You should have put Cowell in a kilt to get profile, says Clifford

BRITAIN'S leading publicist, Max Clifford, has accused the Scottish Government of thinking too small and being too conventional with Scotland Week.

Mr Clifford has said there appeared to be nobody in the Scottish Government capable of thinking up something to get the country the attention of millions of Americans.

He questioned why they had not thought about putting Simon Cowell in a kilt for the American Idol show today.

He added that 100 speeches by Alex Salmond, the First Minister, would not make up for that.

"That was just one idea off the top of my head," said Mr Clifford. "Simon Cowell is Britain's biggest star in America on America's biggest show by far, beamed to at least 25 million there and even more around the globe.

"If Simon had worn a kilt, something he has never done before, then he would been asked why and could explain that it was to mark Scotland week.

"Immediately it would have hit all the front pages, millions of Americans would have been thinking about Scotland and you would have had millions pounds of publicity in a minute.

"The trouble is that the people who organise these things are conventional and think too small."

The newly rebranded Scotland Week has though been hailed as a success by the Scottish Government. It dropped some of the glitz from its old incarnation as Tartan Week and had a far more serious approach, led by the First Minister.

Mr Clifford's comments seem to be backed up with the apparent difficulty of finding Scotland Week stories on US media websites.

However, an official Scottish Government spokesman pointed out that Mr Salmond has had interviews in significant newspapers, including the New York Times, appeared on many business channels, and his three keynote speeches have been so popular people have had to be turned away. They are planning booking bigger auditoriums next year.

Added to that, they have attracted the attention of some of America's foremost political glitterati, including its leading lady Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are well satisfied with the media coverage we have received; it is never easy."

The parade in the Big Apple will feature 2,000 pipers and drummers; no Sean Connery this year, but it does figure the Scottish American footballer Lawrence Tynes, of the newly crowned Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants.

Writing for The Scotsman in the News Review today, the First Minister is proud of his achievements – in particular, the impact of the £10 million Saltire Prize, which he launched with National Geographic this week for inventors to come up with ways of harnessing clean, renewable energy, such as wave power.

"We are a nation with the ambition to be one of the success stories of this 21st century. We are a small country that is thinking big," he wrote. "Scotland has already been blessed with black gold – our North Sea oil resource – and we now have a second windfall, the green gold of our vast offshore renewable power.

"The ideas generated by the Saltire Prize will be demonstrated in Scotland, making our country the place to be for this particularly important renewable technology."

However, one journalist who has attended several Tartan weeks said this year's "had the impact of a wet weekend in Wick".

In The Scotsman news review today American business and media analyst Dan Gainor also raise doubts about this year's "subtle approach".

TARTAN WEEK VETERAN BACKS INDEPENDENCE VOTE

THE veteran American politician who helped to dream up Tartan Week has backed Alex Salmond's calls for a referendum on independence.

Former Mississippi senator Trent Lott has said the people of Scotland should be given the chance to decide their own future.

He did not back independence, but said a referendum might help Scotland to get a better deal out of Union.

Mr Lott said: "(A referendum] is the democratic way to do things. You need to make sure your leaders have considered all the ramifications carefully.

"As Lincoln would say, you should trust the people when they have been informed properly on an issue."

A source close to the First Minister said the SNP was delighted to receive Mr Lott's backing.

The main UK parties oppose a referendum and have set up a review of the Scottish Parliament's powers as a rival to the SNP's National Conversation.