Final Press Release 2: Image Management

Press Release Two: Image Management

SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Burger Planet
Gary, Indiana
http://www.uwm.edu/~mcbridej/pressrelease.html

Burger Planet offers healthy choice options.
Jayne Petersen joins the Burger Planet team to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Gary, Ind.-The quick-service restaurant, Burger Planet announced a new line of healthy menu choices to add to its traditional menu favorites. Fitness trainer to the stars, Jayne Petersen will promote the new line.

Burger Planet became famous for its traditional formulas in burgers, fries and sodas. Some of the company’s most beloved sandwiches are the Saturn, the Venus and the Mercury. In order to offer more choices the menu now includes gourmet salads, fruit packages and chicken breast. Customers can now add to their favorite sandwich a raspberry vinaigrette spinach salad or a package of peaches. When asked about the new items CEO James E. Muellenbach III said, “Burger Planet cares about its customers. For more than seven decades, the company has succeeded because it puts customers first. We listen to our customers. And our customers desire healthy choices, of which we offer many.”

Jayne Petersen will be promoting the restaurant around the country. She said, "Burger Planet has been a leader in the quick service restaurant industry in offering healthy menu choices. The company believes in encouraging customers to live healthier, active lifestyles and I have spent my life trying to teach women that lesson." Petersen is president and CEO of the health enterprise Looking Glass, Inc. She became famous when she helped talk show host Opal Whitcomb lose 75 pounds and keep it off. She makes appearances on Opal’s show where she gives messages of moderation and walking for exercise. Petersen’s book, “Looking Good in a Leotard” was on the top of the bestsellers list for a year.

Petersen will be joined by the Burger Planet mascot, Corny the Clown in advertisements and health-conscious appearances at restaurants and shopping malls around the country throughout June and July. The promotion will kick off on May 12 at the Burger Planet franchise at Times Square in New York, N.Y.

Burger Planet was founded in 1934 by James E. Muellenbach I. The organization is headquartered in Gary, Ind., and has 8,921. Burger Planet has served 52 billion customers and employs 48,272 people.

Media Contact: Melanie Fenn
Fenn.melanie@gmail.com

-END-

Draft Press Release 2:Image Management

Press Release Two: Image Management

SEPTEMBER 22TH, 2009
Burger Planet
Gary, Indiana
http://www.uwm.edu/~mcbridej/pressrelease.html

Burger Planet offers healthy choice options.
Jayne Petersen joins the Burger Planet team to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Gary, Ind.- CEO of the quick-service restaurant Burger Planet, James E. Muellenbach III announced a new line of healthy menu choices to add to its traditional menu favorites. Fitness trainer to the stars, Jayne Petersen will promote the new line.
Burger Planet became famous for its simple formulas in burgers, fries and sodas. Some of the company’s most beloved sandwiches are the Saturn, the Venus and the Mercury. In order to offer more choices the menu now includes gourmet salads, fruit packages and chicken breast. Customers can now add to their favorite sandwich a raspberry vinaigrette spinach salad or a package of peaches. When asked about the new items Muellenbach said, “Burger Planet cares about its customers. For more than seven decades, the company has succeeded because it puts customers first. We listen to our customers. And our customers desire healthy choices, of which we offer many.”

Jayne Petersen will be promoting the restaurant around the country. She said, "Burger Planet has been a leader in the Quick Service Restaurant industry in offering healthy menu choices. The company believes in encouraging customers to live healthier, active lifestyles and I have spent my life trying to teach women that lesson." Petersen is president and CEO of the health enterprise Looking Glass, Inc. She became famous when she helped talk show host Opal Whitcomb lose 75 pounds and keep it off. She makes appearances on Opal’s show where she gives messages of moderation and walking for exercise. Petersen’s book, “Looking Good in a Leotard” was on the top of the bestsellers list for a year.

Petersen will be joined by the Burger Planet mascot, Corny the Clown in advertisements and health-conscious appearances at restaurants and shopping malls around the country throughout June and July. The promotion will kick off on May 12 at the Burger Planet franchise at Times Square in New York, N.Y.

Burger Planet was founded in 1934 by James E. Muellenbach I. The organization is headquartered in Gary, Ind., and have 8,921 franchises in every state and 17 countries. Burger Planet has served 52 billion customers and employs 48,272 people.

Media Contact: Melanie Fenn
Fenn.melanie@gmail.com

-END-

2300 Blog 4

http://prnewswire.com

This press release did not follow the inverted pyramid. It began talking about a recent law passed by the Supreme Court which states that student athletes who are victims of sexual harassment can now also sue individual, coaches and directors, as well as the institutions they work for. The press release did not state the name of the bill, when it was passed or any other information regarding the bill. This is because the bill was not the focus of the release even though they put it at the top, tricking readers into reading a pitch about Tim Davis and his new casebook.

Whoever wrote this press release included almost no hard facts. There were a few quotes form Davis and then a plug for his forum at Wake Forest University. If I were a journalist trying to write a story about this release I would be frustrated. Because of so few quotes and data I would be forced to do a lot of research that the public relations person should have done for me. I might drop the story completely instead of try to find a newsworthy angle. Those who write press releases are asking a medium to do them a favor and print their story in hopes of selling a product, event or idea. They have to create a document that proves to the journalist that they want to print the story and that the readers of that medium want to hear about the story. Sloppy sentences with no meat will not get a story printed.

2300 Blog 3

MADD virgin drinks coming to a store near you

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/09-18-2009/0005096770&EDATE=

I was thrilled with the purpose of this press release. MADD is partnering with Hill Street Inc. to make a line of virgin drinks. Drinking a fancy concoction is a social need at most adult parties but, with drunk drivers causing hundreds of deaths each year and stories such as the New York mom surfacing it is time to become a responsible drinker. Many social drinkers claim they are not addicted to alcohol so they should have no problem switching to another fun drink that is closely related to their favorite but without the alcohol.

I was not so thrilled with the press release itself. It started with a catch phrase that made me not want to read the rest of the release because it read too commercial. “The holiday season is just around the corner, are you ready for your guests?” It was an obvious advertisement. The rest of the press release was good with hard facts about the different drinks and quotes by members of MADD and the CEO of Hill Street Inc. Because the opening seemed such a stretch in order to connect with the audience it seemed forced and unreliable even though the message was a good one that many people would want to be briefed on.

-Melanie Fenn

2300 Blog 2

Article- http://kdpaine.blogs.com/kdpaines_pr_m/2009/08/the-ultimate-consequences-of-measuring-the-wrong-thing.html

Katie from KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog wrote an article called, “The ultimate consequences of measuring the wrong thing.” It discussed the current movement of organizations and their PR bussing employees to protests against health care reform and other national topics. Katie said that these actions take a blow at corporate and PR’s credibility. Shows such as the Rachel Maddow show expose the organizations and ruin the mass effect the companies were trying to create. When finding out that the random gathering of protesters turns out to be not so random they can no longer be a representation of the public’s feelings and political standings. The PR people are kidding themselves if they think this tactic works.

Katie claims the organizations are measuring the wrong thing. They believe that by having a large gathering and press coverage the Ad Value Equivalent (AVE) would be that of the purchased ad space. The issue here is good coverage v. bad coverage. As PR professionals, bad coverage is a nightmare but that is exactly what these companies are creating for themselves in the long run. They try to manipulate the nation’s opinions in the dark. When the light is turned on the company loses credit. It would be better to run an ad that promotes unassociated citizens to take a stand themselves. These organizations are getting themselves in way over their heads.

-Melanie Fenn

2300 Blog 1

A PRWeek article titled, “More findings from Forrester Research,” discussed its new findings about mobile outreach. These are the findings:

· Of young single adults and couples 87% are online and 55% access the internet from their phones.

· The average American spends 8hrs a week on the Internet while young adults spend 10.

· 76% of young families own a game console, 72% of older families

The study was supported by Ruder Finn Innovations Studios who said the reason for the research was to look at the intent of online usage.

This is a perfect example of a PR related study. Organizations already know that people are online. They are not trying to promote being online. The valuable information is where people are going online. Who are they talking to? What do they search? Where do they spend their majority of time online? This information can then be used to promote a product, service or idea. The internet is overwhelmed with ads and promotions. That is because it is a quick and effective way to reach a mass audience. The hard part is making the information appealing is some way so it isn’t looked over or closed out of. By knowing what interests the majority of people online, or a specific demographic, the promotions can be tweaked in order to appeal to the audience. This explains why the study was about intent instead of amount of online usage.

Article-

http://thecycle.prweekblogs.com/

-Melanie Fenn