Bookmakers Better appear to have backed a PR loser after being savagely attacked by the media for signing up ex-footballer and gambling addict Paul Merson as the face of a new promotional campaign.
Better signed up the former Arsenal and England star, who had been infamous for his addictions to booze, drugs and gambling, to appear at shop openings and on in-store posters.
But the betting chain dropped the campaign before it had even got off the ground after the company came in for a wave of media criticism for its inappropriate choice of celebrity endorsement.
The decision to sign Merson, now a pundit for Sky Sports, was an astonishing gamble, with memories still fresh of his tearful confession of a gambling addiction at a press conference in 1995.
But could it still be a gamble that will actually pay off overall?
Many PR practitioners argue that nearly all publicity is good publicity. And in the case of Better, this could be no exception.
The Merson saga fits perfectly the profile of a classic PR move, here somewhat mercenary, where a company sparks controversy and then reaps the rewards of a subsequent publicity bonanza.
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