Press Release Assignment – Bristol’s Best

You work for a PR agency that represents Bristol’s Best Beverage Company. You are to create a press
release for your client announcing its new product, Bristol’s Best Crème Soda.

Here are the facts about your product:

 Nonalcoholic soft drink

 Available in three flavors
o regular
o vanilla
o toffee
 Non-calorie and regular versions
o 130 calories per 12-ounce glass for the regular
o 0 calories for the diet (non-calorie)
 Uses a new type of sweetener made from lactose
 Organic
 Useful as a sports drink, as a mixer, as a refreshing pick-me-up
 Available at most grocery chains and wherever fine alcohol is served
 Made in England, imported to the U.S.
 Drink will be released in the U.S. on May 15
 Sodas are bottled using natural spring water; crème soda flavors come from rare spices
imported from around the world

Information on the company

 Manufacturer is Bristol’s Best Beverage Company

 CEO is Chauncey Wicket
 Bristol’s Best Beverage was founded in 1863 and has been in business for more than 150 years
 Bristol’s Best Beverage profits are roughly $25 million per year
 More than 550 people work at Bristol’s Best Beverage
 Bristol is a port city in England
 U.S. headquarters is located in Columbia, SC
 Website is www.bristolsbestbeverage.com

Target audiences:
 Young people, dieters, sports fans, diabetics, athletes, or trade press (choose an audience to
target in crafting your release)

Tips:
 Identify 5W’s and 1H; prioritize information
 Build release from most important details to least important (use inverted pyramid)
 Bristol’s Best Crème Soda Page 2

 Craft two quotes for the release from internal employees. One should be from the CEO; the
other should be from the vice president of research and development.
 Don’t assume information on this assignment sheet conforms to AP Style. Check the AP rules
when needed.
 Your release should be set up just like the template I distributed on Blackboard.
 The release should be no longer than 2 pages.

Your release should include the following parts:

 Company letterhead (company name and web address at the top of the document)
 Release status (For Immediate Release) and date (date is today)
 Contact person (your name) and contact information
(email=yourname@bristolsbestbeverage.com) (phone=803-123-4567)
 Dateline (COLUMBIA, S.C.)
 Lede paragraph (no more than 2 sentences, approx. 30 words) (5 W’s and 1 H)
 Explanatory paragraphs (order of importance decreases by paragraph number)
 Two direct quotes from 2 different people within the organization
 Use --more-- at the end of each page. Use ### at the end of the final page
 Use a slug and the page number on the top left corner of page 2 and any successive pages
 End with a boilerplate
 Remember, the release is about the product; the boilerplate is about the company.
 Don’t just list facts as I’ve given them to you, weave the information together into an
interesting story.
 Release is coming from the U.S. headquarters in Columbia, S.C.