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WWJD: PR stunt uses Christmas lore to promote hotel

By: Justin Lopinot | 12/19/2007

Terrible media pitches make me laugh, often by their mere stupidity (for examples, see here and here). But when a painfully obvious PR stunt somehow garners international attention, something just isn't right.

Take the headline-grabbing story about Josephs and Marys being offered a free hotel room on Christmas. The news release is posted on the British hotel chain's Web site. It's pretty darn flowery cheesy. I'm sure somebody with extremely religious fortitude might even find it offensive. Here's a sampling (though I have to admit I cleaned up some of the egregious errors because they made me cringe):

The "gift" of a free night's stay is to make up for the hotel industry not having any rooms left on Christmas Eve over 2,000 years ago when the original "Mary and Joseph" had to settle for the night in a stable.

Today's Mary and Joseph will stay in a spacious Travelodge family room, which can also cater for a baby and a manger. A free car parking space will be provided for the donkey, and there are plenty of £29 rooms available for the Shepherds and Wise Men to book. The couple can stay anytime from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night.

It's mid-December, so news outlets are feasting on soft news like this right now. But this is pretty far out there. Nevertheless, the story is making the rounds on all of the major news Web sites. CNN ran a story about it on Saturday, even infusing the story with PR lingo (“Josephs and Marys in search of a room at the inn this Christmas are being made an offer they can't refuse”). Believe it or not, the story is considered photo-worthy “breaking news” in Trinidad and Tobago.

It's a clever idea, I guess, but the PR smell is hard to ignore. What do you think of the story? Have you run across any others that scream “PR stunt?”

Posted in Strategic Public Relations, Public Relations