Gulf News has really got the bit between its teeth.
Today's FREE SAMMY THE SHARK campaign kicks off with considerable style: readers are offered a free 'Free Sammy the Shark' badge inside. Amazed at this new munificence (it was only last week that our two Gulf News 'Save the Planet' Jute Bags arrived), I was delighted to see that said badge is indeed printed inside on the paper's Page 3, along with instructions to Make your own Free Sammy the Shark badge! All you have to do is cut out the badge from Gulf News, affix it to a piece of cardboard and then cut out the shape from the cardboard. Then carefully attach a safety pin to the back and hey presto! You too can then show your support for the campaign by emailing a picture of yourself wearing the badge to Gulf News! If you live overseas and don't have a GN on paper, never fear! You can download a badge to print here!
(Environmentalists have come out against The Atlantis Hotel in Dubai keeping a whale shark, which was found in distress off Jumeirah some time ago and added to the hotel's aquarium. It's the latest in a growing string of PR nightmares being experienced by the hotel and the GN campagin won't be helping. Right thing to do? Free the shark, fast.)
2 comments:
The way they've handled (or more accurately mis-handled) PR is a classic that should be included in PR training courses.
How very laudable of the GN to fight the cause of Sammy the Shark and attempt to bust his ass out of jail. I too think that the matter should be brought to the front of our attention so that the concerned authorities can do the needful.
Are there are no other areas of injustice in the sandpit needing to feel the cutting edge of their in-depth (geddit?) investigations?
Mind you, the entertainment value is high - have you read some of the shite that the GN's "expert" readers have spouted - it's fantabulous!
Just a couple of thoughts though:
1) Sammy is a WHALE shark. Consequently there is no need for those of us who aren't plankton to tremble in fear due to his "predatory urges" as one writer put it.
2) He's a lot safer in his big tank than the sea around here as, when I looked, there weren't any boats with churning propellors, or great gloops of human faeces polluting his tank and threatening his well-being.
3) He's going to grow to 45+' long so in the words of Roy Scheider in Jaws "You're gonna need a bigger boat" (ok, tank but you get the idea!). So he's going to get out regardless of whether the GN is susccessful or not.
Atlantis hotel - a shambles on a grand scale but I've been offered some pretty good compensation so I'm happy. Maybe they're learning :-)
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