Virgin wins this week for its fast moves on Twitter

 9th January 2015    Good and Bad PR 

Good PR

Good PR has to go to Virgin trains for the way it handled a recent situation on one of its trains.

Back in December, a lad named Adam tweeted Virgin trains that he was on one of its trains from Euston to Glasgow, had been to the toilet and heaven forbid there was no toilet roll for him to use. “MW”, who was managing the Twitter account at the time, quickly responded in order to determine what train carriage toilet he was in and sent a member of staff working on the train down to Adam with some toilet roll for him to use.

Whilst he was embarrassed, he was able to have a bit of banter with MW, who then suggested that next time he travels with them he should think about taking some loo roll with him to ensure he doesn’t get caught short again.

Now, a few weeks later, the Twitter conversation has gone “viral” and Adam has become an internet sensation. Well played Virgin trains!

Bad PR

Bad PR goes to taxi company West Quay Cars in Southampton which had some posters created for over the festive period in order to remind people not to drink-drive – the posters either featured a man in 70s’ dress with a moustache or an overweight woman, both with the caption “If I start to look sexy, book a taxi”.

Is there really any need to say: “Here’s what we class as an ugly person. If they start to look sexy then you’re drunk and must go home”?! This is highly offensive, particularly to those who may genuinely find these types of people of attractive at the best of times.

Yes, I get that they’re trying to highlight the impact when some of us get whilst under the influence, but there are many other ways to remind people to get a taxi home instead of drink-driving.

This brilliant Johnnie Walker ad is one such example:

In India a series of ads shows a person’s handwriting getting progressively worse as he writes ‘I can drive when I drink’. The punch line said, you can’t even hold a pen while drinking.

Written by Samantha Summers, 10 Yetis

Seen any good or bad PR recently, you know what to do, @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10yetis.co.uk on email.