Not many people had ever heard about Paltalk, a group chat service, until it was mentioned alongside Facebook and Google during the initial PRISM scandal. Now, its PR team is using this scarce, horrible press as a hook.

What follows is probably the worst pitch I've ever seen in three years of very bad pitches, forwarded to me by a friend and prominent tech writer:

From: Sarah Leibowitz <sarah@sparkpr.com>

Subject: Before PRISM/NSA no one had heard of Paltalk; New product launch next week

Date: July 18, 2013 2:XX:XX PM EDT

To: "XXXXXXXXX"

Hi XX,

You may never have heard of Paltalk before the PRISM - in spite of the fact that it powers one of the largest collections of live “group video chat communities” in the world. On July 22nd, Paltalk is launching its first tablet app and I thought you might be interested in sneak peak and a chat with the company's president Wilson Kriegel.

This is a game-changing introduction for Paltalk, bringing it forward as a global chat solution for 5.5 million unique users. Paltalk enables people to meet and interact around topics, interests, content and culture through free video and audio chat, and instant messaging. The new interface is clean and easy to use.

Paltalk was founded in 2009, and is profitable, the only video chat company to be profitable. With 40% of its users in the US and Europe, a third in the Middle East and the remainder in Asia, Paltalk is one of the few true social discovery platforms that actually works to break down barriers of social convention. As the video chat category has expanded with brands like Airtime and Tinychat, I thought you might be interested in taking a look.

Here are the details on the app:

* iOS 5+ and Android 4.0+ compatible
* View up to 7 other people's cams in a room, depending on your device
* Broadcast using your device's front or back camera
* Works over WiFi and cellular data
* Push notifications for receiving messages when you're offline
* Cross-compatible with all other Paltalk experiences
* Free to download and use (carrier data charges may apply)

Company president Wilson Kriegel, formerly with Zynga, is available to meet next week to take you through the app. Since joining in December, he has been laser-focused on innovation in social discovery, content creation and sharing, usability, and driving user and revenue growth.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Regards,

Sarah Leibowitz
Account Coordinator – NY
Sparkpr*
Sarah@sparkpr.com
Direct: 646.291.6038 x038
Mobile: 516.384.4531
Skype: Sarah.Leibowitz1
Twitter:@Sarah_C8
30 West 26th St., 3rd fl
New York, NY 10010

Bulldog Reporter Gold Award - Best Use of Digital/Social for a Consumer Technology Campaign 2012

Tech Agency of the Year – Holmes Report 2012 + TechCrunch Crunchies
Best Places to Work in the Bay Area – SF Business Times 2010-2012
Best Boutique Agency – Bulldog Reporter 2010

Hello, you might remember us from BAD ONGOING SCARY THING!

If the only way you can get people to remember your product is by reminding them of one of the biggest privacy debacles in United States history, you might want to hit the white board and regroup.