Ah, the press release. It’s one of the top requests from my clients when they want to generate interest in their businesses and traffic to their websites. With new product launches, expanded services, big campaigns landed, there’s always a newsworthy wave to ride those releases upon. But I recently encountered a client who used press releases to diffuse a crisis that could have turned ugly. In fact, it did turn ugly – but through our work together, he gave that situation an extreme makeover and turned it into a boost for business.
The whole experience was so powerful, that I figured it was important to remind my readers that press releases can come in handy in ways you may not have imagined. I can tell you that this guy never imagined he’d be in the situation he was in. So, I interviewed him to give you first hand information. And because he’s fun to talk to. And really fun to listen to. See, he’s a voice over artist – pretty high profile at that. He’s also a character film & television actor with a long list of credits. (Check out his impressive .)
We’ve often referred our clients to one another. When he’s given poorly written and ineffective copy that he simply can’t read, he sends folks to me to rescue them. And when my VO copy clients ask for a recommendation, he’s the first on my list.
So, that’s the professional love fest. Let’s get to the dirt. Here’s my interview with D.C. Douglas.
Without getting too political, can you describe what led up to the crisis point?
Well, being a socialist-muslim-Kenyan, I wanted to — sorry, couldn’t resist. Here’s what happened: I have a habit of telling off organizations that misrepresent themselves or peddle hate and bigotry. But I usually do it anonymously, with humor and sarcasm. There is an astroturf group that fanned the flames of ignorance during the healthcare debate which led to some racist and homophobic taunts towards congressmen and I couldn’t resist calling up this group and asking about their mental acuity. I left a character name and, unfortunately, my number (thinking I wanted to debate someone there). Long story short – they staked out my for three weeks and pounced once they saw a posting announcing that I had booked a new high-profile GEICO voice over campaign. They subsequently posted my phone number on a major conservative site and told their followers to call me and GEICO and get me fired. Within 24 hours – and after I received about 100 hate emails and phone calls – it was over, but I also lost my gig.
Which was a potentially huge financial loss for you. It’s enough to make anyone want to hide in a hole, but you decided to go public. Why?
Here’s the hard part. I could’ve let the whole thing go and no one would be the wiser, except for a small cadre of hate bloggers. But this astroturf group used half-truths and some outright lies to, yet again, fan the flames of their followers. See, they weren’t really outraged by my one little voicemail message, they were actually extending an existing rail against GEICO, one of the many companies they like to boycott for pulling ads from Glenn Beck’s show. They did it for publicity and I got wounded in the crossfire. Instead of hiding and feeling like a coward, I decided I wanted to turn the whole thing around.
Pretty brave to put yourself out there. What strategy did you come up with to turn it around?
Well, I was a bit hazy about the ultimate goal, but I knew it started with getting the word out about what they did. So, I called this great copywriter I know – oh, right – you! And you helped me collect my thoughts and distill down my ten-page blog post to an effective one-page press release. So effective, that it was picked up by MSNBC and FOX News within hours of its release and spread like wildfire. Though the press on both sides really distorted several facts.
Let’s talk about the press releases individually. What was the goal of the ?
That was to clear up the distortions and conflations that this astroturf group put in their original blog post. Second was to explain why I left a sarcastic, yet ill-advised voicemail message with my real number. Third was the most important – reveal this group for what they are and how they manipulate their followers to blindly protest, even against their own best interests.
What was the result?
Like I said, it was picked up by all the majors and run to death for a few days. MSNBC and FOX News both kept asking for an interview so I decided the best way to reach the followers of the astroturf organization was through FOX. I chose Geraldo Rivera’s show because he agreed to my requests not to be put into a three-way yell-fest with the president of that group. I also received A TON of support from voice over clients and directors I had worked with as an actor. Both of my agencies stuck with me and supported me fully. It was a nice avalanche that buried the ugliness of the week before. The downside was that a lot of liberal supporters wanted to boycott GEICO for firing me. I never wanted that to happen, so I came to you again.
Right. So what was the goal of the ?
To get the message out there that I didn’t blame GEICO. I blamed the astroturf group. I wasn’t whining, like their followers were saying, I was sounding an alarm bell for everyone else. I also wanted to clear up even more distortions that mainly FOX News had put out.
And what was the result?
It tempered some of what the critics were saying and quelled many of my supporters.
What was the goal of the ?
Well, this was one you and I had an interesting time with as I really pushed for an anti-press release. Since the media always got many of the facts wrong (like my real name vs. the character name I created for a show) I wanted to play with that. I had produced a mock PSA and wanted to continue that tone with the announcement of it. You were excellent at guiding me across that thin line between news and entertainment. Without your help, I’m not sure the press release would have been accepted by the distributors.
Thanks for the kind words. There’s no point in writing a press release if it doesn’t get distributed, right? So what was the result?
Amazing! Again, we got picked up by the media. The video garnered over 300,000 hits on YouTube, I gained 1,000 new fans on FaceBook, and Joy Behar had me on her CNN show to talk about the PSA.
She praised you too, not just politically but as a comedian, if I remember correctly. So in the end, did the strategy work?
I’d have to say absolutely! And that’s from a guy who wasn’t sure what my end game was. I never thought I’d be in a situation like that. You know, it’s funny, because many friends would email me and ask what PR Firm I had signed with! I said, it’s just me and my copywriter! I’d say the combination of this controversy filtered through these excellent press releases really helped me turn my lemons into lemonade. Oh yeah, now it’s obvious why I need a copywriter!
Ah! Avoiding clichés is one of the top ten rules of copywriting. Instead, let’s say: through courage and professionalism, you turned a crisis into a career boost.
Not as tasty, but okay.
Lemons or crises, I hope this interview broadened your understanding of how press releases can serve your business. Announcements of new products and services are important and effective. But through three press releases, this independent contractor 1) exposed a disreputable organization and their egregious behavior against him; 2) cleared up inconsistencies in the news reports and finally 3) put a funny button on the whole darn thing. All of which generated more press for him, more support, more traffic and ultimately more business.
So, I put this question to you, dear readers….what’s newsworthy right now….?
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