# Spin doctors in charge of RI memorial service? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 23, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995 "2003-02-23T18:34:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/1 "2003-02-23T18:34:31Z")
From [AP:](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=533&e=1&cid=533&u=/ap/20030223/ap_on_re_us/nightclub_fire) > [@](#): > > A memorial service was planned Sunday night, described as “prayer unplugged.” Mourners were encouraged to bring acoustic guitars to honor the victims. WTF? This seems so bizarre to me that I wonder whether I’M nuts. Do a Google News search for “prayer unplugged”. It’s a freakin’ marketing term. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/2 "2003-02-23T18:50:00Z")
I did a Google search for “prayer unplugged”. I got a lot of evangelism websites. I don’t see any references to “marketing terms”. So WTF are you talking about? I thought the idea of an acoustic memorial service for a rock band was a nice touch, actually. ---
**Author:** ![ganglian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@ganglian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganglian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/3 "2003-02-23T18:56:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*I did a Google search for “prayer unplugged”. I got a lot of evangelism websites. I don’t see any references to “marketing terms”. > > So WTF are you talking about? > > I thought the idea of an acoustic memorial service for a rock band was a nice touch, actually. \*\* mourning for the fan i more than appropriate, the band how ever should be lambasted… Apparently they had two previous occurances where they used pyrotechnics without permission, and one look at how low the cieling was should have given anyone with a clue the sense this was BAD idea… The blame for the loss of life lies solely with the band and I think it reprehensible if they are ever allowed to play anywhere ever again… ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/4 "2003-02-23T18:58:09Z")
Oh, okay, I see your beef. You see a carefully orchestrated PR event, whereas I see only grieving relatives being given a chance to see the place where their kids died and get some closure without having to fight their way through the traffic jams of gawkers. YMMV, I guess. But generally speaking, carefully orchestrated PR events benefit somebody. Who is this supposed “PR event” benefiting? The band? The nightclub? Gov. Carcieri? I don’t see anybody benefiting except the families. In this story, I don’t even see any mention of which “spin doctors” are organizing the bus caravan. The Governor’s office? Why would he do that and not take credit for it? [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/23/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/23/deadly.nightclub.fire/index.html) If there are indeed “spin doctors” somewhere orchestrating this, they seem to have omitted to give their names to the media. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/5 "2003-02-23T19:14:28Z")
Here I thought he was referrirng to"Spin Doctors", the band. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spin-doctors-in-charge-of-ri-memorial-service/156995/6 "2003-02-23T19:40:10Z")
I’m sorry. I was unclear. What I meant was, “unplugged” is a musical marketing term. If you do the google search for “paryer unplugged”, you see it’s been attached to this memorial service. I was offended because someone has tacked on this label, and appears to be spinning this into some kind of planned media event, or even worse, entertainment. Perhaps I am wrong, but that’s how I perceived it.