Big Slipper Makes A Big Splash

Ever ordered an item of clothing only to find it doesn’t fit properly? I’m guessing for most of us the answer is yes. A common occurrence, a hazard of online shopping, all in all not that interesting.

However, when the item you’ve ordered arrives 100 times bigger than expected, well then you have a story.

This is exactly what happened to Tom Boddingham, who upon ordering a pair of size 14.5 slippers (I’m a 10 and can only imagine how huge these would be), received a giant slipper sized 1,450 after Chinese manufacturers were said to have missed the decimal point.

Cue a fantastic photo of Mr Boddingham sat inside the giant slipper, which caused a wave of coverage including hits in the Mirror, Telegraph, Times and Mail amongst others.

Immediately speculation was rife as to whether or not this was a genuine story or an elaborate stunt, with the search for answers launched on twitter.

Jonathan Haynes, web news editor at the Guardian, tweeted: “I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest this Daily Mail story is utter b******s. PR stunt written all over it.”

Subsequently the Guardian ran their own investigation into the story, quizzing both the firm and their PR agency, Palamedes PR.

Now I’m not going to say whether or not I think this was a stunt, but I am happy to say that I think it makes a fantastic story and has all the key elements of a sure-fire media hit.

It’s visual and no one could help reading the piece (and soaking up the company’s name) having seen the striking photo. It’s also fun and harmless, the perfect story to bring some light relief on a heavy October news day.

If it was a stunt it’s done the job and if it wasn’t then the firm deserves applauding for highlighting such an interesting tale, as does their PR firm for communicating it so well to the wider media.

I knew nothing of the business before this story yet will immediately recall the giant slipper error if I see their name again.

What’s also interesting is some of the comments the story has received which really shows the split on how both journalists and more importantly the public, view PR stunts.

Trawling through the comments on the Telegraph website one annoyed reader states, “Reporting a PR stunt as news again?” However (and I think this sums up perfectly why this is a good story) another retorts, “Whatever the truth behind this it is the only thing that has made me laugh today and for that I thank you”. Or as another reader succinctly puts it, “I love this.”

This isn’t hard news and it won’t change the way that you look at the world (unless maybe you’re ordering slippers at the time), but I’d hasten to bet that a smile would creep across your face as soon as you started reading the story.

It just goes to show the impact a fun story can have when accompanied by a brilliant picture.