Earlier today, Apprentice star Alex Epstein committed a major PR faux pas by offering his services to over 700 press contacts, without blind copying the recipients. On the other hand, his blunder has become a talking point on Twitter, so if you believe that any publicity is good publicity, we may be underestimating his genius.
The subject line, “Could Alex Epstein – one of Lord Sugar’s Apprentices feature in your Online Publication?”, perhaps gives a clue to the contents of the email. Epstein suggests he could be a critic on the next series of the Apprentice, he could provide answers in a Q&A section of a publication, or be a product reviewer.
Epstein also reminds us of his impressive business background:
“Whilst I am remembered often for my humorous style, I have a credible business background and have spent the last four years as Head of Communications for one of the UK’s fastest growing technology businesses. During my time there, I worked to launch several highly-successful PR campaigns and was a real contributor to their success.”
Unfortunately, the email was sent out to over 700 press contacts – including some of the biggest names in journalism. This wasn’t a mistake in itself, but open copying all the email addresses to all recipients was. This blunder has led to a surge in Twitter mentions, and some amusing email replies (again sent to all 700 recipients):
“Sorry Alex, unless you can compete with Katie Price and the Reidinator, it’s a no from me too.”
“We’re a travel company. Maybe you should leave the UK?”
“You’re a total shambles…”
And, best of all: “I had the pleasure of receiving it twice. So that’s a double ‘no’ from me, then.”
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