It is not every week that the chairman of the British Leafy Salads Association has a difference of opinion with Kazakhstan’s president.
But this week, David Piccaver and Nursultan Nazarbayev were at different poles in their respective views on the effect of publicity on what they hold dear. While Nazarbayev smiled his way through a press conference with Tony Blair, and trotted out the “no such thing as bad publicity” line when bombarded with Borat questions, Piccaver blamed bad publicity for a slowdown in bagged salad sales in the last 12 months.
There is merit in both arguments. But often it is the response to bad publicity that most influences opinion.The Kazakhs evidently decided their initial decision to go on the attack against Sacha Baron Cohen’s horrendous tongue-in-cheek descriptions of their nation was wrong and chose the UK as the launch pad for a charm offensive.
At least they responded. Felicity Lawrence’s much-vaunted book contained all manner of out-of-context information that could and should have been properly challenged by a united salad industry when first published in 2004. Instead, a plan of counter-attack appears to have hatched at a conference two years later.
Not everyone can be tarred with the same brush. But too many are inclined to bury their heads in the sand until the financial impact hits.
No comments yet