Murat & Clifford
Image via WikipediaApparently Max Clifford had been advising, on a pro bono basis, Robert Murat, the man who for a time was at the centre of the investigation of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
This week, Murat received a payout of £500k from the British media for publishing unfounded accusations about him. He has also announced that he will be suing 11 newspapers and a TV station for libel and will likely get a few more bob from that exercise.
It also recently came to light that the Murat family had, under the advice of their lawyers, appointed London-based The PR Office.
Yes, someone has had the audacity to sack The Great One; and Mr Clifford is most seriously displeased.
Well Max, guess what? Pretty much everyone in the PR biz gets the sack from a client (pro bono or otherwise) once in a while. It might be down to a change of team on the client side, or a budgetary issue, or the client is not ready for PR, or perhaps even that we screwed something up. There are thousands of reasons for PRs to get the sack. It happens.
But until know I’ve never heard of anyone writing a letter to the trade media to whine about it. You can see Max’s letter to PR Week here, but just to save you time here is a precis:
“They came to me. I felt sorry for them. I helped them out of the goodness of my heart. They dumped me and I’m angry and hurt. Well screw them! I did an excellent job for them. Murat is still in the shi*t and, well, good luck to him trying to manage it without me. I have lots of clients who love me anyway so ha! And just in case you don’t feel sorry enough for me already, I’d like to add that I have cancer.”
Clifford is without a doubt the UK PR profession’s biggest media wh*re. The Murat story alone garnered thousands of column inches for Clifford, which I suspect might shed some light on his true motivation for working pro bono.
This letter is just another example of the man’s hubris. If he’d been my client, I’d advised against sending it.
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The Isle of Man could do with a Max Clifford type over here. I have been running my own blog to promote my photography for sale for a few months now and it’s gone mad. Unwittingly I seem to have become an unofficilal, spokesperson, publicist, virtual tourist guide, and PR for the island. That is across the world, but not in my own back yard. I have been asked when my book’s, coming out, will I go over to America and do some corportae photos, to produce a calender etc, all from abroad. I would dearly love to do all this here, on the island, but no response. Am I the only blogger who has really put the island on the map, that is virtually ignored in my own back yard. Even my photography is sold worldwide, yet it is here I want it to take off, so perhaps I could plough back into the economy here. The island has a lot to learn about promoting itself, and it really should start with the talent here. I could do with the help, or perhaps I shpuld be working for Isle of Man companies to promote them. Any thoughts. I often read your blog, just to see how the corporate world vies things here. What sort of traffic do you get yourselves would be my question to you.
Hey, nice blog! I disagree that we need a Max Clifford on this island. I’d not wish that on anyone!
As far as Isle of Man PR, you should direct all queries to the DTL, they have a pretty good team there and may be able to help.
Do you take commercial assignments? If so give me a ring!