'Do you actually possess a soul?': PR man mocked for online diary

Dean Gallagher's 'a week in the life' has gone viral - and not for a good reason. Picture: news.com.au.

A PR professional's musings in a week-long diary have been mocked online after it went viral.

Dean Gallagher, an associate director at public relations firm Weber Shandwick in Manchester in the UK, published his "A Week in My Life" article on PR and marketing news website Prolific North earlier this week.

The 29-year-old's account of his working week and activities, which included profound lines such as "Last thought of the day: Syria", has been widely ridiculed, with many readers questioning whether it was supposed to be a parody or "spoof".

On Tuesday, April 10, Mr Gallagher wrote: "Bill's back! An old colleague has returned to the fold. Welcome hug. "Drink later". "Yes". Back to work, aligning with our consumer colleagues on the progression of a client's brand evolution exercise ... Last thought of the day: Syria …"

On Wednesday, April 11 it was followed up with: "The team are still buzzing from yesterday's results. Legends, one and all. Next. A line management meeting with one of our awesome account directors. 360 feedback is glowing, unsurprisingly. Ambitious. Dedicated. Gutsy. Entrepreneurial. He's Weber through and through. Last thought of the day: Why did I Deliveroo again?"

This is wonderful. Surely a well executed parody via @maustyn https://t.co/OAmhmKfigE

— Adam (@AdamFlinter) April 20, 2018

His stream-of-consciousness entry for Thursday was also panned online, with lines such as: "This business is insane. Impressive growth. Unique. Fast paced. There's a lot to love. We'll work well together."

And finally, on Friday, April 13 he wrote: "The week closes, as it always does, with a million and one questions flying around my grey matter."

The original post attracted many comments, with one person asking: "Do you actually possess a soul?" while another asked: "Is this a spoof?" and a third said: "Last thought of the day: w*****"

It was also quickly picked up on social media.

While some Twitter users defended Mr Gallagher's post, saying he was simply "overly enthusiastic" with a "lack of self-awareness" — most people condemned his writing.

This needs to be a book. The brevity and staccato style reminded me of Hemingway. Plus I almost died laughing.

— alice smellie (@alicesmellie) April 19, 2018

Some commentators even compared Mr Gallagher's writing style to that of British spoof character Alan Partridge, a famously clueless TV and radio presenter.

Mr Gallagher has not yet responded to the growing furore on either LinkedIn or Twitter.

- News.com.au