The news this week has included lots of thoughts and comment about Malcolm McLaren who recently passed away. Everyone seems to have an opinion about how his achievements affected modern media, music and fashion, some complimentary and some not so.

Whatever your perspective it cannot be denied that McLaren had a true talent for PR in its most visceral form. It is not often that someone in entertainment manages to polarise the opinions of three generations. Many of the (shock) tactics that McLaren employed in the promotion of himself and his b(r)ands would not have the same impact today and most have no place in mainstream PR but there are elements which survive.

In the late 1970s he was instrumental in bringing punk to the attention of mainstream media, it does not matter if you were not part of the scene, we all know what punk was all about and recognise its lasting impact on modern fashion and music. This is the sort of dissemination of information that modern marketeers can only dream of.