Time for the low down on the good and bad campaigns from May. If you want to have a look at Aprils round up then look no further, you can find it here. May has been a surprisingly quiet month in terms of good and bad PR, but we’ve still got a couple that stood out to us!

Dominic Cummings slightly savage critic of his colleagues 

It would be very easy for us to dedicate the whole of Mays round up to Dominic Cummings. However, we think we can all agree that his jaw dropping seven-hour revelation at a Westminster select committee, meant Good PR for himself and yet more Bad PR for the Government, in particular Boris Johnson! Although it was a slightly savage account, it seemed pretty fair – particularly in terms of his opinion on how things could have been better handled during the pandemic (which we probably all agree with Mr Cummings on!)

Cummings showed his humanity when he apologised for how the Government handled the pandemic whilst slamming the Prime Minister for downplaying Covid-19 in February, saying it was just “another swine flu” – yikes.

In another bombshell he confirmed that the reports Boris had allegedly said he would rather see “bodies pile high” than put the country into a third lockdown, were in fact true. Health Secretary Matt Hannock didn’t get off lightly either in Cummings ‘tell all’ account as he was heavily criticised for ‘lying to both ministers and the public’ by Dominic Cummings. What a select committee meeting hey!

Cadbury’s send fans wild with new flavour

May might have been slightly quieter in the PR and social world, but not if you’re a chocolate fan! Cadbury announced that it was re-releasing a historic chocolate bar, Dairy Milk Neapolitan.

Fans went absolutely wild for the new product that contains milk, white and strawberry flavoured chocolate. Needless to say, it dominated social media and created a real buzz surrounding the launch. Well done Cadbury, we’re big fans of all your chocolate bars for the record!

 

The Guardian’s Shrek Slander 

May 2021 marked the 20-year anniversary of the greatest animated movie of all time (in our opinion!), Shrek. The Guardian’s TV and Film critic , described it as an ‘unfunny and overrated low for blockbuster animation’ – shocking right!

What followed can only be described as a Twitter frenzy as users went into overdrive explaining their shock at the Shrek slander.

Sorry The Guardian, I’m afraid we’re with the people of Twitter on this one…

West Midlands Trains and that fake email

In early May, West Midlands Trains sent around a fake bonus email phishing test. The IT department somehow thought it a great idea to send every employee a fake email, in which detailed information about a bonus that was due to them for being frontline workers throughout the pandemic. When employees clicked on the link in the email, they were taken to a page explaining that this email was indeed fake and sent by the company to highlight the dangers of clicking on spam.

This was a slightly distasteful move from the company, considering many employees may have just lost a loved one during the pandemic or be suffering from the impact themselves. The press picked this up and ran with it to showcase how unfair and irresponsible the email was.

West Midlands Trains sent around a fake bonus email phishing test to employees in May.

 

At Prohibition, we work with a range of brands across all sectors, B2B and B2C, to create innovative PR campaigns that deliver real ROI and help meet business goals. Get in touch with us today to find out how we could support you with your Public Relations. Drop us an email: hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk or give us a bell on  0113 430 4160.

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