The main sponsors of the Brit Awards found themselves in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after a public relations campaign backfired.
Reports that a PR firm asked journalists to promote MasterCard's sponsorship of the event by tweeting about the company with the hashtag "PricelessSurprises" in exchange for entry led to a flurry of online criticism.
Journalists and music fans lined up to mock the public relations firm, House PR, which represents MasterCard.
Ed Hayes tweeted: "Having your crass social media campaign backfire on you spectacularly #PricelessSurprises", while David McGuire wrote: "Monstrous PR fail #PricelessSurprises".
Ginny Paton, MD at House PR, said: "The role of the PR agency is to pursue all coverage opportunities on behalf of its clients.
This includes providing accurate brand references from the outset, for use across all platforms. It is a two-way conversation between the journalist and the PR in order to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. Editorial control always remains with the journalist."
