Take a look at this Sheraton Hotels print advertisement:
As you might notice, the ad promotes a Microsoft service the hotel provides… and features a Macbook Pro just behind the text.
The PR lesson here is that improper attention to detail can undermine your entire communications effort. In partnering with Microsoft, Sheraton should have exercised more care, given that the tech giant has a slightly embarrassing history of fudging its Apple attack ads. Even worse, this ad appeared in Wired, a magazine whose readers are amongst the most consumer tech-savvy. They certainly will pick up on the error, making this a double faux-pas.
Know your audience, know your facts, and know what you can and can’t get away with — that’s always a winning PR formula.
