It was reported yesterday that Peninsula Group, an employment law and HR provider had received 220 calls to its Employer Advice Service from distraught One Direction fans requesting compassionate leave in the wake of Zayn leaving the boy band.
It was claimed that following the announcement of Zayn’s departure, Peninsula Group received the calls between 6pm and 9:30am yesterday morning. However, an eagle-eyed member of the Skout team noticed that the story was posted on the Manchester Evening News website at 9:15am, fifteen minutes before the employer advice service claims it finished receiving calls…..
Now we’re not disputing the figures attached to this story but they are surprisingly high! If you’re old enough to have a job surely you’re old enough to appreciate that a member of a boy band leaving does not constitute a valid reason for having the day off as compassionate leave. Are these 220 women (I’m assuming they’re all young women) too honest for their own good? If they were indeed too distraught to work, why didn’t the just take the day off sick? Surely a far safer bet! Interestingly, I haven’t seen any stories about schools reporting record numbers of absent girls as a result of Zayn’s decision to quit!
My personal view is that Peninsula has used Zayn’s departure to create a cracking good PR story of its own. The story has been picked up in numerous locations and as of yesterday far more people now know more about Peninsula Group and the services it offers. As they say in the world of PR…..never let the truth get in the way of a good story!
Fiona Whyatt has worked at Skout PR for many years. She loves blogging!
