Google’s Latest Creation: Blackle

Disclaimer: This post has virtually nothing to do with Washington, D.C. or Public Relations.

That being said, I just had to share Google’s Latest Earth Friendly Creation: Blackle. As is in Google, but black. Blackle uses the same high powered search engine as Google but the screen appears black, instead of white.

According the description, this difference will save energy because “monitors require more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen”

In January the EcoIron blog wrote a post claiming that Google would save 3,000 Megawatts of electricity per year if users switched to the black screen. Seems like someone at Google was listening.

Not sure if I’ll use this app every time – it is a little harsh on the eyes – but it’s just the latest from the guys that brought us all of this.

Taco Bell Hell

I was watching the Redskins beat the Saints earlier today and during a commercial break I saw a pretty good example of crisis communications in action. It was paid TV spot from Taco Bell.

If you've been living under a rock, Taco Bell, the Mexican food chain, has been implicated in a recent E Coli outbreak. For the past two weeks, they've been in the news as more and more people got sick from eating at Taco Bell restaurants. I'm still sort of new to PR but I have learned that you generally don't want your brand featured in between shots of an FDA spokesperson and E-Coli B-roll.


This 30 second spot seems to do the job. It's newsworthy in that the president, Greg Creed, is announcing what the Centers for Disease Control had just confirmed: the outbreak is over and thus the crisis resolved.

The company first took stock of the problem and worked with the U.S government agencies. THEN, upon the conclusion of the investigation, they acknowledged the problem, citied their collaboration with the FDA and CDC and created closure by echoing what the agencies had determined: the problem is over.

I think it would have been an easy mistake to make had Creed pulled the trigger too early and ran paid national TV ads during the middle of the outbreak. With no news value to speak of, the company would only be turning up the volume on the crisis.

I'm not saying communicators should only engage with their publics until after the crisis, but I feel too many times organizations get up on a soap box via paid advertising with no real news to report and loudly declare that “we're working with [insert related affiliated organizations] to resolve [insert crisis]”. That sort of thing seems to only add fuel to the fire. Use the PR department in the midst of a crisis and usher the president around to the main news outlets but hold the paid advertising until you can point to a resolution.

I may be entirely wrong on this, especially if you’re a big company like Taco Bell with millions of ad dollars to spend. But somehow, at the end of the day, I think my theory holds water. I’d be interested in others’ thoughts on the timing of PR versus paid advertising throughout a crisis.

Anyway, the Taco Bell spot was a nice break from the diamond and Lexus commercials that run ad-nauseam late in year during NFL games; as the name of my blog suggests, I’m not quite ready for either…

Social Media and Public Relations Curriculum

As I read over the Communication Technology section I can't help but notice the report is lacking in the new social media category. I feel much more attention should have been paid to blogging, podcasting and other forms of digital communications. Here is one of the rare, explicit nods to web 2.0…

“New PR tools and technologies, e.g., podcasting, blogging and video blogging, RSS feeding, Internet conferencing, e-networking, interactive media kits and e-mail. The research indicates that all these tools should be clearly presented to students.”

Perhaps it was not the goal of the report to provide prescriptive suggestions, but I’d like to know how the authors suggest rolling these topics in the current publics relations undergraduate curriculum. I hear my clients asking for our counsel on social media news releases, podcasts, or advice on a negative blogger nearly everyday.

Not one of these communications tool were presented to me when I graduated just two years ago. Despite their inability to plan strategically web developers and marketers will begin to elbow out young public relations professionals if we continue to overlook these new communication opportunities.

I spoke with the primary author of the technology section and I’ve included his response to my comments, in full, below:

From Dr. Kruckeberg via email:

"We attempted to address these areas in the section beginning on p. 31, 'Communication Technology.' I was the primary author of this section, and I accept your criticism. You are assuredly correct that clients are seeking counsel (appropriately so) from public relations practitioners about the use of these technologies."

"Your observation makes me think that this section may not be sufficiently prescriptive, but it does–quite importantly in my estimation–argue that, '...(P)ublic relations practitioners must be the managers of how their organizations strategically use communication technology to affect public relationships' (p. 31). "

"Let us hope that practitioners' clients will be astute enough to recognize the limitations and inadequacies of web developers and bloggers, most of whom are not educated in public relations and should not be assuming these important responsibilities in relationship-building, and of course public relations practitioners–as you suggest–must not overlook new opportunities in evolving media technologies. Perhaps the Commission report is not emphatic enough and should have been more prescriptive in its recommendations regarding new social media. However, the Commission does recognize and appreciate the opportunities that exist through new social media." (end quote).

While I wish more attention would have been paid to the nascent social media tools, I agree with what Dr. Kruckeberg said--we must not overlook new opprotunities in evolving media technologies. Thanks again to Dr. Kruckeberg for his interest in young PR bloggers and willingness to engage with a new generation of public relations professionals.