We’re having a surf party. You’re not invited
Here’s a brilliant case study in how not to PR an event. The following email speaks for itself.
From: Surfing Yearbook [mailto:info@surfingyearbook.com]
Sent: Thursday, 9 April 2009 3:11 PM
To:
Subject: Withdrawing Invitation
Correction to: Surfing Yearbook launch invite !
We wish to apologise for incorrectly forwarding you an invite to the announcement of Launching of The Surfing Yearbook in Australia
The invitation you received is not valid.
The invitation, directed to only selected media personnel, was erroneously transmitted to our Newsletter subscriber list which includes your name.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused. The erroneously sent invitation cannot be honored at the venue address.
A Mistake was made we apologise
Surfersvillage/The Surfing Yearbook
The journo who passed this on to Dr Mumbo tells him: “Talk about your rude retraction e-mails. All it needs is a few ‘Achtungs!’ to really get in the spirit. And who sends out a retraction by saying only ‘selected’ media are invited? Really makes me, and whoever received this, feel special. Not.” Needless to say, the journalist in question has decided that surf coverage is not a priority in the coming weeks.
Ah the old kneejerk reaction to the’ s%#t how can I fix this’ situation (adrenaline can render the brain ineffective). With some clever and logical thinking they could have turned it into a positive instead of a PR blunder. I imagine skiing will strangely fill the surfing pages for a while!
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