flackery

Flack Slaves Ordered Back to Flack Cave

Hamilton Nolan · 03/19/10 10:17AM

We hear America's worst PR firm, Ronn [sic] Torossian-led 5WPR, sent employees a note this morning "telling them to 'work for a library or become school teachers' if they want to leave by 6:30 p.m." Forward that here, would you?

Lindsay Lohan Too Crazy (Or Broke) Even for Her Flack (Updated)

Ryan Tate · 03/09/10 02:17PM

Lindsay Lohan is "on hiatus" from her power-publicist Leslie Sloan-Zelnick, reports the website Crushable. So the actress will have to explain suing a taunting milkaholic baby and getting fired from an escort job on her own. She's a very creative communicator! Update: We've been told that Lohan has been on hiatus with her publicist since last summer and Sloane-Zelnick has been typically directing reporters to contact Lohan's lawyer instead.

NYT Hires New Chief Flack

Hamilton Nolan · 03/09/10 12:49PM

Longtime NYT Co. PR chief Catherine Mathis left the paper for a less stressful job last August. Now the company has finally replaced her with Bob Christie, from Dow Jones, who is a fairly sane guy in our experience. Also perhaps he brings some scandalous Rupert Murdoch secrets? But probably not. Internal memo below:

Somebody Fire This Guy, Seriously

Hamilton Nolan · 02/17/10 11:40AM

Max Abelson has an exceedingly timely profile of Lucas van Praag (pictured), Goldman Sachs' PR chief—variously described as "debonair," "very Masterpiece Theater," "amazingly brilliant," and "arrogant, slightly pompous, flippant and condescending." Image projected: Haughty, rich asshole. Smart, Goldman. [NYO]

The Most Desperate Fake Celebrity Quotes Ever

Hamilton Nolan · 02/03/10 04:48PM

Would two posts in one day about the comically atrocious PR work of 5WPR be too many? Yes. Too bad. We are obligated—if only as a cautionary tale—to bring you these examples of 5W's incompetent manufactured celebuquotes.

How Apple Works the Press

Ryan Tate · 01/06/10 07:27PM

A refugee Apple flack has gone rogue and is now dishing on how the company tries to manipulate the press. Even when bending the truth in the grimy shadows of media relations, Apple uses an immaculate system.