14-year old Ahmed Mohamed says he wants to be an inventor. But Ahmed took a homemade clock with him to school on September 14th, saying later that he wanted to show his engineering teacher just how much he understands the concepts. Unfortunately, all the wires and computer board sticking out of his bag reminded several of the teachers more of a bomb. And the trouble began. Police were called in, and they isolated Ahmed while they tried to figure out what was happening. Police say Ahmed was less than forthcoming while he was there. He’s 14 and having police questioning him on his own may have been terrifying enough to shut him down emotionally – or there may be more sinister issues. That response didn’t serve him well with the police. It took them awhile to sort out that it was a clock. Many still believe it may have been meant to appear as a bomb – referring to it as a “hoax bomb.” Others are outraged at the response calling it discrimination. The Mayor of Irving said several of the teachers and police officers have received death threats. Supporters of Ahmed gathered on the grounds of the school one evening in a rally to support Ahmed and call for his suspension to be lifted by the school. Since the event, Ahmed has hired Universal Media Group in Dallas to handle this high-profile crisis communications situation as his PR firm. Dallas attorney, Thomas Bowers is representing Ahmed. Universal Media Group is a full-service PR and advertising firm with offices in Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and London. They focus much of their work on the advertising side, but they also do branding, media placement, online, and digital work for clients. They specialize working with clients in the medical, home furnishings, jewelry, B2B, automotive, and apparel industries, but have the resources to be of assistance to anyone. Still, they make no bones about primarily being an advertising agency, creating stories and generally paying for “air” time. So it is interesting that when it came to this particular client, they went with an “advertising” firm rather than a more traditional PR firm. Considering the lawsuit that has since been filed (see update), using an ad firm may provide a way to keep a tighter control on information being released to the public on behalf of the client. In the Dallas area there are good local pr firms:
