Musical press releases?

In most of the jobs I’ve held over the last 15 years, I’ve been responsible for writing and sending press releases on behalf of either my employers or clients. One of the things that anyone who has written releases struggles with is how to make the information interesting and relevant to both reporters and the target audience.

Usually, I would applaud using creative thinking and content that is imaginative, but I really don’t know what to make of the release that DealBreaker has dubbed “The most ridiculous press release in the history of man”.

A pension research and analysis company, Pension Governance, LLC released “The Pension Tension Blues” as “musical commentary” for “fiduciaries and beneficiaries alike.” The company does take care to point out that the song is not meant to deride the hard work of those whose job it is to manage pensions, it’s meant to point out in a humorous fashion where changes could be made.

I’m torn between thinking this is so silly that it will undermine the company’s ability to be taken seriously on pension risk issues and thinking that it’s certainly going to get more attention than any run-of-the-mill release.

I guess the real question is whether the release met its objective. If the objective was to draw attention to the company, then yes. I’m not sure at what cost though, as it certainly does seem to make light of a rather dire topic.