A weekly roundup of talking points, sans effort

 
 

Thought for the week

“A flatlining economy means the government is borrowing more to pay for economic failure as the welfare bill is up. By failing on growth and jobs, David Cameron and George Osborne are failing on the one test they set themselves – to get the deficit and debt down.” Chris Leslie, shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, discussing how the UK Government’s rate of borrowing has actually increased in the last 12 months.

Weekly high

When we first saw this stunt by digital and mobile technology manufacturer Qualcomm our initial thoughts were this has been done before- the Blagger’s Blog is no stranger to the whole ‘actors surprising the public’ concept. Then we watched the video, saw the huskies, and couldn’t help but chuckle. Take a look for yourselves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zpdcUakdQVA#!
 

Weekly low

This week’s PR failure accentuates the importance of transparency, and staff knowing what to do in a potentially awkward situation. A woman in America has been trying to get a dangerous tree cut down near her home. Frustrated at a complete lack of response from the company responsible, she contacted a local journalist, who paid them a visit only to find the receptionist refusing him entry and hiding beneath her desk.

Image source: Ragan’s PR Daily

Things that might happen in the next week…

The verdict on Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial will be given by the South African judge residing over his case (later today), rumours surrounding a potential return of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in a brand new (Disney made) Star Wars movie, and on Monday (February 25th) London Mayor Boris Johnson will take part in a live Twitter Q&A session. Questions at the ready then.

Just in case you missed it…

Twitter has opened a new advertising API allowing brands and agencies to develop more sophisticated commercial campaigns via new Promoted Tweets and Promoted Account functionality. Adobe, Salesforce, Hootsuite, SHIFT and TBG Digital have also been announced as the first five partners to sign up- read a more complete story here.
 
If there is a success story, blunder, or news event you’d like to see included email helloATsmokinggun.co.uk or tweet using #blaggersblog. Happy Friday!