PR for PR's sake?

I would like to applaud Lewis PR in London for their quick response in seizing an opportunity for a bit of self-publicity when a Whale was spotted swimming in The Thames. Not only did they create a special blog, they got themselves interviewed live on Sky News to plug it.

The location of their London office provided them with a unique opportunity to provide a ‘witness’ report, which is always a guaranteed hit on rolling news programs while broadcasters were no doubt frantically scrambling to find experts to comment on the whale’s health and any other bits of trivia that would keep the endless coverage new and fresh.

I do admit that, to start with at least, the continuous posts on the blog gave us some amusement on a Friday afternoon. Some lucky Lewis employee got to spend their afternoon thinking up cheesy headlines to liven up their own ‘rolling’ news coverage about the whale. "Whale takes to the Sky"(copter), "Whale meet Again" and "Battersea Whale’s Home" are just some of the classics.

But I wonder what benefits this exercise really brought to Lewis. Is it just PR for PR’s sake?

Hat tip to Gioconda Beekman in Peppercom's London office for contributing to this post.