Monday 15 February 2010

How to get free publicity for your business

A few weeks ago, the newspapers got into a flap over claims that a businesswoman was 'banned' from using 'reliable' in a job advert.

Yet every version of the story quoted a Department of Work and Pensions spokesperson saying the advert ran with the word 'reliable' in it.

So a bit of a non-story, but a chance to push the 'PC gone mad' agenda.

Today, the Mail was at it again.

In Job Centre staff told hairdresser she couldn't advertise for 'junior' stylist - because it was ageist the paper claims the word 'junior' fell foul on discrimination laws and so was banned.

And this time?

A Department of Work and Pensions spokeswoman denied Mrs Hilling was stopped from using the word 'junior' in the ad and said Job Centre Plus's advisers simply give employers advice on wording their ad to attract the most applicants.

A spokesman said: 'Our advisers will help employers get as many applicants for their jobs as possible.

'Some people may be put off applying if they think a job is only aimed at young people, so we'll advise on wording adverts to help businesses get the best person for them.'

Oh. But at least the Mail mentioned the name of the salon, the name of the owner's husband's salon and included a picture of the former, so running off to the papers ensured they got some free publicity out of this.

Which, given the amount of coverage the earlier story got, may have been the point.

(Hat-tip to mr_wonderful at the Mailwatch Forum)

2 comments:

  1. The quote in your post taken from the article has now been removed and replaced with:

    "The Department for Work and Pensions yesterday insisted the measures are essential to ensure that employers don't fall foul of Employment Equality Regulations - which ban discrimination on the grounds of age when recruiting workers.

    Mrs Hilling is the latest employer to have difficulty advertising at a jobcentre after recruitment agency boss Nicole Malmo's advert for a 'reliable worker' was refused because staff claimed it discriminated against the unreliable."

    This isn't just misrepresentation of the DWP's quote, it's complete fabrication. The article was last updated at 1:57 am, but not before Mark, Barcelona had commented on the original copy. I've submitted a comment highlighting the edit. They're moderating posts on this story so it'll be interesting to see if mine makes it through.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favourite comment: "Someone in the job sentre [sic] needs to learn English".

    ReplyDelete

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