How not to PR a Venezuelan drugs bust

One of the most tragic news stories and biggest PR fails that I've read about broke today. It's the embarrassing tale of two ex-Jeremy Kyle Show losers locked up in a Venezuelan prison for attempting to smuggle cocaine out of the country.

Paul and Laura Makin spoke to The Times about their plight as prisoners in the hostile San Antonio gaol where inmate gang-leaders roam freely about the yard with grenades and rifles. Paul, who previously appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show with Laura to discuss his violent temper, is about to plead guilty to charges of drug smuggling.

According to the pathetic pair, Laura was unaware of the smuggling attempt, which involved her children, and so is pleading not guilty. Paul - the 'mastermind' of the operation - thought he was concealing diamonds and feels rather hard done by, the poor dear.

There are many interesting elements to this particular story, not least that Paul and Laura are divorced, have separate partners and yet were holidaying together. The one that really captured my attention however was the driver behind this press outreach.

I'm supposing that the press coverage is intended to prompt the consulate to re-double their efforts on behalf of the couple, for fear of losing face. I'm also supposing that the dark shadow of Max Clifford lurks somewhere in the darkness behind this story.

Can this coverage be construed as a win though? I doubt it is going to create any public outpouring of good will, certainly there will be no support marches in the streets. The article paints a very hostile picture of our two protagonists and is probably going to be viewed very negatively in a court room. If I was El Gordo I'd hang these guys out to dry, make an example and demonstrate that in these financially straitened times we don't waste tax payers' money on drug smugglers and Jeremy Kyle's mates.

Whoever the PR on this one was, and I hope it was Clifford, it's a massive PR fail. Even if they thought that it was a good idea to go to the press - and it wasn't - they should at least have tried keeping the negative aspects of the story (previous convictions and extreme anger issues) out of the story. At this stage all we can do is to wish these poor sods the best of luck in the courtroom, god knows they're going to need it.

For the measurement junkies this is a case study of how success can't be defined by column inches.