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  At $5,000 a pop, the “It” machine hasn’t lived up to the prophecies originally made for it as the product that would change the world.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 believe I read about the ultimate rebranding initiative today - in terms of ridiculousness at least. 

It seems that the Westaff recruitment firm is telling the temporary workers they’re hiring to play Santa Claus in Sydney, Australia that they should not use the traditional Santa (or Father Christmas in Australia) laugh of “ho, ho, ho” as it might be offensive to women.  Instead, the part-time Santas should use “ha, ha, ha.” Read more

The Fox affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia conducted a test of hotel room cleanliness by placing hidden cameras in five hotel chains with big brand names including Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, Sheraton and The Ritz Carlton.  Regardless of the hotel’s price, one thing stayed the same - those glasses in the room’s bar or by the ice bucket are not clean.

And sometimes, the sheets on the bed are dirty, too.

Here’s what Consumerist had to say about the disgusting trend: 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

What’s your favorite font?  If it’s Helvetica, you’re in luck because Helvetica is celebrating its 50th anniversary.  To promote Helvetica’s anniversary, Linotype invited designers around the world to enter their Helvetica NOW poster design contest. Read more

There are so many things wrong with this headline from an Associated Press article published earlier today.  My problem isn’t with the words in the headline, but what those words are telling me. 

First, I published a post about Dick Cheney and his negative and questionable personal and political brand last month.  Knowing that he will be in charge of the country for even a minute is disturbing.   His branding has really hurt him in the eye of public opinion in recent months. Read more

The Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) brand is getting some free advertising at Google Earth.  According to the Google Earth Blog, the advertising is coming from an event that took place back in 1986 when the Coca-Cola logo was made out of 70,000 bottles on a mountain in Chile to celebrate the Coca-Cola Company’s 100th anniversary.  The logo is approximately 100 feet high x 400 feet wide, and it’s raising brand awareness for Coca-Cola again today thanks to Google Earth’s satellite imagery.

Here is the picture from Google Earth: 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?

In response to overwhelming public backlash from Dell’s (NASDAQ: DELL) demands for Consumerist to remove a post from a former Dell kiosk manager outlining the “22 Confessions of Former Dell Sales Manager” (read details here), Dell has executed an image cleansing 180 degree turn with Dell’s 23 Confessions posted this weekend on the Dell blog. 

Frankly, the only part of Dell’s 23 Confessions that doesn’t scream “PR Clean Up on Aisle 1″ is the part where blogger, Lionel Menchaca, writes, “Ok, we goofed.”  The rest of the post reads like it came straight from a late night marketing/PR meeting where a head honcho told the team to put together a post that responds to the negative publicity and makes the Dell brand shine.  I’ve been in those meetings, and this post reads just like one of the documents that comes out of those meetings, not like something a typical blogger would write.  If Lionel did write it I applaud his efforts, and I’d suggest another career because I think he missed his calling.  He could make a fortune in PR and marketing with his PR spinning talent.

Take a few minutes to read “Dell’s 23 Confessions”.  It’s actually very funny.  A few confessions stand out as particularly amusing to me: Read more