You learn something new from other publicists every day. From here on out, I’m going to craft press releases with this in mind, from Gawker:
Our totally unsolicited press release of the day has arrived! “Hello, as Julie Henderson‘s
publicist, I’ve read some unflattering blogs calling her a ‘high
fallutin’ call girl’ and a ‘golddigger,'” it begins. There’s more!Julie Henderson comes from a good family. Her grandfather Samuel
Henderson invented the Henderson grapefruit in the 1960’s and built an
empire in Texas . She has been modeling for the past 7 years and is an
accomplished Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue favorite appearing in
the issue 3 years in a row.This arrived under the subject line “Further Clarification Regarding Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson.”
Think of how much attention a press release that started with, “I’ve read some unflattering blogs calling __insert the most conservative male or female classical musician you can thing of’s name here___ a ‘high fallutin’ call girl’ and a ‘golddigger'” would get. And then we could go on to write the usual redundant praise phrases, so we still felt like we worked in classical music. A recent redundant favorite of mine from a release: “X artist is recognized worldwide for possessing a talent of uncommon ability and as an exceptionally gifted performer.”
Meanwhile, I wish one of my client’s grandfathers had invented the Henderson grapefruit. The Owens peach. The Lang strawberry?