grammys, or even the Golden Globes, they have a great shot at succeeding.