June 27, 2004
Krispy Kreme to the Rescue
On this last day of the campaign, Paul Martin is engaged in a Clinton-esque 24-hour, 5 province marathon. When his staff told the media of the PM's plans they... well they got royally annoyed.
Reporters with the Liberal campaign will, of course, have to tag along to cover Mr. Martin's long day of campaigning, and while he will be able to spend tomorrow afternoon resting, reporters will be preparing (what they lovingly call) their pre-game show pieces and their election night coverage. With the race as close as it is, it promises to be a very long night for reporters, political junkies and politicians.
The angry corps of reporters - worried, no doubt, that by the end of the day they'd be a corpse of reporters - went after Mr. Martin at the first opportunity after they got the word. They were, as CTV's Lisa LaFlamme put it, surly.
Knowing he had a problem, Mr. Martin took the unusual step of meeting informally with reporters on their turf - the media filing room. There, he explained why he felt the day-long, cross-country tour was important and unveiled his peace offering: Krispy Kreme Donuts. Disaster was averted.
A great communications move to mitigate the damage done by staff who sloppily communicated the decision while Mr. Martin was mainstreeting. The reporters might still be ticked-off, but ticked-off with a sugar high is a lot easier to deal with.
Posted by maxthecat at June 27, 2004 11:00 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2004/06/krispy_kreme_to_the_rescue.php