Marketing Sociologist scoops TMZ
Letterman about ratings=bad PR
Sully Sullenberger=Great PR

Wow, the site that beat the world with Paris Hilton going to jail was scooped by Marketing Sociologist. TMZ had the Letterman story shortly after midnight Oct. 2. Marketing Sociologist had it shortly after 8 p.m. (would have been earlier but a call from a client delayed posting) Oct. 1. Even with the time zone difference, Marketing Sociologist beat TMZ.

Pays to follow Twitter 24/7; but that's another blog.

Public relations people are saying Letterman is a communications coup. So was Adolph Hitler. Still say good public relations is planning ahead for good; not CYA after your organization has done bad. Maybe that's why when people ask me about crisis communications, I say I learned from Curt Linke when he was head of Johns Manville public relations. He was responsible for the asbestos law suits public relations. You plan ahead to avoid pitfalls like Letterman.

Letterman was "spin doctor." His routine was scripted and comedy does not cover crime. Coercing your staff to have sex because of your power and admitting it in comedic style does not make you look good in public relations. There's several words for that, sleaze bag, scum bag, idiot, stupid, lecher, possibly pedophile if interns were involved.

Letterman, as almost every disk jockey I've heard this morning said, was about ratings. My position is, any other man admitting sex with employees would be fired immediately; money talks, BS walks as I blogged before TMZ. One Twitter said, "So guess David Letterman skipped the annual sexual harassment training."

Great public relations was practiced by US Airways. I've had the pleasure of meeting the company's president, Doug Parker, and he's an excellent manager. So it comes as no surprise US Airways would have the overlooked public relations coup. Sully Sullenberger's first flight after the most miraculous air crash in history was the same route, same flight number. Great PR. Yet those hacks claiming Letterman was a PR coup overlooked great PR. Go figure why.


Comments