NOW please don’t think that I hate all PR people. They perform a valuable job in terms of disseminating information, but fuck me, they do not do themselves any favours sometimes.
We’ve touched before on the antics of Mr Shaun Robinson, mouthpiece of United Utilities in the North West, but his latest missive takes some beating.
It starts: “LEGAL ADVISORY FROM UNITED UTILITIES: NOT FOR PUBLICATION.” [Their caps.]
“This advisory relates to stories in today’s Daily Mirror, Daily Telegraph and Daily Express, which are based on a false and inaccurate story on the Lancashire Telegraph website. The stories falsely assert that a hosepipe ban is expected in the North West; or that there are fears of one; or that one is imminent. All of these statements are entirely false and inaccurate.
“We would therefore advise you not to repeat the false claims of a hosepipe ban, without speaking to us first. To re-publish false and inaccurate information now that you are aware of the true facts would constitute a malicious falsehood under the laws of defamation.”
Malicious falsehood? So here we have a PR wonk issuing his own legal threats and an imaginary D Notice against the very people he relies upon to keep his customers informed? What a ******** **** [editor’s asterisks] .
This is an extract from The Grey Cardigan column which appeared in the January edition of Press Gazette magazine. Click here for details about how to subscribe (thus getting Grey Cardigan in his entirety and much more).
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