I'm a web strategist and aspiring know-it-all with a passion for all things digital. I've worked in PR, advertising and not-for profit industries, and now I run a creative agency. These are the things I think about, and am sometimes compelled to write. More...

Do as I say, not as I do

Dec 19 2006

It occurred to me this morning that at points in my career, I have been essentially a professional hypocrite. This occurred to me as a needle was going into my arm at our office flu shot party.

This was my first flu shot ever. A lot of people were in the same boat, but I had no excuse. Back when I worked at a PR firm, one of the accounts I worked on was the Canadian Public Health Association on their flu shot campaign. I told millions of people to get the flu shot, but I never did.

I wonder if there’s something wrong with that. How can I, as a communications person, advocate that people do something that I wouldn’t personally? When you think about it practically, there’s no possible way that most PR pros could possibly do everything that they suggested, but how much leverage do we have in believing our own messages?

Certainly, I believed that it was in the best interests of public health for everyone to get the flu shot. I just didn’t want to. If I was vehemently opposed to the flu shot for some reason, could I, in good conscience, promote it? What about smokers who promote anti-tobacco initiatives?

I don’t feel bad for promoting public health, obviously. Likewise, I don’t feel bad promoting products that I don’t personally have a use or like for, but that I know might appeal to someone else. I think to those outside the marketing industry, this might seem nefarious, but it’s a reality of the communications world. Not everything you promote will match your world view.

That being said, I think it’s very important that PR people do draw the line somewhere. Earlier in my career, I managed the public relations for a municipal councillor’s campaign. I found out well into the campaign that the person was dumb as a sack of hammers, and that I didn’t agree with any of his views on politics. I finished the campaign because it was near the end and frankly, I needed the billable hours, but I never want to be in that position again.

Thankfully, my candidate lost, due in no small part to ignoring my counsel and getting nailed by the local press.

What do you think? Can PR professionals work on acccounts that they don’t personally agree with and maintain a clear conscience? Is there a line? Where does the need for agency billings cross the ethical border?

http://www.responsiblepress.org Joe

I don’t think it’s nefarious to say you don’t mind promoting products that might appeal to someone else even if they don’t appeal to you – provided they aren’t harmful or otherwise dangerous.

Really, it’s like anything else. Politics for example. I think the strongest political thinkers can accept or respect opposing viewpoints without adopting them as their own. Sadly, this doesn’t jive with the whole notion of being partisan – but that’s a rant for another time.

In order to mount a successful PR campaign, you need to understand the product and how it can benefit the target audience – that doesn’t mean you have to embrace it yourself. But I agree, there is a line. Unfortunately, it really depends on the individual to draw it.

In your specific case, I don’t think I’d ever get into that position because I’d be pretty careful to research the candidate thoroughly before ever signing on the dotted line. But that doesn’t mean it was wrong of you to take the file and see it to its completion. It’s a personal choice.
http://www.stellajatounit.blogspot.com Stella Jato Unit

Let’s not forget that even though you may support a product/initiative/office, you won’t always agree with the way things are being spun. For example, my office was recently faced with a potential PR nightmare. Higher management decided to approach it in a certain way, and I disagreed completely. I made my voice heard and shared my concerns, but they still went with their initial idea.

At the end of the day, do you sleep well? I know I do. You do have to draw the line somewhere, but accept that part of your job is to make people/products look good. Not everyone is cut out for it, and even then, sometimes it means just walking away. Good on you, Ryan, for seeing a project through, even though you weren’t a fan. Once you commit to something, you have to follow through. It was surely a good lesson learned early in your career!
http://www.simplerich.com/blog Rich G.

Our company is based out of Denver.
Payroll was supposed to leave Denver on Wednesday, same day as the storm. The alert will have noticed the ‘supposed’ in the previous sentence.
The blizzard ate the checks. Now I’ve got managers calling saying they hadn’t signed up for direct deposit like we all pushed for people to do around Thanksgiving in anticipation of just this sort of thing.
They called, knowing in advance what I was going to tell them… what I’d told them to tell their employees if they failed to sign up for direct deposit, “Sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about an act of God.”
Sometimes not doing as we say is a bad thing, and it’s bad to be caught with our pants down like that. I wasn’t. I’ve been signed up for years. Happened to me once, as a clerk. No more!
Ryan K. Anderson

I have two points I would like to make. The first point is that it seems pretty pathetic that you are just beginning to think about the fact that you might support or do whatever it is you do for a product that you disagree with. Secondly, I am making a little jump here so bear with me, I am sick and tired of people and mostly older people talk like ‘well thats the way life is…you’ll learn that soon enough.’ No i wont. The only thing we have in this life is what we believe in. I dont care if your a racist or a devout muslim, you need to stand up for what you believe in. It is terrible to just go through life and do things contrary to your own ideaology. Those people are the ones that are ruining this world, not the ones that believe in wrong things, but the ones who believe in nothing. Because if something was so blatently wrong like racism (which i believe) and people believed that they would do everything in their power to change it. But when people dont care or dont have a belief then how can any action be right or wrong in the public’s eye?
http:://www.ryananderson.ca Ryan Anderson

Well, you obviously have strong beliefs – but you missed my point. I was not talking about promoting things I disagree with. I am talking about promoting things that I don’t necessarily support, but that I can see serving a public good. Also, you should understand that I didn’t just start thinking about this… the flu shot just happened to spark this.

There are many things that I believe strongly in, and I do fight for those things. But, just like anyone else, there are things that I don’t care much about – things that don’t affect my life much. If you start taking a radical stand on those things, then nobody will take you seriously on the things you do believe in.