PRobecast 139: In this episode of PRobecast, Topazers Justin Martell, Josh DeStefano, and Tony Sapienza join me in talking about Kayak CMO Robert Birge’s lack of crisis communication skills, daily deals and men, and Facebook’s help lines.

What’s the deal for guys? It’s all about the bragging rights – Admit it. When you think of coupons, you think of your mother or grandmother. The very terns we associate with saving money – coupon clipping, penny pinching – still sound vaguely dainty. Of course men have been doing their own shopping for some time now, and guys like saving money as much as anyone. Yet men’s relationships with coupons and deals remains ambiguous and largely unexplored.

Kayak cancels controversial ads, social media nightmare ensues and Orbitz looks to capitalize – Travel search engine Kayak woke up this morning to a social media nightmare, and it doesn’t have a clear end in sight. Late last night, the company pulled advertising from the reality TV show “All-American Muslim” on TLC, apparently because an activist organization, the Florida Family Association, condemned the show. According to the New York Times, the organization attacked the show as propaganda that obscures “the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” So far 65 other companies have left the show, with Lowe’s and Kayak being the most recent and certainly highest profile. For example, Lowe’s, which pulled the ads on Saturday has over 25,000 comments posted on the company’s Facebook page.

Facebook, Google refer suicidal people to help lines – Computer networks can’t feel or understand jokes, but software engineers have hardwired some compassion. Mechanisms in place in Facebook’s system and in Google’s search engine can look for suicidal messages and direct people to help. Facebook is encouraging its 800 million users to use a system the company created to flag suicidal or otherwise violent messages. If someone is posting unsettling photos or writing status updates about killing himself or herself, friends can click on a “report suicidal content” link.

Now it’s time for the PRobecast PR Power Ranking – which is when we go around the room and pick the story that we think ranks the highest PR-wise – meaning any aspects of PR could be the reasoning behind the pick. Is it the story itself, good data that was used, what’s getting the most pickup, was it a good PR move the company made, etc.

We voted on Facebook & Google’s partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline as the best story this week. It may have been a long time coming, but Facebook is using its power for good, to help people who need it.

Who do you think should have won?

It seems that for as long as there have been PR professionals there have been media telling us how to do our jobs better. Smart PR folks solicit this input – Topaz holds regular brown-bags with journalists, most recently with Neal Weinberg from NetworkWorld and Doug Banks from Mass High Tech, for this very reason. And we’re always on the lookout for articles that spotlight new ideas. I saw one just this week, titled “33 Things the Media Wish PR People Knew.” With a list that long, there was sure to be some of the usual (“know our deadlines” and “a press release alone isn’t enough”), but there were also some points we wouldn’t have seen just a few years ago – and some helpful reminders. For example, there were tips that stress the importance of compelling email subject lines, multimedia messaging, social media news releases and posting blog comments on their stories and sharing content. These last few points emphasize how media relations has changed for PR professionals – and how we now have new channels we can use to break through and reach a journalist. It’s something we at Topaz think about – and practice – every day. But while these new techniques can help, we know we won’t be successful if the fundamentals aren’t addressed – priorities like identifying/developing a compelling story, articulating it clearly, and building relationships with the media that we’re looking to engage.

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We had a special guest joining us during this week’s PRobecast – Doug Banks, publisher and editor of Mass High Tech, which specializes in covering the region’s next generation technologies, and the people and companies behind New England’s success.

Along with Doug, Topazer Tony Sapienza joins me for a round table discussion about journalism these days, as well as a few tips for PR pros like us.

Add to our discussion – how else have PR and journalism changed?

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