The Rose & Allyn public relations firm of Scottsdale loves its reputation for over-the-top and sometimes outrageous publicity stunts. They certainly get credit (and blame) for some of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s antics and have been associated with some rather odd ideas such as placing the name of the Pink Taco restaurant on the Cardinals football stadium.

One smaller gag known almost exclusively to Valley journalists is the push by Rose & Allyn to be the PR firm who delivers the first Christmas cards of the year. So they arrange for their usually funny message of seasonal good cheer to arrive in our mailboxes – in July.

But being first doesn’t make you the best (sorry, Jason Rose), as we found out at the Tribune Monday when editorial page editor Bob Satnan received a holiday offering from another Valley firm, HMA Public Relations.

The small, tidy and tasteful envelope simply declares “Cheers.” On the inside are six cards with holiday drink recipes or at least suggestions, each one signed by a different member of the HMA staff. This clever twist on the traditional Christmas card is functional while keeping the HMA identity in front of the eyes of anyone trying out the recipes.

The 5-inch by 5-inch cards are made from strong enough paper stock that they could serve as temporary drink coasters, which also makes this holiday message reusable and little more environmentally friendly.

All six drinks are alcoholic and some feature intriguing names such as the Beer Margarita, the Snowplow and a Raspberry Mocha’tini. But the one that Bob and I like the best comes from the boss himself, Scott Hanson. (Full disclosure: Hanson is a professional acquaintance as we both are members of the Valley professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists).

Scott’s recipe doesn’t have a name but says, “Go to Circle K. Purchase Miller Lite. Open can. Consume contents. Crush can when finished and put in the recycle bin. Repeat process.”

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