Well, I'm no legal expert and can't comment on whether any law has been broken
or not. But apart from that, I wonder why people can't take some things easy.
Talk about the media having a laugh at the expenses of unwary people in
programmes like Bakra and Chhupa Rustam. If you go about complaining to the
police, Cyrus Broacha would have hung up his boots long time back at MTV. The
media can bribe people in the name of sting operations. But now, when the tables
are tuned, they freaked.

All I can say to Ogilvy and Mather is that it was a good idea and would have
worked well as a good media relations exercise while doing the promo campaign
for your client. The only bummer was the target media list. You chose some wrong
people. Cheer up guys.

HH,
The India PR Blog <http://indiapr.blogspot.com>

--- In prpoint@yahoogroups.com, "prerna_rsaikumar"
<prerna_rsaikumar@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I too read that front page news in TNIE and shocked to note when the
> senior officials tried to settle the matter by merely appologising
> and telling that they wanted to have some fun.
>
> It is not only shocking but also rediculous that a firm in stature
> of Oglivy is doing this kind of cheap gimicks. Nobody can cross the
> limits in the name of creativity and that to with women scribes.
>
> It reminds of similar incident happened in the 80's in the steel
> city - Jamshedpur, when one of the agency started advertising in
> print media quoting that "Citizens of Steel City find Cheetah in the
> market place at evening hours" and the entire advertisement was in
> form of news articles and at the bottom of it written absolutely in
> small font advt. feature.
>
> The ad campaign was for Kawasaki Bike but it created panic among the
> citizens believing that some people actually met with Cheetah on the
> streets of Jamshedpur. The local administration pulled-up the
> agency and later on the advertisement was withdrawn.
>
> The very idea of promotion is ofcourse to create excitement and
> eagerness towards the products or events. But what O&M has done was
> little too much. I don't know if some one also look at the ethics
> part of PR also.
>
> Sai Kumar
>
>
>
> --- In prpoint@yahoogroups.com, "Prime Point Srinivasan"
> prpoint@ wrote:
> >
> > dear friends*
> > *
> >
> > One of our group members has sent the following news which
> apapeared in
> > New Indian Express and Mumbai Mirror.. I invite members to share
> their views
> > - "whether in the name of creativity, can we exceed the limit?".
> >
> > It may be recalled that in the latest podcast (released last
> week) on
> > "crisis management", Mr T S Raghavan has spoken about "crossing
> the limits
> > leading to crisis"
> >
> > srinivasan
> > Moderator
> > http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?
> ID=IE920061004115221&Page=9&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&aDate=10%2F5%2F2006
> >
> > *PR agency's novel promo ruffles feathers in media*
> > Thursday October 5 2006 00:00 IST
> >
> > CHENNAI: A leading Public Relations agency based in Mumbai is
> drawing flak
> > for creating a scare among lady journalists in Chennai by
> conducting a novel
> > promotional event for a new television programme.
> >
> > The agency, Ogilvy and Mather, sent certificates to women
> journalists
> > announcing that their names had been changed and registered.
> >
> > Even as the addressees were wondering about the certificate, the
> agency sent
> > them mysterious gifts along with snapshots of a male model with
> some
> > romantic letters and a bill for $100. The novel theme, however,
> misfired.
> >
> > A couple of harassed journalists from *this website's newspaper*
> and *The
> > Economic Times *lodged a complaint with Greater Chennai Police
> Commissioner
> > Letika Saran about the receipt of the mystery parcels last week.
> >
> > Immediately, the matter was investigated and the origin of the
> mystery
> > parcels was traced to Ogilvy and Mather in Mumbai. The agency
> claimed that
> > the exercise was part of a promo for a new programme ' Vicky
> Vedal ' slated
> > to be telecast in Disney channel.
> >
> > Officials with Oglivy said that they had selected 1,000 people
> working in
> > leading media organisations and sent letters announcing that their
> names had
> > been changed.
> >
> > The �change of name certificate� enclosed with the letter
gave
> a new surname
> > to the addressee. In one case surname of a lady journalist
> was 'changed'
> > into Roshan and a new website "MyNameIsRoshan.com" was created by
> the
> > agency.
> >
> > The parcel arrived within a few days of receiving the letter. The
> parcel
> > also contained a bill for 100 dollars routed through nbay.com.
> >
> > The officials said: "The idea was to unravel the mystery by making
> a group
> > of guitarists play at the doorstep of the company and announce
> that the
> > whole thing was all for fun."
> >
> > A senior police officer told *this website's newspaper*, "They
> have violated
> > the law and duplicated registration seals. The case is still under
> > investigation."
> >
> > Meanwhile, officials from Ogilvy and Mather approached City Police
> > Commissioner Letika Saran and apologised. They also said, "We have
> not
> > received any complaints from any part of the country so far."
> >
> > However, the agency claimed that they had intimated senior
> officials about
> > the mystery parcels sent to one of their staff and also got
> permission from
> > courier service. The police warned the agency not to indulge in
> such
> > promotional activities.
> >
> > *
> > *
> >
> > *
> > http://www.mumbaimirror.com/nmirror/mmpaper.asp?
> sectid=4&articleid=107200622529203107200622339125&pubyear=2006&pubday
> =8&pubmth=10#
> > *
> >
> > *Jayaraj Sivan*
> > *PRANK ON JOURNALISTS BACKFIRES ON PR FIRM*
> >
> > Ogilvy and Mather, a leading PR firm, has landed in soup after a
> prank it
> > played on journalists backfired.
> >
> > The firm sent certificates to some women journalists in Chennai
> announcing
> > that their names had been changed.
> >
> > Followed by this, it sent them some surprise gifts, photographs of
> a male
> > model and a bill for $100.
> >
> > Not ready to take things lying down, the scribes preferred a
> written
> > complaint with Chennai City Police Commissioner Lathika Saran.
> >
> > Police traced the origin of the letter to Ogilvy.
> >
> > Some senior officials of the firm soon rushed to Chennai to settle
> the
> > matter amicably. However, their explanation that it was all aimed
> at some
> > fun has not helped them much. Police are pursuing the case since
> the agency
> > has violated the law by duplicating the registration department
> seals.
> >
>