High-Rise is inviting PRs and journalists to take part in #BlueShunday
Yes, Donald Trump is being inaugurated, yes it’s winter and the days are short and yes New Order are a great band…but none of the above is an excuse to send a Blue Monday release to journalists and make their day even worse.
High-Rise is instead suggesting January 20th is renamed #BlueShunday and has created a list of top tips for journalists dealing with a lot of nonsense press releases from PRs who should know better by now.
Blue Monday was first coined by travel company, Sky Travel in 2005 to encourage people to book more holidays.
Twenty (!) years later, and more PR firms and companies are still jumping on the bandwagon. With journalists complaining they can’t take it anymore.
Our plan for #BlueShunday
FT.com Gadget Editor Rhodri Marsden said on BlueSky on 10th January: “Just received my first ‘Blue Monday’ press release and I intend to commemorate this event by pulling the power cable of my computer out from the wall, picking up said computer and all its peripherals and hurling them into a deep hole I dug in the garden expressly for this purpose.”
It’s a sentiment our Managing Director Helen Furnivall agrees with “This year we’re marking #BlueShunday by not sending any old nonsense to journalists. We’ll probably just do some regular media pitching and try not to annoy anyone any more than we need to.”
Other ways High-Rise suggests journalists and PRs can take part in #BlueShunday include:
- Using the #BlueShunday hashtag to discourage PRs from sending any more nonsense
- Having a shot every time a Blue Monday press release arrives in your inbox on January 20th (you’ll be pissed by lunchtime)
- Setting up special email filters and labels to stop emails with keywords like ‘Blue Monday’ within the subject line or email body from entering your inbox. It’s up to you whether these emails get sent right to the bin or sent to an archive for later reading
- Having a Blue Monday swear box in your agency or newsroom – £1 in the box for every time it’s mentioned with the money going to charity
- Holding a competition in the newsroom to see who gets the worst Blue Monday press release
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