We’re at the point in the year when we’re finalizing our client’s 2011 social media marketing PR plans. Knowing when an outlet plans to cover stories in their market makes it easy to block out possible placements. And, contacting reporters in advance means you’ll have less competition for publication. So, how do you know who’s writing about when?
Lionel Barrymore is the first believed to have used the “arrrgh” in the first film of Treasure Island from 1934 in an iconic version of Billy Bones. In fact, many believe Barrymore created the first archetype of pirate speak. Actor Robert Newton, who portrayed Long John Silver in the 1950 Disney film Treasure Island and then in the 1954 film Long John Silver, is described as the “patron saint” of Talk Like A Pirate Day. Newton was a native of Dorset, and it was his native West Country dialect, which he used in his portrayal of Long John Silver and Blackbeard, that has become the standard “pirate accent”.
Can you say ARRRRRGH?
All pirate talking aside, this holiday is a great example of a celebration that sprung up as a inside joke into an international celebration.
At first an inside joke between two friends, the holiday gained exposure when John Baur and Mark Summers sent a letter about their invented holiday to the American syndicated humor columnist Dave Barry in 2002. Barry liked the idea and promoted the day. Part of the success for the international spread of the holiday has been attributed to non-restriction of the idea or trademarking, in effect opening the holiday for creativity and “viral” growth.
Today you can walk the plank and talk like a pirate . . . or you can research the history of navigation and sea, When you look at a story GPS, what holiday direction would you follow?
Image courtesy of shutterstock.com in exchange for a photo credit, which we are happy to give.
We’re at the point in the year when we’re finalizing our client’s 2011 social media marketing PR plans. Knowing when an outlet plans to cover stories in their market makes it easy to block out possible placements. And, contacting reporters in advance means you’ll have less competition for publication. So, how do you know who’s writing about when? 
