Capriotti’s Starts Holiday Giving

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop got a jump on holiday giving by generously donating $10,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure Southern Nevada, the leader in breast cancer research and education. The proceeds were generated by Capriotti’s “Save The Bobbies” campaign, wherein all Las Vegas-area Capriotti’s donated 25 cents from the sale of each of its famous Bobbie sandwiches to the cause.

Take a look at QSR’s posting of the information!

–Alison

A good PR move for Zuckerberg?

Today, it was announced that Facebook CEO and wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg has pleged to donate half of his multi billion-dollar fortune (story via Business Week) to charities, as part of the Giving Pledge project. Giving Pledge is an initiative for billionaires started by the grandaddy of tech billionaires, Bill Gates, and the general grandaddy of ALL billionaires, Warren Buffett.

Zuckerberg, along with AOL honcho Steve Case, became the 16th and 17th American billionaires to make this pledge.

“People wait until late in their career to give back,” said Zuckerberg, who is worth $6.9 billion according to Forbes magazine. “But why wait when there is so much to be done?” (quote also via Business Week)

I have no doubt that Zuckerberg wants to help untold numbers of people with his pledge, however, as a publicist, I have to think about the media motives behind a move like this. Zuckerberg, during his meteoric rise to fame and fortune, has come off as prickly and combative in the past (see: the plot of The Social Network) – an emotionless automaton hell-bent on world domination through the considerable power of Facebook. Though Zuckerberg has donated generously in the past, including a large chunk to the Newark school system, this move is by far the most visible of his charitable efforts. It’s a move in a direction to make him seem warmer, cuddlier, nicer.

So today instead of discussing the various merits of yet another probably pointless Facebook redesign, we’re talking about Zuckerberg’s generosity. As they say on Mad Men, he “changed the conversation”. And kudos to him.

–Alison

Rama Blogger Dinner

Last night, our client Rama Restaurant in LA was nice enough to host a dinner for local bloggers at their beautiful West Third St. location.

It was a great way to introduce a group of online food writers to a great restaurant, as well as debut some of Rama’s new menu items. In a city like LA, the opinions of food bloggers really matter – and they all know eachother and communicate often, so making sure a new restaurant is on their radar is important to the success of the establishment.

Thanks to all who attended!

–Alison

Is all press good press? Digitally Dead World AIDS Day campaign

As a publicist, I like to pay attention to how other brands, organizations and causes promote themselves and raise awareness. One recent campaign piqued my interest: Keep a Child Alive‘s Digital Death initiative.

On December 1, World AIDS Day, several popular celebrities (Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Ryan Seacrest among them) declared themselves “Digitally Dead” – meaning no Facebook, no Twitter, no blogging – no digital communication of any sort for the participating celebs. In order to “bring them back to life”, fans were encouraged to text their support and a donation to a special phone number. When the donations reached $1 million, the celebs would be allowed to resume their regularly scheduled social media use (which for some of them, like Kardashian, is incredibly lucrative, but that’s another blog entry for another time).

Today, December 6, Keep a Child Alive reached their goal, which is wonderful by any definition. However, the campaign has gotten tongues wagging in the press, decrying how LONG it took for supporters to raise $1 million.

Does this make the Digital Death campaign successful or not? Obviously, the end goal was achieved – a worthy organization received a chunk of cash, which is always nice. However, I think some of the celebs and organizers thought that the world simply couldn’t live without star-powered Tweets for more than a few moments and that they would achieve their monetary goal far more quickly than they did, which has been cause for discussion in the press. However, regardless of how “long” it took (5 days really isn’t that long to raise a cool million), the organization got its donation and the whole project got a LOT of attention.

And as the old adage goes, isn’t all press good press? In a PR agency, that’s something to think about.

–Alison

There’s No “I” in Konnect

This may be a slightly sappy entry, but today on Konnect Daily I would like to discuss the benefits of teamwork at a PR agency.

We talk a lot in our office, and we’re all within earshot of each other, which lends itself to quick spelling checks, brainstorming, bouncing ideas off one another, etc. Sometimes, like today, we are able to work together in order to maximize media placements. I was working on a giveaway with a major publication with for one of my clients, and it was such a great opportunity that I submitted a couple of our other clients, including one of Monica’s, and now we’ve got two Konnect clients set up to participate.

In turn, Monica was working on a query with a business publication for one of HER clients, and she found it would be appropriate for one of mine, so she submitted them as well.

So, in the spirit of the holiday season, it’s nice that instead of fighting each other tooth and nail or hoarding information for our own personal gain, that we are able to work together to be the best agency we can be for all of our clients.

And Happy Hanukkah

–Alison

A great eco-friendly gift for the active person on your list

Check out Ecogear‘s Granite Duffels in two online holiday gift guides today! It’s a great, eco-friendly gift perfect for outdoor enthusiasts, as it’s water-resistant, super rugged, and even has straps that convert it into a backpack for easy carrying. Check it out!

Frontiers in LA

Weight Watchers Magazine Online

–Alison