The Flack

This weblog attempts to shine a brighter light on the subtle role public relations plays in politics, culture, media, business and sports. Through greater transparency, the author hopes to make the profession better understood and perhaps more widely appreciated.


Cameron Blanchard, a spokesperson for the Entertainment Division of NBC-TV, took the lead in responding to media questions about Matt and Katie’s curious omission of the M&M mishap during yesterday’s annual parade telecast. The News Division, for which the program’s hosts typically toil, clearly wishes to distance itself from the deflating news, which somehow never crossed the lips of Mr. Lauer, Ms. Couric or Mr. Roker.

The absence of any mention raises some questions that will certainly occupy the blogosphere for the next few days. If the hosts knew about the incident, did they breach their journalistic responsibilities by ignoring it? Or, as a scripted (and obscenely commercial) entertainment program, were the telecast’s journalist-hosts under any obligation to report the breakway news?

Other entities scrambling to defend their reputations include the folks at Macy’s who had a wake-up call on Wednesday about this very issue, and the candy makers at MasterFoods, the division of Mars Inc. that makes the colorful chocolate icons. As of this writing, no reference to the incident has appeared on the latter’s website .

The winner? The father of the injured girls who, incredulously, decided not to sue anyone.


Posted in Events, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Thanksgiving Day Parade | No Comments »

Runaway Bunny

Posted by Peter Himler on 23rd November 2005

The advance press coverage for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade runs like clockwork. It makes its sibling summer spectacle, the 4th of July Fireworks, pale in comparison. We first get wind of the parade with a media preview at the Hoboken warehouse where the buoyant behemoths are born. Then there’s word of which helium heroes will be newly honored. And finally, tonight, thousands of supposedly savvy New Yorkers gather on the Upper West Side to witness the inflation.

This year, there’s a monkey wrench in the mix, and it’s not Curious George. It arrived unwanted I’m sure on the front page of The New York Times. The giant department store allegedly reneged on its agreement to train balloon handlers following an incident some years ago wherein the wind wrested a float from its minders causing serious injury.

With strong winds and rain on tap for tomorrow, the PR folks at Macy’s this morning are in crisis mode to assuage concerns that the parade route may not be safe and assure parade-goers that the hired hands can tame their charges. Where is Spiderman when we really need him?

Posted in Thanksgiving Day Parade | No Comments »