BOATY MCBOATFACE: ACCIDENTAL PR.

If you’re the Natural Environment Research Council it can often be difficult to make the headlines. While the organisation undoubtedly does incredible work understanding our ever changing environment, news about NERC (as it’s affectionately known) can’t keep up with the Kardashians or dislodge Ian Duncan Smith’s face from the papers.

Until now.

The Natural Environment Research Council’s new vessel is nameless, so a meeting was held, opinions were shared and no agreement was met. At that point someone (might have) said this:

“Why don’t we ask the public to suggest name?”

A moment of PR genius was born.

Thousands of suggestions flooded the website, crashing it for a period of time over the weekend, but, when the dust settled, one name rose above all the others…

There are some other funny names, obviously, but none compare to the genius, the simplicity, of this incredible work of art.

This name has thrust NERC into the national papers, crashed their website and got them tens of thousands of mentions on social media. This is PR that money can’t buy.