Dominos, that friendly global corporate giant that ensures that you never go hungry, when incapacitated to make yourself something after a drink, has got it itself on the edge of a PR disaster and it looks as though they will fall in a deep PR hole.

Domino has been accused by Eastern European workers of exploitative practice. Newsnight allowed both sides their chance to air views and I was much more impressed by the employees arguments. There were also UK employees with grievances including one that was deducted £100 for theft, well £400 went missing and as no-one could be identified as the culprit all four staff at one franchise were docked wages.

Alleged illegal deductions (including pay checks with minus figures!), forced evictions from workers’ accommodation, massed sacking when employees stuck up for better rights, ageist policies favouring employing 16 year olds as they are not entitled to the minimum wage and so on certainly do nothing for Domino’s image.

Does it have the potential to gather more publicity?

The union Unite are taking up the case and there will be a chance for employees in court.

Dominos will get through this as long as they stop any malpractice (if it has gone on) and even if it continues. But if we want an alternative to McDonalds (as another globalisation brand villain) they are putting themselves in the frame.

I am a little bit of a poster collector so The Imperial War Museum’s poster exhibition, which is running from the 4th October, caught my eye.

Following the evolution of the poster from World War One to the present day, the exhibition follows how the themes developed and what was effective and built upon.

Even though the Internet seems to be displacing so much, there is room for the more primitive forms of communication in modern campaigns. If the Dunlop billboard near Birmingham is allowable in this category then it is one of the most effective pieces of communications I have seen.

Monopoly, the board game that is celebrating 75 years, has come up with an excellent PR initiative.

It has collated a poll, replied to by nearly a million respondents, on which UK cities and towns should occupy the board and where.

The prestiguous Mayfair and Park Lane goes to Saint Albans and Exeter.

Manchester got Whitehall, one of the cheaper locations. Some comfort for Mancunians is that rivals Leeds and Liverpool occupy the cheapest places, including Old Kent Road. I am not snearing at my Scouse friends.

It has caused a stir with some; leader of Manchester Council Pat Kearney has complained with some passion. Who cares? Not so many about his views, but the PR campaign has certainly caused some debate and generated great coverage across the country at what must be a reasonable outlay. The campaign must of generated millions of pounds worth of coverage.

Simple? Straight forward? Yes, but it is working and very well.

Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, managed to make a vain PR trip to New York even worse and all of his own making.

He had initially been refused a photo opportunity at Ground Zero - probably a good thing for the US and Iran as he went on to question who actually carried out 9/11.

His assertions that the Holocaust was a “myth”, Israel should be wiped off the map and his attempt to get a nuclear option are well known.

When questioned about Iran’s execution of homosexuals at a presentation at Columbia University his reply was meet with incredulity:

“In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.” The Soviets use to same the same thing.

If the Iranian president was hoping to allay US fears or more probably win over US public opinion it back fired.

Simon Wharton of PushON might be yellow but his forthcoming talk on online search marketing will be anything but jaundiced.

Simon will be presenting on October the 3rd at the Think Lab Salford University; full details available here.

Richard Hudson of Vanilla Storm and Alan McGlone of Eyecatcher Productions will also feature on establishing a web presence and using video to enhance Internet sites.

Places are free and limited to 30 places so if interested book now.

The Oxford English Dictionary has reported that 16,000 hyphenated words have been dispensed with in the current edition. Losses include:

All will be two words. While the following have been amalgamated:

I thought the entry from my George Bush calendar might amuse:

“So on behalf of a well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves, congratulations.”

Remarks to the University of Nebraska women’s volleyball team, the 2001 national champions

Washington D.C. May 31, 2001

PR Week commissioned a piece to see what clients think of PR agencies and the answers were not too reassuring to say the least:

• More than a quarter claimed their agencies failed to deliver set objectives
• Nearly 70% did not provide transparent budgeting
• Nearly a quarter claimed they were not getting value for money
• Industry knowledge was also a criticism although this can be learnt

Directors signing up new clients, disappearing and returning when the contract is up for renewal is one more gripe that was high on the list of clients’ complaints.

While there is two sides to any story, it makes worrying reading. Not every relationship will work and you have to factor in the clients’ input or not in working with the agency.

On a more positive note, essentials in making PR work for clients are catering to individual needs and ways of working, trust and accountability.

PR agencies meet clients expectations on four out of the eight factors stated:

• Communicate satisfactorily
• Provide the right level of resource
• Deliver at consistently high quality levels
• Take a proactive role in identifying needs

One important piece of advice was to have those difficult conversations at the start of a contract about expectations and ways or getting the most from a PR spend.

Tom Cheesewright of Eggheads featured today on BBC Manchester Radio explaining the basics of Facebook and MySpace.

There are people out there who have no idea about social networking including the presenter. Still I cannot program a time setting on a DVD player nor did I work out the phone systems of places I have worked.

Tom believes that Facebook is superseding My Space as I recall it. The rest blurred in a busy day, but he was self assured and got some good exposure.

By the way he has just got married, which he might have mentioned but thinks he got away with it.

And another thing…….

I like Tom’s suggestion of “proactive” as another meaningless word that has infiltrated the business world. Another one that comes to mind is “leverage,” but this is American in use except for a marketing director in Surrey.

Language is like a currency, you over use a word it loses its potency and dilutes its meeting.

Words and phrases that strike me as being particularly subject to devaluation in terms of meaning and thus of less and less use or little use in many everyday situations are as follows:

Go getting - meaningless recruiting / business jargon
Dynamic - what does it mean when it refers to a person?
Fascist - when used as a term of abuse it hides its real meaning, which is irresponsible of the Rick (Young Ones) amongst us
Bubbly - is this a way for recruiters to say someone who will be a dogsbody and still be happy; anyone who is bubbly is usually annoying
Ethical - would you go to someone calling themselves “honest John” to buy a car; it is proven by your actions not words

I am sure there are many others and welcome suggestions.