When PR hits too close to home
A few days ago I received a call from KPHO-5 reporter Peter Busch about doing a segment on the solar panels we recently had installed on our home. The company we leased from, SolarCity, had pitched them and suggested us as a source. I said yes of course, but being the professional PR guy that I am I didn’t want to be the interview subject — but I didn’t have a client to throw in front of the camera. So I made my wife do it!
What followed was a very interesting experience. I coached her a bit before the shoot, and I knew she’d be great because she has a great personality and isn’t afraid of anything — plus we’d done some print interviews already about the solar panels and she knew her talking points.
Still, as I stood behind the camera watching the interview I was nervous as hell for her. This was no client…it was my wife! Of course she did great, though there was one sound bite that made me cringe. She didn’t mean to, but she sort of bashed SRP at one point. And my experience told me it was a great sound bite and would definitely end up in the segment. And I was right. Oh well.
Here’s the segment for your viewing pleasure:
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Comments
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:27 am
Hmmm…the face of solar: lovely Leslie or you? Real tough call there
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
My wife works at SRP. She works in billing. You guys are putting her out of a job. She’ll have nobody to bill.
Just having fun! I’m sure my wife’s job is safe. And congrats on your solar home! I’ll coach my wife on the next interview.
October 11th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Don’t believe my husband… I did mean what I said, and would not have changed it! I would rather pay solar city then SRP!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
It’s great you decided to use solar power to help our environment. It’s a shame you went over to the darkside of solar. SolarCity is the worst in our industry. The lease program is just a cover for more money hungry social pirates on a rampage. SolarCity is not to be trusted. BUY YOUR SYSTEM DON’T LEASE. Take advantage of SolarCity and buy your system. SolarCity will do anything up to and including eating their young to avoid bad publicity.