A Press Release
Example
Critique by George
McKenzie
Former TV News Anchor and Radio Talk Show
Host
The press release example
below arrived via fax at a San Antonio radio station where I
hosted a talk show called "Healthy, Wealthy and Wise."
The intent of the release was to book the author of a book for
an interview.
First, a transcript of the release itself,
followed by my critique.
Press Release Transcript:
Good Fats, Bad Fats
Dr. Udo Erasmus
discusses
The Low Fat Conspiracy: Has
Madison avenue created a health crisis in America
We’ve all heard these familiar expressions:
“Low fat is healthier”
“Fatty foods clog your arteries”
“Use margarine instead of butter”
“Cut out oil to lose weight”
Sensible dietary maxims,
right?
“Wrong!” says North America’s
leading expert on fats and oils.
According to Dr. Udo Erasmus,
author of Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill, these
so-called “sensible dietary maxims” come not from the science
of nutrition, but from high paid advertising execs on Madison
Ave.
Madison Avenue’s “war on Fat” is
being waged to improve corporate profits, not
health.
“The giant food makers know that
low fat foods have much longer shelf lives than fatty foods,”
says Dr. Erasmus. “So they’ve hired high-powered
advertisers to create “fat phobia” in the minds of consumers –
and they’ve succeeded.”
According to Dr. Erasmus,
studies have proven that low fat diets do not improve
health. One recent study proved that people who switched
from butter to margarine had twice as many heart attacks.
“Fresh fats and oils are an essential part of a healthy diet,”
says Dr. Erasmus. “They should never be damaged or
removed.”
Dr. Erasmus says that the “War
on Fat” has stripped America’s food supply of vital nutrients
called “essential fatty acids – triggering a variety of
degenerative diseases including heart attacks, strokes, cancer
and diabetes.
Children’s health is another
casualty in the “war on fat.”
Children raised on diets without
essential fatty acids are more likely to be sick – and they
frequently manifest behavioral problems and learning
disabilities.”
“After years of ‘low-fat
propaganda,’ fatty acid deficiency has become the number one
nutritional (next line cut off by fax machine)
Is fatty acid deficiency
correctable?
“Yes,” says Dr. Erasmus.
“but you have to stop listening to all this “low-fat” hype and
start eating properly prepared food containing essential fats
and oils.”
To ensure adequate fatty acid
intake, Dr. Erasmus recommends drinking one or two tablespoons
of fresh seed oil made to his specifications by (company
name), called “Udo’s Choice Oil,” which can be found in health
stores nationwide or by calling (number).
“Don’t be a victim of “fat
phobia”, encourages Dr. Erasmus. Stay healthy by eating
lots of fresh, properly prepared foods rich in essential fats
and oils.
A list of foods supplying
essential fatty acids can be found in Dr. Erasmus’ book,
Fats That Heal – Fats that Kill.
Sample Interview
Questions
1)
Why do most Americans think that “low fat is healthier”?
2) Why is it more profitable for
food processors to sell low-fat foods?
3) Is margarine healthier than
butter?
4) What diseases are linked to
low-fat and no-fat diets?
5) What are “essential fatty
acids” and why are they “essential”?
6) Why does lack of fat and oil
cause heart disease?
7) How are behavioral disorders
linked to nonfat diets?
8) What foods contain the
essential fatty acids?
9) What supplements are available
to adequate intake of essential fatty acids?
The Book Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill
has been hailed as “the first book to make sense
out of the role of fats in health” (Richard Kunin, MD –
President, Society for Orthomolecular Medicine)
About Dr.
Erasmus
Udo Erasmus, Ph.D Nutrition, is
one of America’s foremost authority on the role that dietary
fats and oils play in human health. Trained in biochemistry,
and genetics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Dr. Erasmus has been an invited guest on over 800 radio and
television programs. His advice on health and nutrition
has appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide.
To schedule an interview, call
(PR Firm number)
-------------end of
press release--------------
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Critique of This Press Release Example
Before reading this critique,
please see 5 Tests Every
Press Release Must Pass.
Instant Eyeball
Test:
Easy on the eyes.
Uncluttered. Contact info is where it should be.
Name of the PR firm is there, but it takes up little space,
which will score points with news people.
Paragraphs are short,
which makes it easier to scan quickly. Several
sentences are written in bullet point style.
Section headlines are in bold
type and centered. Again, easy to scan and
compartmentalize at a glance.
Overall, this one will probably
be placed aside for later review.
Headline
Test:
Good headline. Uses a
media catch word: “Conspiracy” in the primary headline. Implies
that someone has been trying to get away with something, and
that’s always good grist for the media mill.
In the sub-headline, we get
details on the perpetrators of this conspiracy.
Has Madison avenue
created a health crisis in America
Madison Avenue, of course, is
famous for it’s huge, high-powered advertising agencies.
There are people who live in New York City, drive fancy cars,
drink three martinis at lunch, and then bombard us with
untruths about products they fool us into thinking we just
can’t live without. Or so the writer would have us
think.
The sub-headline uses another
catchword: “crisis.” There may or may not really be
a crisis, but the news person will read on just in case.
Besides, even if there’s no crisis, but enough people think
there is, it’s worth talking about.
Newsworthiness
Test:
A winner because it hits several
universal news themes:
Myth-busting: the writer opens
by quoting “conventional wisdom” about diet and
nutrition:
“Low fat is
healthier”
“Fatty foods clog your
arteries”
“Use margarine instead
of butter”
“Cut out oil to lose
weight”
She then claims all those ideas
are (excuse the expression) balogna.
Sensible dietary maxims,
right? “Wrong!”
Conspiracy Theory (mentioned
above): someone is trying to get away with something: in
this case, it’s “Madison Avenue.” The writer elaborates a
few sentences below the headline
Madison Avenue’s “war on
fat” is being waged to improve corporate profits, not
health.
This implies that Madison
Avenue’s ‘war on fat” is not only taking money out of our
pocketbooks, but it’s costing us our health as well.
Read a little further down the
release, and the writer nails another universal
theme:
Children’s health is
another casualty in the “war on fat.”
Anything involving children has
relevance.
Children raised on diets
without essential fatty acids are more likely to be sick –
and they frequently manifest behavioral problems and
learning disabilities.
Body:
The writer offers credentials
immediately after making the myth-busting
claim:
says Dr. So-and So,
North America’s leading expert on fats and
oils.
She also continues to imply that
someone’s getting rich at the public’s expense (which the
media, as watchdog of the public welfare, has a duty to
expose):
high paid advertising
execs on Madison Ave.
Quotes:
The writer does a nice job of
making them fit the tone of the release. There’s a
connection to ideas and themes that have been introduced
previously:
I say the writer does a nice job
of this, because in all likelihood, the writer made up the
quotes, took them to the doctor and said,
“Hey is it okay if I say
this?”
So they’ve hired
high-powered advertisers…
Yes,” says Dr.
Erasmus. “but you have to stop listening to all this
“low-fat” hype…
After years of ‘low-fat
propaganda…
Q&A and Bio
sections:
Not much to add here.
They’re short, relevant, easy to pick out of the release on
first glance. Just what the news person is looking
for.
Medium
Match:
I personally think this release
would pass the test with any medium, but it’s especially suited
to radio and TV talk shows.
This release was faxed to me at
a radio statio where I hosted a talk show, so I’m not surprised
it’s “talk show friendly.” I suspect the writer may have
also sent releases written especially for TV and newspaper, but
I don’t know that for sure.
Worth
Mentioning:
This news release was so well
constructed that it was easy to miss the purpose of the release
FROM THE PR AGENCY’S POINT OF VIEW.
They want to get publicity for
their client, obviously. But their client wants to sell
something.
Do you know
what?
If you said, the doctor wants to
sell his book, you only got it half right. Guess
again.
And no cheating. Don’t go
back and look more closely at the release.
Okay. Here’s what the
doctor is really selling—quoting from the second page of the
release:
To ensure adequate fatty
acid intake, Dr. Erasmus recommends drinking one or two
tablespoons of fresh seed oil made to his specifications
by (company name called “Udo’s Choice Oil,” which can
be found in health stores nationwide or by calling
(number).
The doctor is selling what, in
my mind anyway, is a food supplement.
Some book sales would be nice,
but I’m guessing the book is mainly a promotional vehicle for
the supplement.
Trying to promote a product like
seed oil would be a tough sell to any reporter or talk show
producer.
But promoting a book that warns
about a “conspiracy” that affects our health,
pocketbooks, and kids…well, that’s a different
story.
The person who wrote this
release did a masterful job of keeping any mention of the seed
oil as low profile as she could.
But she did mention it, and for
a good reason.
If she hadn’t written about it
at all, and then the doctor started talking about it during the
interview, the producer/host would have felt duped – and
irritated enough that they’d remember her name next time she
contacted them.
But she gave the news folks what
they wanted first. She pushed all the right hot buttons
in the first page and a half of the release so the fact that
the doctor was selling a product probably wouldn’t have
mattered.
The truth is…since most news
releases are SCANNED but not READ, a lot of people might have
zipped right over this paragraph and not even
noticed.
Did you?
In
Summary…
In my opinion, this was a
extremely well done release. Yes, there were a couple of
punctuation errors, including two glaring mistakes in the
subheadline: the word “avenue” should have been
capitalized in
Has Madison avenue
created a health crisis in America
and there’s a “?” missing at the
end of the sentence.
When I first read the release, I
was a little put off by both these oversights, but the release
had already passed the eyeball test and the headline test, so I
kept reading.
I’m glad I did.
I wouldn’t hesitate to call
these folks to set up an interview. They know how to play
the press release “game.” They probably also know how to do
“good radio."
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