Did you happen to catch Coca-Cola’s subtle, yet huge, PR win recently in The Wall Street Journal?
It likely came without any actual PR work at all. Just good ol’ brand recognition.
In a front page story about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, “Mounting Woes Left Officials With Little Room to Maneuver,” Diet Coke and Coke Zero got credit for making a meeting with Mae, Mac and the Treasury Department more productive.
And I quote, “… a marathon session over the Labor Day weekend, fueled in part by Diet Coke and Coke Zero.”
You can’t ask for a better play than that can you? And it probably came without any prompting by Coke. The reporters very likely just took note of the surroundings and felt the need to point out the beverages of choice in the meeting room, ignoring coffee and water perhaps? Talk about painting the picture for your readers.
It got me thinking though. How else could a product get an unexpected placement in an everyday news write-up?
How about…
“The CEO starts his day with a couple chugs of Red Bull and starts reading his email…”
“With Kleenex ready to go, Bristol Palin sat down for an interview with Barbara Walters…”
Observation is everything for a reporter. The details matter. Some reporters are better at it than others. And, sometimes it results in some unexpected, non-threatening PR.
