Most media relations pros might give up on a media outlet after 14 months of pitching. But nothing came in the way of Michael Turner of Bearsworth Communications.
Turner was pitching Mama Cooks California Style: New Twists on Jewish Classics. The cookbook was a compilation of recipes from residents at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the
Aging, where Turner was then the director of PR. Turner also wanted to use the cookbook and the residents to demonstrate to a national audience that the elderly could enjoy a
wonderful quality of life.
He began pitching the book and the people of the Home for the Aging to low-level producers on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Producers asked for additional details by phone, and
Turner, encouraged, wrote up a more detailed proposal. Several inconclusive calls later, the show went on summer hiatus.
In the fall, Rosie began touting her "chub" clubs, weight-loss groups created by avid viewers. Turner saw the perfect hook for his story. He encouraged several of the residents
to form the "Chubby Bubbies" (a play on "bubbe," the Yiddish word for grandmother).
Turner sent a letter to his contact and followed up with yet another call. After a series of conversations, an associate producer called in December to ask to chat with the two
women behind the pitch (a 90-year-old who contributed recipes to the book, and an 82-year-old exercise maven).
By January, the producers were hooked on Mollie and Martha and asked Turner to produce a video simulating an interview situation with them. In mid-February, the producers
finally let Turner know that they were interested in scheduling an interview. By late March, Mollie and Martha were a sure thing.
Mollie presented Rosie with homemade strudel, and Rosie presented her with a birthday cake (she turned 91 the day of the show). Martha charmed Rosie into performing some
exercises with her, and Rosie chatted up the cookbook. Best of all, when a band scheduled to be on the air canceled, "Rosie" producers filled the time with an encore of Mollie and
Martha in the final minutes, during which Martha announced she had found the cure for arthritis. "What is it?" Rosie asked. "Sex," Martha shouted. When Rosie asked how Martha knew
it worked, she responded gleefully, "I don't have arthritis!"
Turner's dogged determination paid off in spades. The 3.7 million viewers who caught the show definitely got the message about quality of life for the elderly, and they were
also exposed to the cookbook. Plus, Rosie enjoyed the two vibrant women so much that she invited them back to New York six weeks later for her 5K walk and run in Central Park.
(Turner, [email protected], 818/772-2678)