Whatever...

The Monday blues just got worse

By Hannah Townsend

This Monday was apparently the most depressing day of the year. According to reports, the third Monday in January is known as Blue Monday, which is based on a number of factors: bad weather conditions, high levels of debt, the amount of time passed since Christmas, failed New Year resolutions, low motivational levels, and finally, a need to take action. 

While it’s not surprising that this would fall in January or on a Monday, who claims that this day is particularly worse than the others? It was in fact devised by Sky Travel in 2005 as a way of persuading people to book a winter holiday. The travel company based this assumption on a formula created by Dr Cliff Arnell, a self-proclaimed Cardiff University psychologist: 

Each year, journalists and scientists come out in force to blast what is considered ‘bad science and nonsense PR’. The PR and marketing industry may have a reputation for making something out of nothing to promote a client’s product or services, but in this case, its detractors definitely have a point. Not only is it based on a non-scientific formula (how you can quantify motivational levels or weather, I don’t know), but the creator’s credibility has been called into question as Cardiff University quickly sought to distance itself from him. 

Good PR should involve news stories and arguments based on fact, whether it’s statistics, qualitative research or a qualified expert opinion. While attention-grabbing headlines are good in our business, it’s just disappointing – and embarrassing – if they don’t hold up under scrutiny.

What’s surprising is that, despite offering no real evidence to support the theory, it is still widely recognised, debated and ridiculed ten years on. Naturally, companies have already started to look at how they can utilise this PR and media-constructed phenomenon by jumping onto the bandwagon. Sky Travel may have gone into administration in 2010, but it left a legacy that looks likely to stick. 

When bad publicity is good publicity

By Tina Ambos

In a study from Stanford Graduate School of Business, researchers say in some cases negative publicity can increase sales when a product or company is relatively unknown, simply because it stimulates product awareness. Whereas a negative review in the New York Times hurt sales of books by well-known authors, for example, it increased sales of books that had lower prior awareness. That bad news isn't always bad for business has also been the case for Sony Pictures Entertainment’s recent film ‘The Interview’.

For PR and journalism, an interview is one of the most important methods used to collect information and present views to the public. In the film the interview is a method to commit a murder: The film stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as journalists instructed to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after booking an interview with him. This film has since been linked with one of the worst cyberattacks ever on an American company. Everything and anything had been taken by a group calling itself ‘Guardians of Peace’: Contracts, salary lists, film budgets, medical records, social security numbers, personal emails and five entire films. In December 2014 the ‘Guardians of Peace’ threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that played ‘The Interview’. Due to this, Sony canceled the theatrical release of the film. The company was criticized by the White House, Hollywood stars and others who accused it of capitulating to extortionist threats.

Sony’s ‘The Interview’ has dominated international headlines for weeks. And so it’s no surprise that after Sony had decided to release ‘The Interview’ for rental or purchase through streaming services, and to show it at a limited number of selected independent cinemas, that the film became a sensation. After four days the film earned over 12.5 Million Euro through online rentals and purchases, becoming Sony’s highest-grossing online release. ‘The Interview’ is the top-selling Google Play and YouTube film of 2014 and as of 6th January the film has earned more than 25 million Euro online.

The publicity due to the cyberattack has called the attention of millions of people – and not just fans of political satire comedy films – to purchase ‘The Interview’. People buy and watch the film to fight their own little battle for freedom of expression. The film, with lower prior awareness, hasmade history thanks to ‘bad’ publicity.