A genuinely funny story has been getting a good number of retweets of late. It's a write up by James Gritt of Vice magazine. Basically he slams the place - and he does it with some genuinely funny irony too.
"Usually you go to these places and it’s impossible to find something that isn’t penis-shaped, so it was a relief to find this understated little trinket to take home to my grandparents" - alongside a badge with the slogan 'Show us yer piss flaps' on it for example!
Be warned before you read PR Holiday - We went on a foam party to Magaluf that there are graphic pictures of people shagging on the beach, drunken half naked girls at a foam party and more. (I bet I get more clicks from this link than any other on my blog... and that kind of says it all...)
It's being hailed as a PR fail of epic proportions. And you can see why - James clearly hated the place. Or at least that's the impression you take away from his piece.
But I'm not so sure.
Magaluf is what it is. It's sleazy, it's drunken, it's hell on earth for some holiday makers. But for everyone? And specifically for the kids who read Vice? You could argue that the PR guy got his demographic targetting just right. Vice magazine has attracted some very high profile backers and it's seen as one of a handful of publications that has real engagement with the teen/young adult market. It's a really impressive product. The print version used to be available in Brighton and I've read several issues.
James does a great job - he doesn't condone this kind of stuff and, actually, that's the clever bit. If he'd written a 'phwwoar get pissed in Magaluf ' kind of post, he'd have had a stream of 'how could you... this is disgusting' comments under his post and probably far fewer tweets and retweets. Conversely, if he'd tried to make out that Magaluf was some kind of family-friendly sophisticated beach resort - that would have been doing his readers a huge disservice. It's an honest write-up. And if you look at other posts on the Vice website you see that it's totally what you'd expect - Amsterdam Squat Riot! is another recent post.
Read the comments below the post and you see plenty saying 'ugh!'... and a good few saying 'I'm booking a trip there right now!'
I wonder if James put his camera back in his room and then went back out to join in the mayhem once he'd got his shots for the piece?
And... Is the PR exec who arranged the trip packing their desk into a box or cracking the champagne right now?
What do you think?
Pic credit: James Gritt/Vice magazine