Think carefully before you jump on the media exposure ride.

Over the weekend and the beginning of the week the UK media lens was focused on just one man, Gordon Brown. In what was an awful few days for him, in terms of PR and no doubt personally, another reputation was put on the line by a company not thinking before taking advantage of a PR opportunity.

The National Bullying Helpline caused a storm when one of its co-founders went on record to say they had been contacted by MPs concerned about Gordon Brown.

The helpline, run by a husband and wife in Swindon, has seen a host of well-known patrons resign and is also facing an investigation from the Charity Commission.

Personally I think the helpline was right to grab the PR opportunity with both hands, it's imperative for charities to gain exposure and often it's very expensive. However there is a lot to be said for how they went about it.

The helpline should have come at the story from an advisory point of view – instead they breached confidentiality that turned the opportunity on its head. Who'd want to call a helpline that may repeat your problems to the national press!

Co-founder of The National Bullying Helpline, Christine Pratt, has now approached Max Clifford for help in dealing with the crisis.