What an embargo is for, and when to skip one

An embargo is an agreement: we tell you something early, you publish it no earlier than a time we agree. It is the oldest tool in launch PR, and the one we see misused most often.

What it is for

An embargo gives an editor time. Time to visit the workshop, to test the product, to interview the founder properly instead of over a ten minute call on launch morning. The best launch coverage we have ever placed was written over three weeks under embargo, with photographs that took a whole day to shoot.

When it works

Embargoes work when the story is genuinely better with time, when you can give every outlet the same access, and when the date is real. A shop opening, a product on sale, a collection on the runway. If the editor can check that nothing happened before the date, they will respect it.

When to skip it

If the news fits in one paragraph, an embargo only adds friction. If you are offering an exclusive to one title, you do not need one at all, you need a handshake and a date. And if you cannot say why the date matters, the editor will not see why either.

How we send one

We never send embargoed material to anyone who has not agreed to the embargo first. We ask, by phone or a short email, and only send the details once they say yes. The date and time go at the top of every page, in their time zone, and we never move the date after it has been agreed.

Breaking it

It happens, usually by accident. When it does, we lift the embargo for everyone within the hour. The worst outcome is not one early story, it is every other editor finding out they waited for nothing.