PR Gaffe Burns Wal-Mart PR Director and Agency

Daily Telegraph: The Wal-Mart publicity manager behind an advert that equated the retail giant to victims of the Nazis has resigned. Peter Kanelos, who had overseen public relations in Arizona and southern California on behalf of Wal-Mart, left his job yesterday, a few weeks after the company apologised for its PR gaffe. And what a PR gaffe! This story in Saturday's Daily Telegraph said that Kanelos is understood to have been responsible for a full-page ad in the Wal-Mart, the Telegraph said, which has been struggling to clean up its image in the face of criticism of its labour practices and effects on local communities. It was forced to take out a second ad apologizing to Flagstaff residents for the first one. Comments... Neville Hobson is the author of the popular Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: