A PR Chill on Niagara Falls

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By: Doug Bedell

A fading landmark takes its openings where it finds them, we suppose, but Niagara Falls came close to crossing the PR line when it created the impression that the falls may have frozen during this month's bitter cold "polar vortex" period. As the International Business Times puts it: "Mix together some new and outdated photos, swirl in some crafty public relations work, and then blanket everything in frozen icing. That, in essence, was the recipe for Niagara Falls' very good week in the international spotlight."

Sad. A photo emphasizing that, while the falls may have looked frozen, they weren't, and never have would have done it. Instead, "Frozen Niagara Falls," the Business Times notes, "was the second highest trend on Yahoo in the United States, while photos of the icon garnered headlines from Singapore to South Africa." PR that seeks to capitalize on confusing photos rates a deep freeze itself.

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About the Author

Doug Bedell has a background in journalism and PR and is the owner of Resource Relations LLC in Central PA, focusing on organizational and crisis communication. He’s the community manager of SimplyFair.net, a social network on fairness. On the Web, Doug’s at www.ResourceRelations.com. On Twitter, he’s @DougBeetle.

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