Hails & Fails – March 4th 2022
The horrendous situation in Ukraine and the cost-of-living hike hitting Britain have been the main focus for media this week, and there have been some tremendous PR campaigns designed to help with the knock-on effects around the globe including Airbnb who promised free accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, readers of The Daily Mail who raised over £1m for Ukrainian refugees and our own Magnet Kitchens who gave us a way around the energy price hike crippling the nation. It was NOT a good week for British MPs though – as they gave themselves a pay rise while the rest of the world was being battered with rising costs.
HAILS
Airbnb to host 100,000 Ukrainian refugees for free
Airbnb has promised to provide accommodation for 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Brian Chesky, the CEO, said: “Airbnb is working with our Hosts to house up to 100,000 refugees fleeing from Ukraine, for free.”
The CEO is now appealing to hosts in neighbouring countries including Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Romania to join the initiative.
Airbnb says it has arranged accommodation for 54,000 refugees and asylum-seekers over the past five years. Respect.
Daily Mail readers raise over £1m for Ukrainian refugees
Generous Mail readers have raised a record-breaking sum for their Ukraine appeal – in just two days.
On top of £500,000 pledged by the Daily Mail’s owner, a huge £710,000 has been donated already –a grand total of more than £1.2million so far, making it the fastest fundraising appeal in newspaper history.
The vital funds will go to charities helping families who are desperate to escape the Kremlin’s missiles.
Magnet show us how to counter the energy price hike
The kitchen specialist (and Brazen client) achieved fantastic coverage this week with a simple reactive news story in response to the energy bills hike currently crippling the nation.
The company announced that consumers are turning to sustainable solutions to help keep bills low – tapping into one of the news agenda’s hottest weekly topics (news on the energy price increase was everywhere this week). Crucially the story shared Magnet’s expert advice on how to keep energy bills low, from dishwasher stacking to energy efficient appliances like boiling hot water taps. Resulting in 108 media hits across the UK.
FAILS
MPs award themselves a pay-rise while the world struggles with the global price hike
There was understandable fury everywhere this week when it was announced that UK MPs are to pocket a £2,212 pay rise as ordinary Brits are clobbered by tax and energy price rises.
Parliament will be swelling politicians’ coffers by an extra 2.7 per cent – with salaries rising to £84,144) from April 1.
Justifying the pay rise, politicians claim their workloads have “dramatically increased” during the pandemic. But angry workers are fuming as the news comes at exactly the moment the UK is hit hard by triple-whammy tax hikes.
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