PR stunt targets New Zealand reporters

How about this for a PR stunt! A public relations company is offering reporters in New Zealand the chance to win a trip to New York if they promote the use of a new word: "starkish" (an adjective supposedly meaning with a sense of proportion and good taste!) But Pead PR's contest has, predictably, come under fire from journalism commentators and practitioners who think the whole idea is an "unstarkish" gimmick. The reply from the company's chief Deborah Pead is a gem: all she was doing, she said, was "incentivising" reporters to use the word. (Via New Zealand Herald)