Risë Birnbaum and "the buzz"

TWO AND A HALF MEN

Who knew Charlie Sheen was the “half” in Two and a Half Men? Half man and half wingnut. The sitcom star is on a roll with winning lines including “I have Adonis DNA and Tiger Blood.” “Yeah, I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen! It's not available, because if you try it once, you will die.” “People can’t process me with a normal brain.” And the ever-popular, "I'm underpaid.”  

However, with the amount of publicity he has drummed up, including several morning shows and coverage from Perez to People, maybe he is underpaid. TV hasn’t had this much fight since Shannen Doherty took on Beverly Hills. Charlie, if you could try for controversial instead of insane you may just get this PR stuff right. 

In the PR biz you book TV or radio interviews so your celebrity spokesperson can deliver message points to millions of viewers and listeners.  In Charlie’s case, his message is loud and clear – he is crazy!

It’s evidently not enough that CBS fired the guy and closed up shop for the popular show this season, but now the celebrity partyer has gone above and beyond. He would like a raise!  Yup, you heard right.  Charlie now wants $3 million an episode...and he’s demanding CBS gives a public apology.  And this is after he trashed-talked show producer Chuck Lorrie, CBS, AA...you name it. He believes that CBS is taking away his money and that’s where he draws the line. When asked if he was angry, his answer was “no, just passionate.”

This is almost better than the Tiger Woods controversy and definitely better than the Academy Awards.

Speaking of PR types, Charlie’s longtime publicist just resigned. Can anyone blame him?  I think we are past the point of salvaging this guy.  Best bet now is to just keep playing out the crazy man routine and own it!

Usually when there’s a celebrity PR crisis, the celeb in the crosshairs manages to humbly apologize and go into rehab.  But not Charlie!  He’ll continue to do back-to-back interviews where you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears (I bet there’s a lack of gray matter in between to hold it in).

How will this end?  He sure is funny on the TV show and, according to him, has several movie offers on the table.  But, here’s my guess:  Charlie is destined to find himself the subject of SNL skits, South Park plots and Family Guy jokes- but the damage will be short-lived.  Because crazy as he is, the man sure can make a funny sitcom.

SIN CENTRAL

Guilty pleasures -- everyone’s got ‘em but not everyone is gutsy enough to admit ‘em.  Well, must be the hot summer sun here in DC or too many bus fumes, but here’s my list (not in any special order):

Burgers – ya gotta understand I’m a relatively healthy eater, but happen to have this thing for juicy cheeseburgers with tomato, pickle, ketchup, mayo and mustard.  And with each bite I take, I just slather on more Hellmann’s.  Maybe I’m a condiment junkie disguised as burger addict.  Add the fact I was brought up Kosher and it doesn’t quite compute.  

Vegas – what’s better than a few all-nighters loaded with craps, clubs, good eats and then an affordable room that could sleep 12?  Actually the bathroom sleeps 12.  

Fast cars – I know they’re definitely not “green,” but I’ve been a car lover all my life and ‘til now have liked cars that (sadly) guzzle gas like a 1960 Corvette.  But, I am eyeing the new Tesla.  

Any movie – doesn’t matter if it’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (with Pat Boone) or a Sundance award winner, I will literally watch anything on a big screen where they also sell popcorn.  I am that discriminating. 

Reality TV – Def taken with every show from “The Fatsos of Marin County” to “Watch Me Eat Bugs.”  Made up the titles, but you catch my drift.   Moose – Love my 15 year old maltese, moose.  Talk to him, sing to him and if anyone saw me they would take me away in a net and lock me up for life.

Hamptons – OK, so I know it’s a bit of “my Porsche is bigger than your Porsche” out there, but beaches are beautiful, friends are long-standing and cocktail hour is from like 4pm to whenever.  

Facebook –No, I’m not a 23 yr old (but have one) but it is such a kick to connect with “kids” I was friends with and barely said a word to in high school.  Unfortunately most look like my grandparents these days. 

Online dating-- as a single mom with a college grad on the west coast, it's a good way to fill time while scouting out the landscape. And if Jon Hamm's twin brother happens to be online within 50 miles of DC, so much the better.

-Risë

How do you maximize radio placements?

"There are many ways to maximize audience reach and impressions on radio,” says Joan Carrese of zcomm. 

When pitching Radio News Releases and PSAs, customize your story to each market.  “zcomm researches and includes statistics in pitches to localize stories and, whenever possible, uses a local spokesperson to add a credible, community angle,” adds Carrese.  Stations across the country prefer stories with a local newshook. 

If you are targeting multi-cultural demographics, such as the Hispanic audience, produce both and English and Spanish language release for stations in markets with large Hispanic populations.  And Spanish language outlets are pitched less than general market outlets, so they are more receptive to news releases, interviews, PSAs, podcasts and radio contests.

For Radio Tours, send an audio clip of a dynamic spokesperson with a written pitch and when appropriate make sure the stations are streaming your interview on their website for value added.  Take advantage of a great spokesperson and produce a series of audio Podcasts about your message to download on aggregators on the web, in addition to a client’s website. 

Finally, remember to personally pitch often and pitch well.  “A short, informative and newsworthy personal call and email increase the odds that a media contact will like your message and say yes,” says Carrese. 

THE GREENING OF AMERICA

CNN MONEY TODAY recently said that Europeans are more “GREEN” than Americans. That might be true, but it's sure hard to believe given the media frenzy around going green this past year on this side of the pond. From Al Gore's Emmy-winning documentary and Nobel Prize to The Today Show’s Green is Universal programming from the ends of the earth, green is the new black and it's not even St. Patty's Day.

zcomm recently worked on an eco-friendly national contest for our friends at Weber Shandwick for ‘all’® small & mighty® Detergent where elementary school kids were asked to write an eco-related essay and nominate their school for a "green grant." Getting kids involved now is a great way to ensure the future of our planet.

From socially responsible mutual funds to redoubled recycling efforts, going green rocks. Mutant frogs, hungry polar bears, melting glaciers – if what we do in our own laundry rooms and freeways has some positive impact on the environment then let's all ride bikes and switch from gas to electric.

And if Europe is one step ahead of us, trust me we'll catch up soon, because green is spreading all across the country…and the world.

And that’s a very good thing.

zcomm ad in PR Week

Our recent “cheeky” ad in PRWeek saying “for a small agency, we’ve got a wide stance” was meant to capture readers’ attention, but to also do more than that.

Too many agencies toot their own horn saying they have the best creative or are the gurus of strategic planning or the boss of branding.  We decided to put our money where our mouth is and show folks we’re creative vs. just telling them.

We used the recent “wide stance” angle because we knew it “had legs” and that everyone would immediately know what we were referring to.  We also wanted to give readers a good chuckle, which everyone could use these days.

Humor is good when it comes to ads (and just about everything else) and if done well can really cut through the clutter and deliver the message directly to the funny bone to score major points.

We plan to develop more ads that demonstrate who we are and what we do rather than simply tell you how good we are.

Hope you all enjoy the ad as much as we enjoyed creating it.

More to come!

Risë