Stalin in Sochi

Since I recently posted a piece of a press release, I might risk repetitiveness today, but today's paragraph is too good to leave in the dustbin of PR history. Some context: the entire release, which is fairly informative as far as it goes, is about a US architect winning a commission to design a residential-retail project in Sochi, Russia.

Sochi, recently picked as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is probably still a little unfamiliar to us in the English-speaking world, so the release writer added some information about it. Including the names of some people I’ve never seen in a press release:

“Sochi, the ‘Russian Riviera,’ is a major port city situated between the Black Sea and the Caucasian mountain range. Sub-tropical in nature, Sochi has 400,000 residents and attracts many middle- and upper-class Russians for vacation in the summer. Many of Russia's leaders, including Lenin, Putin, Stalin and Khrushchev have had or currently have personal residences in this resort town offering a stunning backdrop for architecture.”

Just some nitpicking – it should be Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and then Putin, who may well belong in such august authoritarian company, but in any case he should be last. But the real fun is that the release has such a list. I’m sure, when he wasn’t sunning himself in the subtropical climes, or catching up on mass deportations -- he would always bring work on his vacations -- Stalin enjoyed the stunning architecture, too.