That deadly sin called PR disease

Some people just can’t help making cheap promotional capital out of the gravest of disasters. This time it is the turn of Broadsystem, the automated telemarketing company, to turn the tragic events at the University of Wales in Cardiff – where two students have died from meningitis – to its advantage.

Broadsystem, we are told, was appointed by The National Meningitis Trust to manage its information line two weeks before the outbreak.

When the news broke that a second undergraduate had died, the Trust was apparently able to “leap into action with a structured programme designed to provide immediate access to a wide range of information, both for those most at risk and health professionals”. This includes updating the phone line as developments unfold.

In the hands of publicity hungry companies such as Broadsystem, this good work has all turned into just another excuse for a press release.