Wireless publicity stunt

One of the biggest money spinners in PR at the moment is the contract for HDTV. Back in 1938 it was another technological break through that was in the headlines, albeit less hi tec.

The radio exhibition at London’s Olympia was set up to promote radio hardware in an attempt to get more people to buy a wireless. The U.S. publicist Jim Moran was hired by PIFCO to come up with an idea and so he created a photo call with an ingenious idea.

He got teams of char women to clean the entire exhibition centre’s floor while listening to one of the cheaper radios on show at the exhibition. It was to promote the idea that radio music would inspire energy and help people to endure hard work.

This classic stunt made many newsreels before the war.