The Daily Schmooze

40-foot yellow rubber duck floating in Pittsburgh harbor with the city skyline behind it

EXCLUSIVE A PITTSBURGH ORIGINAL

40-Foot Duck Commandeers Three Rivers; Network Helicopters Circle Above

Studio Florentijn Hoffman’s yellow giant draws a quarter-million spectators to the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Pittsburgh City Council declares Cultural Trust Day. Estimated tens of millions in economic boost.

By S. Markowitz Pittsburgh, Pa. Filed for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Photograph. The duck arrives at the Roberto Clemente Bridge for its Welcome Bridge Party. More than 100,000 spectators turn out within hours.

What is so special about a giant rubber duck? Plenty, as it turns out. On September 27, 2013, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust unveiled the third installment of its International Festival of Firsts with a single, 40-foot, unmistakably yellow ambassador. Network helicopters circled overhead. Local affiliates broke into regular programming. Within weeks, the bird had pulled the equivalent of a small World’s Fair into the Three Rivers.

Markowitz Communications staged a teaser press conference two days prior featuring the Dutch artist himself, kept constant contact with the wires, and arranged prime river-side documentation positions for every camera in town. A farewell event on October 18 closed the run, generating renewed national coverage and a public petition to keep the duck permanently.

Continued in The Big Vault. Turn to the archives ›

Pittsburgh Ice Cream Shop Raises Minimum Wage to $15; National Press Pours In Like Sprinkles

By S. Markowitz Penn Ave., Pittsburgh

Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor sign on Penn Avenue — Photograph. Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor, a Pittsburgh institution since 1923, on Penn Avenue.

When Klavon’s announced a $15-an-hour starting wage, the story walked itself onto national television. MSNBC called. Bernie Sanders and Debra Messing tweeted. Thousands of applications arrived within days. A neighborhood scoop shop on Penn Avenue became, for one news cycle, a national parable.

Earlier in the pandemic, the same kitchen had developed “ice cream survival kits” for home delivery. The first 300 sold out in twenty-four hours. The team stayed on payroll. The morale in the city ticked up by a degree or two.

Cirque du Soleil Pitches Its Tent in Pittsburgh; Quidam Run Extended Twice

By S. Markowitz Strip District

Photograph. Cirque du Soleil show artwork. The tent-raising itself became a recurring broadcast image across the run.

Less than six weeks separated the contract from opening night. Tickets ran $45 to $125. The Montreal-based theatrical circus was “coming off a disappointing turnout in another town,” as the agency notes diplomatically in the file.

Founder Saul Markowitz flew to Montreal to bone up on the company, then introduced their publicist Anita to every reporter and arts editor in Western Pennsylvania. When a German-wheel performer turned out to have local ties, his portrait ran color, above the fold, on page one of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Final score: 30-plus print articles, 2 hours and 34 minutes of TV coverage, two extensions of the run, and a standing invitation back to town.

Van Gogh Floats Down Liberty Avenue; Hard-Hat Tours and a 90-Foot Balloon

By S. Markowitz Downtown Pittsburgh

Immersive Van Gogh promotional artwork — Photograph. Immersive Van Gogh, Pittsburgh, the year a 90-foot balloon paraded down Liberty Avenue.

The team built the launch around three set pieces: a hard-hat media tour through the empty installation, a VIP launch party for the city’s tastemakers, and a 90-foot inflatable Van Gogh balloon parading downtown. Shows sold out. Runs extended. The exhibition’s arrival in Pittsburgh registered as the cultural event of the season.

The Living Dead Return to Pittsburgh, Fifty Years On

By S. Markowitz Evans City Cemetery

Night of the Living Dead 50th anniversary campaign artwork — Photograph. The Living Dead, returned to the cemetery where they began.

For the 50th anniversary of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the campaign returned the film to the cemetery where it was shot. The story attracted national horror press, local pilgrimages, and a screening lineage that reintroduced the film to a generation that had only ever streamed it.

OPINION · A Recurring Column

Schmoozology

By S. Markowitz, Editor in Chief

Every company has a story to tell. How you tell it, where you tell it, and who tells it is what makes a campaign work, or not. That is the long and short of it. The rest is execution.

We are not shy about sharing our opinions, and we are also here to listen. We promote our clients as much as possible, while minimizing what they spend doing it. We stay proactive during the crises, and we never write an ordinary press release if a small stunt, a microsite, or a well-placed phone call will do the job better.

Schmoozology, if it is anything, is the art of being on the other end of the line when a reporter needs a story. It is hockey, in the sense that the Deli Line sets up the goal and someone else puts it in the net. We have been at this for twenty-nine years on April Fool’s Day, and we are not bored yet.

S. M., from the desk.

Human Interest

Who Knew?

Six stunts. One small Pittsburgh agency. A wire feed that wrote itself.

Cirque du Soleil snowball fight in Erie, Pennsylvania — A summer snowball fight, in Erie.

For Cirque du Soleil. In July.

Title card for the film Unsinkable — 200 million impressions for one Titanic.

The film was called *Unsinkable*. The campaign was, too.

Bat-signal projected on a Pittsburgh skyscraper — The Bat-signal, on Fifth Avenue Place.

Projected the night before *The Dark Knight Rises* began filming in town.

Klavon's Ice Cream winter penny cones — Penny cones, in February.

Klavon’s winter promotion turned an off-season into a queue around the block.

Crowd of Steelers fans waving Terrible Towels — The largest Terrible Towel wave on record.

Organized, choreographed, and certified by Guinness.

40-foot rubber duck on the river — A 40-foot rubber duck.

Pittsburgh has not been the same since.

The Archives

The Big Vault

Since opening our doors in 1997, we have worked with a wide variety of clients on a vast amount of projects. From restaurant openings to art festivals to press conferences, we have done it all.

2013Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

The Rubber Duck Project

322.5M global impressions. 1M+ visitors. One yellow ambassador.

2021Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor

The $15 Wage Heard Round the Country

MSNBC, Daily Mail, Bernie Sanders, Debra Messing. Thousands of applicants.

2002Cirque du Soleil

Quidam Comes to Pittsburgh

30+ print articles. 2 hrs 34 min of TV. Run extended twice.

2021Immersive Van Gogh

A 90-Foot Balloon Marches Downtown

Sold-out run. Hard-hat media tours. The city, repainted.

OngoingPetSmart

PetSmart Charities

National adoption events with consistent local hit rates.

Multi-yearWentworth Gallery

Wentworth Gallery

Artist openings, collectors’ previews, and reliable foot traffic.

Multi-yearMarinus Analytics

Marinus Analytics

Tech-for-good positioning for an AI startup with a serious mission.

Multi-yearFred Rogers Productions

Family Communications

Stewarding the legacy of a Pittsburgh neighbor.

2018Night of the Living Dead

Living Dead, Fifty Years On

A 50th-anniversary return to the cemetery where it began.

Hover or touch to pause. Drag to scrub.

Plus HBO, AT&T, Simon Property Group, the Tree of Life, PittMoss, Digital Dream Labs, the Children’s Museum, sculptor Jim West, Daedalum, and a few we cannot name in print. Inquire at the desk.

Correspondence

Letters to the Editor

Unsolicited remarks from people who pay us. Reproduced with permission.

FROM HBO

“Saul and his team did an outstanding job garnering press for one of our events in Pittsburgh. He’s extremely creative and used his many connections to create a successful PR campaign, which resulted in several media hits.”

Loraine Anderson

Director of Corporate Affairs and Regional PR, HBO

FROM AT&T Pennsylvania

“Markowitz Communications has mastered the art of pitching a story. In any market throughout the state, whatever the assignment, they have found a way to make it work for AT&T. Markowitz is our secret weapon.”

Lenora Vesio

Director of Public Relations, AT&T Pennsylvania

FROM Simon Property Group

“Markowitz Communications has been a wonderful partner in our communications efforts in Pittsburgh. They have increased our coverage and are always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

Les Morris

Director of Public Relations, Simon Property Group

Page C-1

Today’s Classifieds

A complete list of capabilities, set in the time-honored format.

HELP WANTED

CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS. We remain as proactive as possible during any crisis. Steady hand, drafted statements, reporter relationships, and the calm of having done this before. Confidential. Hours: any.

WANTED

MEDIA RELATIONS & CONNECTIONS. Reporters with deadlines, editors with column inches. Well-earned reputation among national and local contacts. We know who covers what, and we know what they want to read on a Tuesday at 4 p.m.

INSTRUCTION

MEDIA TRAINING. We will train your executives to face cameras, handle ambush questions, and remember to look pleasant. Custom curriculum. On-camera coaching included.

AVAILABLE

STRATEGIC PLANNING & BRAND DEVELOPMENT. One brand, freshly developed. Includes positioning, voice, messaging architecture, launch sequencing, and a contingency plan for when things actually go right.

INFORMATION

CONSUMER TREND MONITORING. Intense competitor and industry keyword monitoring. We watch what the kids are watching so you do not have to.

ACCOUNTING

ROI ANALYSIS & MEDIA TRACKING. Numbers that show the work worked. Proprietary research combined with the online databases. Reports your CFO will read twice.

PERSONALS

S.W.M., 60s, founded a PR firm on April Fool’s Day, 1997, seeks the next brand worth getting out of bed for. Call 412-977-8517 or write the editor below. No catfishing, please.

Masthead Notes

From the Editor’s Desk

Saul Markowitz has always been a storyteller. He began his career in the public relations department of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, then became the first manager of public relations and promotions for the newly-restored Benedum Center for the Performing Arts at the age of twenty-four. He went on to direct public relations at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts and, after that, became the first director of marketing and public relations at the Pittsburgh Zoo as a newly formed private non-profit.

He founded Markowitz Communications on April Fool’s Day, 1997, with his wife Bonnie. The agency has not stopped working since. Restaurant openings, art festivals, press conferences, crisis statements, photo-worthy moments engineered against the city skyline. When they reach the editor on a Saturday night for a brainstorm, he is, more often than not, at a Penguins game or a birthday party, and answers anyway.

Saul anchors the Deli Line in the Pittsburgh adult hockey league, where he is known for setting up teammates for the easy goal. It is sort of what he does in PR, as well. He lives in Pittsburgh. He thinks Pittsburgh is the best city in the country. The evidence has been mounting in his favor for twenty-nine years.

The Daily Schmooze.

Page A1, Bottom Fold

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