January 2009 Archives

Long ago in the pre-Internet Age of Mail, publicity agencies would send bizarre objects to the editorial offices of publications in hopes of catching the attention of gullible editors. Most of them were completely useless and would be immediately dropped into the wastebasket (until one of them actually sent us a wastebasket, which I've kept to this day -- who doesn't need a wastebasket?). With the dominance of e-mail (and the decline of marketing budgets), this practice has all but died out. 

For some reason, publicists still think it's a great idea to submit "articles" for publication that are "written" by their clients. Perhaps they envision a world of small-town, weekly papers run by simple folk who just don't know how to fill their empty pages: "The square dance report is running short this week, Ma. What're we gonna put on page 6?" "Well, by gum, let's run that free article on dog-grooming tips from Hartz Mountain!" PR agents seem to believe that readers will see these important articles and then think more fondly of their clients.