…or you’re likely to find yourself in hot water.

Mark Bernheimer does a stellar job of distilling the IRS “I’m not good at math” Media Disaster in his article today – and it’s a great read, to boot. While the PR world is still digesting the Amy and Samy Bouzalo social media meltdown, I was glad to see Mark’s larger focus on the IRS case.

The behavior in Amy’s kitchen certainly falls into the category of egregious (as well as jaw-droppingly ill-advised, half-baked, and a host of other unflattering adjectives), but in terms of real consequences and the price tag to the public, the temperature’s hotter in the IRS cafeteria. I am not looking forward to the fallout – but we’re all going to be living with this hot mess for a long time!

See Mark strut his crisis media management stuff in his article, “IRS: Media Disaster.” As always, Mulberry Street is proud to partner with Mark Bernheimer and Media Works Resource Group for our clients’ media and speaker training.

Here’s our tip, which should be worth at least 20%: When you’re a spokesperson for the IRS, don’t try to pass the buck.

Weigh in! Which do you think was the worse media misstep: the profanity-laden venom layered on thicker than buttercreme frosting from Amy’s Baking Co., or the good-humored  ”I’m very not good at my job” demonstration from the IRS legal team?

If you’re wondering why I don’t respond to your 4 a.m. text unless it’s by appointment (love my early-bird clients!), or why it’s obvious that we put in overtime to finish your project, but I was out of communication all last evening, well…my secret’s out – and it’s published at CBS MoneyWatch.

The article will also explain why there’s only a napkin next to my salad fork if we’re having dinner together, and why I’m not constantly looking under the conference table during meetings.

(What the article doesn’t explain is how often I’m out of cell range on my mountain bike, but that’s not for public knowledge. It’s just between you and me!)

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/uUSibT

Do you think it would hurt your business if you turned on the “genius” setting on your SmartPhone and switched the thing off?

Welcome to Heard on Mulberry Street, the blog from Mulberry Street Market Intelligence. I’m Ruth Danielson, one of the Mulberry Street People. This little piece of heaven is where I get to hang out, share some marketing & PR tips that you can use in your business, entertain you, and hopefully make a connection that will make your life, or your day, or just this moment, a little bit better.

“Heard on Mulberry Street” (HoMS) started out as a just running list of cheeky, witty, off-color or profound things that were said on Mulberry Street while we were industriously promoting our clients’ businesses and making them look cool. HoMS have been shared on Twitter and FaceBook, around the watercooler, among our friends and clients; over time, HoMS developed a little following of people who like to be informed when other people say embarrassing, pithy, witty or insightful things.

But we’re a talkin’ bunch and eventually, we decided that we had a few other things that we wanted to talk about, including what we actually do here – which is to create winning marketing and PR strategies for entrepreneurs and established businesses. We also needed a place to talk about food, because we’re doing it anyway. And finally, we like to listen to music – and to promote the people responsible for it – while we do pretty much anything else.

So now you can find all of that here.

Tune in regularly for great tips to market, brand, and promote your business. Bring us your mouth-watering foodie experiences and the music that puts you in a better mood, and we’ll take it in trade. And remember to say that you Heard it on Mulberry Street.

Tunefully yours,

Ruth Danielson
president & founder
mulberry street market intelligence