I believe this was produced by an Australian...but me-thinks you'll be able to identify.

Let's play a game. It's called, "What's More Important?" For each pair of news stories, choose either (A) or (B).

1. (A) Britney Spears pregnancy rumors or (B) statistics that show that nearly 18 percent of non-elderly Americans are without health insurance

2. (A) Prince Harry wearing a swastika as a joke at a costume party, or (B) the fact that Mein Kampf is currently a best-seller in Turkey (along with a new book about a Turkish hero who nukes Washington, D.C.)

3. (A) The Michael Jackson case or (B) a civil war in Africa's largest country that has killed 180,000 people and displaced 1 million more

OK, here's the breakdown of results:

-- If you answered "A" to these questions, you should watch MORE 24-hour cable news and vote LESS.

-- If you answered "B" to these questions but are still more interested in learning about "A," you are in the majority -- and you are responsible for the very things you complain about regarding the media. So please stop whining that the media should have told you more about "B;" they're not your mommy and daddy. They give you what you want, even if you only want candy 24/7. They have to, or they will go out of business.

And another thing: stop saying you like art films, too -- because you really don't.

-- If you answered "B" and are actually more interested in "B," you are apparently one of about 96 people nationwide. Read The Economist and watch BBC America; you're practically a foreigner anyway.

Frank Perdue, who grew a small farming business into one of the nation's largest poultry processors in large part because of his marketing acumen, died today in Salisbury, Md.

In the early 70s, supermarket chicken was generally considered a commodity; one processor was the same as another. Perdue wanted customers to think about his chicken differently -- and became the first processor to advertise chicken by brand. Perdue was the pitchman himself, and was best known for the slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken."

Perdue's life reminds us that aggressive and innovative branding can make a huge difference for companies across many industries -- including those that haven't thought of it yet.

The National Press Club has decided to go forward with plans to feature controversial former "correspondent/escort" Jeff Gannon at a panel discussion on the topic of journalism and blogging, called "Who is a Journalist?"

Many bloggers, many journalists, and many blogger-journalists would rather not be represented by Gannon at this point. But, as Gannon might say, these whiners have "lost touch with reality." The truth is, we're moving into a new era where individuals, not organizations, will decide who is a journalist and who's not. The days of Walter Cronkite telling us "the way it is" are long gone. For good or ill, there are people who would still read Gannon's Talon News as the gospel truth each day if he were to resurrect it. So I respect the Press Club for not backing down on this one.

I do agree with those who say that Gannon should not have received White House press credentials. However, I say that based on the relatively small size of his Web audience, rather than his political views or sexual proclivities. Pick the journalists who reach the largest audiences -- whether on air, in print or online.

Dallas-based Blockbuster has closed the book on the "no late fees" crisis in Texas and 46 other states. The New Jersey attorney general's office, which announced the first state investigation, is still pursuing its own lawsuit. The Dallas Morning News reports today:

Blockbuster Inc. agreed to pay $630,000 and refund customers as part of an agreement with 47 states including Texas and the District of Columbia investigating the company’s “no late fees” promotion.

The Dallas-based company’s ads failed to clearly disclose that a customer could be charged a $1.25 re-stocking fee or the retail price of a movie or game if it’s kept longer than the seven day-grace period that runs after the due date.

The ads also failed to disclose that the “no late fees” offer wasn’t available at all stores because not all franchise stores are participating.

Blockbuster must make refunds to customers who submit written claims that they were charged the fee and felt misled by the national television campaign in January.

“Advertisers may not use catchy slogans if those slogans are misleading,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said during a press conference in Dallas Tuesday.

The settlement, which was brokered by Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers on behalf of the other states, also requires Blockbuster to make the existence of these fees clear in future ads.

Blockbuster senior vice president Karen Raskopf said the company “wants everyone to understand this program and to use it.” Most customers bring the movie back within two days of the due date, she said.

The $630,000 fine will be distributed to all states from the Oregon Attorney General’s office and amounts to about $13,000 per state to cover the costs of the investigations.

Two states didn’t participate, Vermont and New Hampshire. New Jersey is pursuing its own lawsuit filed in February, said spokesman Jeff Lamm for Attorney General Peter C. Harvey. “Our case is still active.”

Unfortunately for Blockbuster, the negative attention has undoubtedly caused more than $630,000 in damage to sales. Here's hoping they can turn this mistake into a positive.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports on a freelance Florida television reporter who also runs his own PR firm -- a firm that has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state government. The reporter appears to have put some safeguards in place to avoid conflicts of interest, but it does raise red flags. It's not easy to straddle the worlds of journalism and PR without raising ethical issues. With blogs, politicized cable news, and other factors now muddling the mix, such ethical questions will become increasingly common -- and difficult.

Yes, indeed. I love my job. Even if I can't get love from anyone else -- even in Singapore.

The Electric New Paper of Singapore has published an article headlined: "CONFESSION OF A PR CONSULTANT." The subhead reads: "IT'S NOT EASY BEING A PUBLIC RELATION MAN. HE MUST WEAR A FAKE SMILE, SUCK UP AND TRY TO PLEASE EVERYONE." (sic)

In the expose, Jason Tan (not his real name) reveals that he must throw parties to "entertain people that I don't like," and confides that "I have to be nice to all reporters, even though there are a few that I personally don't like. I will give them a hug or a peck on their cheeks when I bump into them at social events."

He adds, "It's very tiring when you have to deal with people relationships every day. Sometimes it can get to the stage of being pretentious to one another."

(sic -- and I think I'm getting a little queasy, too.)

A recent front-page article in The Washington Post about corporate/CEO blogging describes the emerging phenomenon this way:

The soul-baring, anything-goes, free-for-all phenomenon called the Web log has come to this:

"This is the first of many commentaries I will make on this forum," wrote General Motors Vice Chairman Robert A. Lutz in January when he first started his blog, fastlane.gmblogs.com, "and I'd like to begin with, surprise, some product talk -- specifically, Saturn products."

Web logs -- or blogs -- started as a way to talk about new technologies, vent about life and interact in a no-holds-barred forum. Since blogs became the next big thing, an increasing number of companies have come to see them as the next great public relations vehicle -- a way for executives to demonstrate their casual, interactive side.

But, of course, the executives do nothing of the sort. Their attempts at hip, guerrilla-style blogging are often pained -- and painful.

"Looking back before the dust settles on 2004, it was a great year of building momentum for BCA [Boeing Commercial Airplanes]. Our orders went up, with 272 in '04 compared to 239 in '03. It was a super year for widebodies for us," wrote Randolph S. Baseler, Boeing Co.'s vice president of marketing, on Jan. 17 in his first entry at boeing.com/randy.

With blogs like that, who needs news releases? Some Internet watchers wonder if a blog that sounds like nothing more than a corporate press room is worth the effort.

"Repositing marketing materials on a blog is a waste of time," said Rebecca Blood, author of "The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog." "I would advise them to just stop right now. Those materials already exist. The blog that is powerful is when it is real."

Ken Deutsch, a D.C.-based consultant, added his two cents in a subsequent letter to the editor:

Companies that use the traditional command-and-control approach to public relations and brand protection will fail to take advantage of the power of the Internet. Blogs are a reaction to the controlled world of media and PR. They embrace practices that PR departments fear -- linking to competitors, open-ended dialogue and a leveling of communication hierarchies. Posting news releases on blogs or sending them to bloggers may be using blog technology, but not blog philosophy.

I can't fully disagree with the criticisms; I've made similar points myself. However, the tone of the criticisms is starting to sound a little too familiar. These are the same arguments used in the mid-90s by those who said the World Wide Web itself would always be fundamentally "hip," "nonhierarchical" and "un-commercial" -- and today, 10 years later, is it any of those things? Guess what: once everybody and their Aunt Edna start doing something, it's no longer hip.

In fact, I think that's Aunt Edna signing up on Blogger.com as we speak.

Today's Chicago Sun-Times has a nice profile of Bacon's Information Inc.,which is based there. The article says Bacon's helps "a swollen army of 350,000 PR professionals inhabiting more than 7,000 consulting agencies and more than 20,000 corporate, government and institutional departments" keep track of "over 160,000 publications, broadcasters and blogs." Kind of makes one feel special, doesn't it? :)

A friend rented Sweet Smell of Success after reading an earlier blog entry and suggested I recommend other great films that tackle the worlds of journalism and public relations.

Here are my Top 10, with my favorite ranked first.

1. Citizen Kane
2. All the President's Men
3. Broadcast News
4. Sweet Smell of Success
5. Network
6. His Girl Friday
7. The Insider
8. Teacher's Pet
9. The Paper
10. Wag the Dog

As for the worst? I'll go with I Love Trouble.

As I compiled this list, I got a little depressed that I couldn't think of a single good film that made us PR types look anything other than despicable. Time and again, PR and advertising folks are depicted as two-faced, unethical hotshots who will do anything for a client. Lawyers get this kind of treatment in the movies as well -- but they get almost equal time as the good guy.

Maybe PoweR Girls is good for the industry's reputation after all.:)

Last week, a woman in San Jose found part of a human finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili. The Web jokesters are already on the case -- Adrants Daily cites a spoof that says the incident is part of a new promotional campaign offering customers "a bit of (founder) Dave (Thomas) in every bite."

The reality is that a crisis of some kind happens to all companies from time to time. Whether the crisis becomes a PR nightmare or a minor bump in the road is generally determined not by the incident itself, but by the company's response to it. A company that handles a crisis with openness and honesty can actually build a stronger relationship with its customers than it had before.

I think it's too early to tell in the Wendy's case, but the San Jose Mercury News (registration required) has a nice article on this topic. The article cites some well-known crisis management cases of the recent past, "handled well or poorly." Here's an excerpt from the article; I've added links for those who'd like to learn more about each of these incidents.

• More than 60 people got sick and one child died in an E. coli outbreak in 1996 that stemmed from bacteria in unpasteurized apple juice produced in Dinuba by Half Moon Bay-based Odwalla. The company recalled all suspect products, brought in outside experts to investigate, sent executives to meet with the parents of the child who died, and created a Web page for customers.

• After some of its restaurants served hamburgers tainted with E. coli bacteria in 1993, Jack in the Box denied responsibility and tried to blame another company and government health officials. Bad strategy. Eventually, the company paid $55 million in legal settlements and fees, along with $44 million to franchisees and $8 million to shareholders.

• Following the crash of a ValuJet plane in Florida in 1996, the company was so badly tarnished by its poor safety record that it changed its name to AirTran Airways.

• Bridgestone/Firestone recalled millions of tires in 2001 after reports of 62 deaths and more than 100 injuries after the tires suddenly lost their tread. Ford's president and chief executive, Jac Nasser, appeared in two Ford television ads, giving customers his ``personal guarantee'' that the automaker was working around the clock on the recall.

• After the Exxon Valdez oil-spill accident in 1989, company executives' two-week delay in visiting Prince William Sound, Alaska, damaged the public's perception of Exxon, feeding the impressions of an unfeeling corporate giant.

• In 1982, seven people died in the Chicago area from taking cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules. That scare led to the introduction of new tamper-resistant packaging for non-prescription pain relievers, and Tylenol, made by Johnson & Johnson, soon regained its lost market share.

Even a marketing campaign can create a PR crisis. Blockbuster, based in Dallas, had a crisis on its hands recently when it launched its "End of Late Fees" program -- which had too much fine print attached for many of its customers, as well as the attorney general of New Jersey, who filed suit over the campaign. More than 30 other states subsequently began their own investigations.

It sounds like a mess....but so did "New Coke" until it led to the creation of "Classic Coke," and even more shelf space and profits for Coca-Cola. So it's not too late for Blockbuster to turn this one around.