Dear PR Firms- Do Not Use The Connecticut School Shooting Tragedy to Market Your Product

Right now, like my peers around the country, I'm glued to the screen for news about the tragic school shooting in Connecticut. WTF, who goes into an elementary school and shoots innocent children?!

Besides Laurie Dann, I mean. Surely everyone who grew up in Chicago in the late 1980s recognizes that name. She's the reason schools started locking their doors and visitors were required to register in the office. after they were buzzed in to the building. Lock downs didn't come until much later.

After watching a clip on CNN that ended with a mom noting that she' was going to activate a cell phone for her 3rd grader* (implied: to bring to school for the child's safety), I wondered aloud on Facebook how long it would take PR firms to start referencing this in their pitches.

Jill replied that she hopes this won't happen, noting that the Sandy-related pitches were tough enough to swallow and that prompted me to write say this out loud. PR folks, leave us alone.

We feel this tragedy. Deeply. Unless you're with the NRA or advocating for better identification and support for the mentally ill (both for the uninsured and the crappy mental health benefits many private insurers provide) leave us alone.

Postpone those pitches you planned to send out this afternoon.

Cancel those scheduled Tweets.

And that Twitter party? Reschedule.

Everyone is looking for news, sharing their thoughts and prayers and processing this senseless tragedy. You look like a$$holes spreading cheery tweets about your brand, even if you have a great product and an awesome holiday giveaway.


*As it happens, I have a post in the hopper regarding cell phones and kids, but that was written hours before I heard about the shooting.)
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