Pentagon Deals Out "PR Play of the Week"

PR Week's "PR Play of the Week" goes to the Pentagon's limited edition playing cards, which the trade publication described as "part troop diversion and part Most Wanted poster." The cards features the pictures of the of 55 top members of the fallen Iraqi regime. "The deck's unveiling in and of itself would have amounted to a smart PR move, as the reporters stationed at the briefing center have grown restless in recent weeks from the perceived lack of real information and news coming from [Brig. Gen. Vincent] Brooks' daily briefings," PR Week writes. "Nevertheless, besides providing the media with at least one story that day, the Iraqi rogues' gallery playing cards also seem to serve as a great communications tool on at least two levels. First, the deck served an immediate practical function by showing the troops what members of the Iraqi regime look like. Secondly, the cards' subtlety reinforced the notion that the Hussein regime was on the run, and the only major wartime task left was to round up the suspects." According to the Guardian, the decks are being marketed in the U.S. for more than $100.