The Segway brand is getting a PR and sales boost as a result of soaring gas prices.  At $5,000 a pop, the “It” machine hasn’t lived up to the prophecies originally made for it as the product that would change the world.  However, with gas prices topping $4 per gallon in the U.S., people are getting creative about ways to save money at the pump.  Enter the Segway.

The Segway can go 25 miles on a single charge of its battery with a top speed of 12.5 mph.  People with short commutes who live in mild climates are looking at the Segway with new found interest.  According to an article on the Wall Street Journal website today, Californians are embracing the Segway as a great alternative to paying high gas prices. Read more

As you probably know, Brandcurve is part of the b5media blogging network.  This week, b5media got a huge PR bump with the announcement that b5media has been announced as a 2008 Canadian New Media Awards “Most Promising Company of the Year” finalist. Read more

I read an interesting article on Forbes.com today called Disgraced Celebrity Comebacks which detailed a variety of celebrities who came back from public relations disasters practically without a scratch.  Not only have stars like Russell Crowe and Eddie Murphy rebounded from public humiliation or disgrace, but their careers have gotten even bigger.  Businesses could take a lesson from the celebrity PR business about how to generate a buzz and keep it going despite any bumps in the road. 

Lead in your toys, Mattel?  No problem with the right celebrity PR team behind you.  Their pros at turning disasters into positives.

What I found most interesting about the Forbes article in terms of branding was a quote by veteran celebrity publicist Howard Bragman who tells his clients that, “just because they can get press doesn’t mean they should.” Read more

The blogosphere has been buzzing about an interview pre-recorded between Stephen Colbert and Richard Branson for The Colbert Report.  Now, Comedy Central has revealed that on Wednesday, August 22nd, they will show the controversial interview where billionare Richard Branson, the man behind Virgin and self-proclaimed entrepreneur and adventurist (remember the hot air balloon ride around the world stint?) completely loses it. 

It appears that while appearing on The Colbert Report to promote Air Colbert, part of Virgin’s new American service, Richard Branson felt like he wasn’t being given the opportunity to sufficiently plug his company, brand and new service.  So instead of acting professionally, Richard Branson chose to dump his glass of water on Stephen Colbert.  Now, that’s not the kind of publicity you want for your company.

In case you haven’t heard about the incident, here’s the recap of comments from audience members thanks to Celebitchy: Read more

Just back from her post-jail vacation in Maui, Paris Hilton is already starting her inevitable public relations onslaught to turn around public opinion of her personal brand (and its potential effects on the Hilton company brand). 

Today on her MySpace blog, Paris reminded her readers to have a safe and happy 4th of July by remembering to, “be responsible and have a designated driver.”  It’s a good message, so hopefully, some of her fans will listen to it, but will it help her brand.  Is it too little too late?

Unbeknownst to most of us, the word “McJob” has been in the dictionary since 2001.  A quick search at Dictionary.com provides two definitions:

Random House Dictionary definition of McJob: an unstimulating, low-wage job with few benefits, esp. in a service industry.

American Heritage Dictionary definition of McJob: A job, usually in the retail or service sector, that is low paying, often temporary, and offers minimal or no benefits or opportunity for promotion.

Based on those definitions, I’m not surprised McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) is not happy and wants the official definition of McJob changed to, “reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding … and offers skills that last a lifetime.”  The fact that the word and negatively toned definition appear in authoritative reference books can only do one thing for McDonald’s, and that’s bring negative publicity.  For many years, McDonald’s has waged a public relations and advertising war to try to give their brand a more upscale image.  I can understand why they don’t like the word McJob or its official definition.

On the other hand, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, many people have never heard the word “McJob” and many more had no idea it was in the dictionary, but I’m guessing they do now.  You can bet McDonald’s is getting a lot of attention from their attempts to change the dictionary definition of McJob and corresponding public relations stunts (see this article on Time.com for more details).  I’m not sure if its the kind of publicity they had hoped for.  Based on what people are saying at Consumerist.com, I don’t think so, but if you’d like to sign the McDonald’s petition to change the definition of McJob, click here.