Letters of the Week: That pint was worth a lot to Guinness, but more to Obama

PR Week UK, Friday, 10 June 2011, 12:00am,

I thought I'd write after you featured President Obama enjoying a pint of Guinness during his trip to Ireland (News, 27 May).

The US President was seen across the world drinking a pint of Ireland's liquid gold - so Guinness has a global PR story on its hands. According to Kantar, Obama's trip generated more than $20m of free publicity for the beer brand.

But Guinness isn't the only PR winner. With a lot of hard news breaking around the world, that pint will help soften the image of Obama and keep him in the public's favour. And that is worth a lot more than $20m.

Adam Clyne, commercial director, TVC Group

prweekletters@haymarket.com.