PagetBaker wins Miss World international PR business

PagetBaker will manage the PR stategy, press facilities and all media enquiries in the run-up to and during the three-and-a-half week event starting in November.

It will handle all contestant enquiries and charity aspects of the event, including Miss World's charity programme Beauty with a Purpose, which has earned over £250m for children charities since its launch in 1951.

The 2004 competition, to be held in Sanya, China, will bring together contestants from 120 countries.

Miss World has suffered its fair share of controversy as women's rights groups lobby the event and regularly throw flour bombs and disrupt the proceedings.

Activists have also vandalised the showroom of a main sponsor of the event, spreading cow dung everywhere.

By far the most serious backlash was the Miss World competition in 2002 in Nigeria, when riots broke out between Christians and Muslims over the event, resulting in the death of more than 200 people.

Pageant president Julia Morley boarded a charter jet for London along with 90 contestants. The competition was then moved from Nigeria to the UK, where Miss Turkey was crowned the 2002 winner.

However, in China, where the event is being seen a test run for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, there is likely to be a heavy police presence and such protests seen unlikely.

PagetBaker also handles PR for the Edinburgh International Television Festival and The Saatchi Gallery.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com