Celebrity chef and newspaper columnist Nigel Slater has some strong feelings about PR agencies:
“...On the other hand, public relations companies drive me quite insane. Some, I admit, send only press releases and products that they know might genuinely interest me - carefully produced artisan-made foods, organic products and small companies which make food with love and passion are welcome, because I guess they will also interest those who read the column. For these I am grateful."
"But others are either lazy, stupid or ripping their clients off by sending out stuff that will never in a month of Sundays be of interest unless I am writing a 'How bad can food be' story. You would not believe some of the crap I get sent – everything from microwaveable thick-crust frozen pizzas to ready-made sauces containing more Es than a Manchester nightclub."
"And then there are the press releases that take an hour to download, only for me to find out they contain a picture of some D-list celebrity gurning over a new tacky cocktail. And the idiots then charge their clients for mailing me!”
(acknowledged with thanks from Nigel's column in the Observer Magazine, July 24th 2005)
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