This is weird

[mcgillianaire]

I had honey on toast for brekkie this morning and it's absolutely delicious. So I decided to google it and clicked on the first link, an article in the Daily Telegraph from last December titled, Secret to a smooth hangover – honey on toast. Naturally I was intrigued by this and having read the article I've even picked up a couple of other useful tips such as drinking a glass of milk before a night out on the lash. However what really surprised me was the first comment after the article which said:

"Please tell me there is a new study about this and you're not reporting on something from five years ago - http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2005/HangoverAvoidance.asp"

The commenter had linked to a press release from 21 December 2005 on the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) website which was obviously the source of the Telegraph article (dated 23 December 2010). To make matters interesting, look under Press Releases in December 2010 on the RSC website and you'll find one about the exact same issue dated 23 December, the same date as the Telegraph article. The two press releases are almost identical, although it looks like someone copied the 2005 press release and intentionally changed the formatting in the 2010 version. They've also re-worded the title and made subtle changes to each paragraph. Makes you wonder what actually happened! Did the RSC think no one would notice?

Comments

[pappubahry.livejournal.com]

2007. Weird!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Haha! Did you just click on that by chance or did you go through each year/month? That's quite bizarre.

[pappubahry.livejournal.com]

I did a Google search on one of the early phrases in the press release, restricting it to the rsc.org domain.

My guess is that the Emsleys (John the chemist, Brian the media manager) figure recycling the press release might drum up more sales for John's book.

On a related note, this essay on PR companies is fascinating and taught me about how a lot of news stories get written.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

Nifty!

Heh, that's probably it. Cheeky buggers.

Thanks for the link. I must admit I had recently considered spending 6 months to a year in the legal communications department of a PR firm to broaden my skill set as a lawyer. Many lawyers are criticised by PR-folk for lacking the necessary communication skills when representing a client outside the courtroom. Thought I'd set that right while I could. I've interned under the corporate communications manager at HSBC in Muscat where I wrote a number of the press releases during my time there, but it's nothing compared to what I'd be exposed to in London.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

That article was awesome. It all seems obvious now! I must admit the type of article that I hated seeing in the Beeb until now that had the words "study/research shows" anywhere between the title and the first sentence. But I now know that I should remain sceptical of so much more! Thanks for sharing it.