No Comments Written by Sol @ Purple Dog on December 18, 2009 – 11:23

At St Matthew’s Church in Auckland, New Zealand, staff are wondering what all the fuss is about.  A controversial poster – intended to “provoke debate and get people thinking about the Christmas story” – has attracted global media attention and put the Church leaders under intense pressure to discontinue the campaign.

The poster depicts a dejected-looking Joseph lying in bed next to Mary under the caption, “Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow”.

The global media attention has taken many of the people involved by suprise, but it’s unknown whether they feel it is a good or bad thing – afterall, it was always intended to spark debate.

The media has had a field day with the latest developments in the story – the defacing of the poster by a protester, and “thousands of emails, phone calls and letters” flooding in.  St Matthew’s communications manager, Clay Nelson says “About 50% said they loved it, and about 50% said it was terribly offensive”.

links:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8417963.stm

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10616253

Regardless of your personal views on such matters, one thing is obvious: global media attention is unpredictable.  It can be a “once-in-a-lifetime” event – whether it’s wanted or not, and it can make or break you.

So how would you run your PR & marketing campaign to ensure that you get the right results?  Talk to Purple Dog about your ideas, we’d love to know your thoughts and help shape your project.