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--------------

Quickly attract radio, TV, newspaper and Internet publicity that creates more traffic, more prospects, more sales and more profits in less time at little or no cost... 

Critique of This Press Release Example 

Before reading this critique, please see 5 Tests Every Press Release Must Pass.

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."