Steve Rubel disagrees with David Meermen Scott about the value of “direct-to-consumer” press releases. According to Steve, they suck.

Yup, they do. There are two basic reasons why they suck:

1. Press releases are a weird rhetorical form, one-sided in the extreme, non-credible, and written in a bizarre form of speech found nowhere else.

2. Direct-to-consumer press releases are spam.

Plain old press releases need to be deep-sixed. They already are nothing but wastebasket fodder for editors. Mulch waiting to happen. The idea that their reach should be extended to customers I find actually depressing.

Is anybody doing this, or is it just David’s own PR plan?

(Disclosure: Steve works for Edelman, to whom I consult.) [Tags: pr media marketing]

Categories: Uncategorized dw