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How's this for a bad p.r. pitch?

Posted by: Stephen Baker on February 10

Just got a p.r. pitch that was sent to my colleague Jessi Hempel. Here’s how it starts:

Hey Honey - - - Long time, Hope you are well - - I know you are “down” with the whole blog community and thought I might have a sweet bone for ya:

Jessi’s comment: “If we’ve only ever spoken on the phone once, don’t you go calling me honey.”

UPDATE. I neglected to share the subject line: I HAVE A HOT GOODIE FOR YOU I CAN MESSENGER TODAY!

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Reader Comments

Liz Erk

February 10, 2006 03:22 PM

LOL!! Are you sure it was a publicist and not a pimp?

"sweet bone?" What were they pitching??

B.L. Ochman

February 10, 2006 03:34 PM

I've been addressed as sweetie, babe, honey and cutie by publicists. but flaks aren't the only ones who are clueless. plenty of people in all lines of business forgo boundaries. that's what the "delete" button is for. Too bad there's no eject seat that can throw people off the phone when they do stuff like that!

Eh... not so much

February 10, 2006 03:47 PM

God, you can just see this guy making air quotes with his fingers as he says "down"... Bleurgh.

Kevin Dugan

February 13, 2006 01:16 AM

Nice. Another bad pitch. Nothing worse than assumed familiarity. We'll point to it at the Bad Pitch blog. Thanks.

We're also getting reader requests for good pitches. Feel free to send those too Stephen. I know you have at least one.

Phil Gomes

February 13, 2006 03:17 PM

I've been "dude" and "m'man."

Fake + familiarity = "faux-miliarity."

David Jones

February 13, 2006 11:56 PM

I should be shocked I suppose, but I'm not. Talking that way is pretty stupid, but actually taking the time to type out correspondence that uses the terms "down with" and "sweet bone" should set your own internal flack-dar off. And why would anyone think "down" needs quotations and "sweet bone" doesn't?

Mark O'Toole

February 14, 2006 10:19 AM

My wife won't even let me talk to her like that.

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In Blogspotting Senior Writer Stephen Baker and Associate Editor Heather Green take a look at how cutting-edge technologies are changing business and society. Whether its blogs or wikis, data crunching or data targeting, technology’s advances are reshaping the world that we live in.

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