Company, PR firm apologize for ‘tackiest press release in human history’
A macabre tie-in to Canada’s ‘body-parts killer’ sparked the ire of Twitter users and the attention of mainstream media, prompting a mea culpa from Fleishman-Hillard Canada.
The Wisconsin recall elections are this week? Well there’s a terrific resort just outside the capital where vacationers—and journalists—can get some rest and relaxation.
A Canadian company working with Fleishman-Hillard Canada took this approach to a far more macabre level. It found a news hook to the “body parts killer,” the male porn star accused of killing and dismembering a man in Canada, and to a man in British Columbia, who shot and killed two people before being shot himself.
The company, Backcheck, which conducts background checks, released a press release on Friday with the headline: “Canadians who don’t think tenant background checks are important may think twice.” The gist of the release: If the landlords who leased apartments to these alleged killers had used Backcheck, they would have detected some “red flags.”
John Blythe, the president and partner of Fleishman-Hillard Canada, issued an apology on the company’s website:
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