The world’s most shameless press release

Well, that didn’t take long, did it? Just three days after Michael Jackson’s death, and a tour company is already trying to cash in.

A few minutes ago, I received perhaps the most shameless press release I have ever received. I suspect other journalists and publications did as well.

Michael Jackson’s star

On Saturday, I blogged about the corpse opportunists trying to get themselves a scrap of the media spotlight at Michael Jackson’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But it seems as though there is something more odious than these people – and that’s a travel company trying to make money by taking people there for that purpose.

Free publicity?

Reading through Door2Tour.com’s press release, it’s fairly clear that “Plenty of free time to see the sights of Los Angeles as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame to pay your respects to at Michael Jackson’s ‘Star’” has been slotted into pre-existing itineraries. Why? Who knows, but a fair interpretation would be that it’s a flagrant attempt to latch on to the story of the day in order to get free publicity.

PR companies do this all the time; it’s just that the story of the day isn’t normally someone dying.

This is corpse opportunism taken to a whole new level. I have reproduced the press release in full below. I have also contacted the company and asked them why they saw fit to send out such a press release, and shall publish the responses here if and when they do respond.

Press release from Door2Tour.com

Title: Michael Jackson: pay your last respects with Door2Tour.com – press release from Door2Tour.com

Press Release                                                                                  

June 2009

Pay Tribute to Michael Jackson in LA with Door2Tour.com

- From only £1,374 per person -

The recent tragic death of Michael Jackson has seen an outpouring of mixed emotions from around the world. Many have travelled to LA to leave tributes & messages of condolence by his ‘Star’ on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. You too could pay your last respects to one of whom many would call the greatest music icons in the world by taking holidays by air to Los Angeles.

Door2Tour.com offers a wide variety of holidays by air with nationwide pick-up points across the UK including: London Heathrow & Gatwick, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and more.

America’s Golden West, from only £1,374 per person:

v      12 days departing on 20 July or 09 August 2009

v      10 nights room only accommodation in the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, The Vagabond Motel (or similar) in Palm Springs, The Airtel Plaza Hotel or Sportsmen’s Lodge in Los Angeles, the Best Western Casa Grande (or similar) in San Luis Obispo and The Radisson in San Francisco.

v      Plenty of free time to see the sights of Los Angeles as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame to pay your respects to at Michael Jackson’s ‘Star’

v      Enjoy a city tour of Las Vegas & half day sightseeing tours of Los Angeles and San Francisco

v      Highlights include: The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Hollywood, Pacific Coast & San Francisco

v      All transfers between hotels & airport

Western Explorer, from only £1,624 per person:

v      15 days departing on 5 Aug or 2 Sept 2009

v      13 nights room only accommodation staying at the Airtel Plaza or Sportsmen’s Lodge in Los Angeles, the Holiday Inn Seaworld in San Diego, the Hospitality Suites Resort in Scottsdale, the Radisson Hotel in Flagstaff, the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, the Swan Court Hotel in Selma and the Radisson Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco

v      Plenty of free time to see the sights of Los Angeles as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame to pay your respects to ‘Jacko’

v      Enjoy city tour of Las Vegas & 2 half day sightseeing tours of San Diego and San Francisco

v      Highlights include: Los Angeles, San Diego, The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park and San Francisco

v      All transfers between hotels and airport

For further information, please visit: www.door2tour.com or call

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For further information, images or to arrange a press trip with Door2Tour.com contact:

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Notes to Editors:

Door2Tour.com is a consolidation of tour operators creating a diverse choice of UK and worldwide touring holidays, events packages, cruises and holidays by air to many exciting destinations. All have live availability and offer the customer the opportunity to book online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Door2Tour.com is the ultimate touring and coach holiday booking and reference service as it offers over 30,000 tour choices from hundreds of regional UK departure points with some operators picking up passengers from their door.

Door2Tour.com is a comprehensive guide and a reference point as the site to date boasts 1,000+ originally crafted content pages with more than 6,000 images and this content is growing on a daily basis.

Door2Tour.com uses the Internet to attract new customers to the coach tourism industry, delivering the next generation of coach tour passengers.

Tags: California, marketing, Michael Jackson, PR, Travel Industry