Scouts: We’re PRepared January 14, 2008
Posted by paulprdixon in : PR in the UK, PRandom , 2commentsThis week my “Public Relations” Google alert set alight in a way Baden Powell could have never foreseen when he decided that making fire with kindling best prepares a boy for a man’s life.
From the broadsheets (UK’s Daily Telegraph) to the red-tops (UK’s Mirror Newspaper), and doing the rounds on the blogs, the Scout Association has scored some substantial media coverage through announcing a new “PR Badge”. The new PR award is one of 42 unveiled in a major update of the Association’s merit badges.
The Scout’s New Chief Spokesboy
The Telegraph calls them “Woggle-wearing spin-doctors”; the Mirror sees it as “only fair to warn you not to panic when you first see one {a Boy Scout} wearing a PR Badge - a profession well-known for spinning the truth.”
But I am sure the Scout Association will settle for bit of tongue-in-cheek from the media when its key messages came through so clearly (and with the images of the new badges). We now know that – amongst 200 badges - Scout’s will also be able to earn badges in skateboarding, BMXing and rollerblading. We were reminded that the movement last year celebrated its centenary when 40,000 scouts from around the world joined a massive jamboree in the
UK. And we were informed that “Scouting is more relevant today than it ever has been over the last 100 years because it gives young people the opportunity to experience things they otherwise would not have the opportunity to do.”
As a former Scout – and now working in PR – it would be nice to roll back the years and earn my PR badge. But that’s not say I didn’t appreciate learning how to chop wood and tie a sheepshank. I was happy to read yet another key message come through in the media: “Purists have not been forgotten with new badges for Map Reading, Hiking and Emergency Aid.”
Let’s hope this jamboree of press coverage helps fuel the on-going resurgence in Scouting. We might also see a few more men working in the industry in the years that come.