It's always interesting to look back on some of the early messages of
the PR industry. I read about the
women smoking campaign at the Easter parade. It's such a great and scary example of the power of PR. It’s a reminder that with great power,
comes great responsibility, as Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben said. Actually, it was originally said by
Voltaire (gotta love wikipedia) but I digress.
The fact that we can find ways to make it sound like toxic sludge is
good for you is both horrifying and fantastic. We can make positive changes with these tools as well. In addition to the trashy, questionable
stuff, there have been life-changing public health campaigns that were thought
up in an office as well. In 1973,
a PSA that was part of a Participaction commercial showed a sixty- year
old Swede running effortlessly beside a huffing and puffing thirty-year-old
Canadian. This commercial sparked
a public outcry and even a debate in Parliament. This PSA has been linked to a health and exercise movement in
Canada. Is it manipulative? Maybe. Was it for good? I think so .
Frank Luntz, a Republican party strategist; said if they hear something
five times, people believe it. We
can all use that trick to help us put out our message.
That sentiment is even a joke in the first Scream movie, “You hear that Richard Gere gerbil story enough times,
you have to believe it’s true.”
I have always been fascinated by the public's taste. Why do we fall for some people's spin
and not for others? Charlie Sheen,
Chris Brown, Tiger Woods, Mel Gibson, Woody Allen…why do some recover after a
scandal and some don’t?
There's been much talk about the fact that that David Letterman beat
his bad publicity because he came out and admitted it - he “got in front of the
story”. I would agree but I would
like to point out, he didn’t beat anyone. He cheated on his partner. Sleazy? Yes. Human? Yes. Disappointing?
Maybe.
Chris Brown publicly assaulted Rhianna and pretty much got away with
it. Of course, this situation has
more to do with culture and celebrity and apathy towards domestic abuse than PR.
But, his publicist must be walking
around with a horseshoe inserted somewhere.
There are a few nightmare PR jobs at the moment I would hate to have at
the moment. Representing Mel Gibson, Vic Toews, BP, Walmart and even The
Conservatives party. Or how would you like to be the PR
person at XYZ Company that charges outrageous parking at hospitals. What would be their mission statement? “We strive to get the maximum allowable
money for our services at a time when people are usually so stressed that they
don't have the time or ability to park further away. That's what we do.”
Spin it? How? Anyone out there have a good spin for the parking people
who charge hospital parkers insanely high rates? “We keep the price so high so there available spots for you
when you are in need?”
I still don't feel really clear about identifying the differences
between PR, marketing, and advertising. They all seem interchangeable so it will be interesting to
look more closely at these differences.
It's exciting to imagine that I could have the tools to inform or
intrigue or change people’s minds about some issue or some person.
