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The PR Industry’s Performance-Enhancing Drugs
I was riding my bike yesterday, thinking about this whole Lance Armstrong case getting stronger, and it occurred to me that athletes aren’t any different than PR professionals.
A couple of weeks ago, when the Burson Marsteller/Facebook story broke, many, many, many people called me naive. They stated examples where PR professionals create whisper or smear campaigns. The statement, more often than not while calling me naive was, “It happens all the time.”
It happens all the time.
I refuse to believe Lance has remained so staunch in his innocence for so long and he really is guilty. I refuse to believe this man, who is a cycling hero to me, really did use performance-enhancing drugs. When former teammates have come out and said they saw him inject drugs, I refused to believe it.
We all need heroes and Lance is mine.
Sure, I get that he’s not a nice guy, but watching him race is one of the most amazing things a cyclist can see. It’s inspiring and motivating. He’s a real hero.
And, apparently, he does drugs. Just like Barry Bonds and George Hincappie. Even the Bulls’ Derrick Rose has been accused.
It happens all the time.
But does it make it right?
A few years ago, I got into a debate with the CEO of one of the large PR firm/ad agency holding companies. He said our jobs, as PR professionals, is to tell the story for the client, any way that gets it into the news. I believe he even used the word “spin,” which really got me going.
The vision of Spin Sucks, and now Spin Sucks Pro, is a big one. It’s to change the perception of our industry. It’s to change this idea that we’re spin doctors and show that we’re ethical human beings who don’t lie or spin the truth to get attention for our internal or external clients.
I realize we’re small and we’re fighting the global conglomerates who believe in whisper or smear campaigns, just like the athletes who do drugs. It gives us all a level playing field if we all do it, right?
Just because everyone decides to jump off the top of the Sears Tower, does that mean you should too?
It has to start somewhere.
I wish we had a grand jury in Los Angeles to call in leaders of PR firms and make them testify under oath. I wish there were a body that regulated our industry and forced us to uphold the ethics that PRSA outlines for its members.
But we don’t.
So what are we going to do about the performance-enhancing “drugs” in our industry?
Public Relations professional do have a reputation of adopting a 'the end justifies the means' concept and the end is always the what the client wants. They twist the truth and do everything they can in order to get what they want or what their client wants. I respect those who do things the ethical way in a profession so ruled by manipulation.
Not much more to add to this on Gini, but it's an important discussion that needs to continue. The problem is that most of us reading Spin Sucks already think that; it's the spinners and smears who are rolling their eyes, laughing their way to the bank... and hopefully some felony charges when they do get caught with their ethics down, knowingly promoting lies and frauds. Wish I had more, FWIW.
Really apt comparison Gini—thank you so much for sharing. It is frustrating when naivety is used as a kind of defense against unethical practices. It’s an argument that is made across industries, and it basically means nothing. What I appreciate is your hope here, and I do believe that for every unethical campaign there are tons more pushing legitimate messages backed by honest, hard working PR pros. ryoatcision
RyoatCision It's unfortunate that one bad apple spoils the bunch. It just makes it harder for us.
ginidietrich RyoatCision Apples are nutritious.
I'm sorry for the challenges you are encountering with a personal hero. Unfortunately, Armstrong appears to be cut from the same cloth as so many others: tell the same story long enough and loud enough and it will be true, or at least you can continue to cash in until it all comes crashing down. It appears to be the same within your industry, with humongo firms trying to redifen the truth as it fits them, dragging everyone else down to the "vault" level, (The vault in the bank is always in the lower level, right?). What can you do? Continue to tell the truth and call out liars. Remember that a marathon begins with a single step (peddle)? and successful races are run not as a whole but in sections. Some sections are slower, faster, easier or tougher and sometimes you rest through one section to be ready for the next.
barryrsilver As a friend said to me last night, "He's never said, 'I didn't dope.' He always says, 'I've never tested positive.'" I guess it's all in the SPIN.
As a competitive cyclist and a PR pro, I know that reputation is earned as much on the bike as it is off the bike. It's hard to compete for ethics and it's hard to compete against the unethical, but either way, honesty is always the sustainable strategy for long-term success.
mkedave ...eloquently said...
mkedave My cycling coach makes all of us sign something saying we won't dope or do any kind of drugs. He's very serious about it. Just that little sheet of paper with your signature makes some people think twice. That's what I think the PR industry is missing - consequences for unethical actions.
What are you going to do??? You are going to keep on doing what you have been doing ...you are going to continue to do the thing you know how to do best....and that is to be the highly ethical, amazingly caring and incredibly creative PR agency that has an amazing community that follows you and believes in your vision and your ethics and your moral aptitude....because...at the end of the day....the really good "guys" always win....and all of the work, passion and energy that you have put into Arment Dietrich and Spin Sucks Pro will generate it's own momentum and, it may take awhile, but others will see that commitment and ethics will always succeed. (okay...stepping down from my soap box now) ( I got a little caught up in the moment here....*shuffling away quietly*)
ParkRidgeDDS LOL! You always know EXACTLY what to say! Thank you.
I prefer to be optimistic and think that we can make a difference here and other places advocating for transparency and ethics in our profession. If we don't speak out, if we don't support PRSA's strong stand, if we just shrug our shoulders, we are just as guilty as Burson and Facebook. And, the profession will begin a downward spiral. We need to defend ethical public relations and make sure the guys who do bad stuff are on notice that we're watching. I had a boss who always told me "water on stone and eventually the stone will break." I have to think we are the water and the big agencies/companies who currently feel invincible are the stones.
mdbarber I prefer it as well. And, as you and I have discussed, here and in other places, we will prevail, even if it takes a really long time.
ginidietrich we shal prevail. I am confident...tonight anyway.
Good post. I also posted on this, and got into it with a PR pro from the UK who seemed IMHO to be making excuses for BM. Here's that thread from the PR and Comms Professionals LI group: http://tinyurl.com/3udbzud
cparente Oh this is good! Thanks for sharing.
It has to start somewhere. It has to start sometime. What better place than here. What better time than now!
~RATM
dino_dogan Great. Now I'll have that stuck in my head. FOREVER.
As a student heading into the PR world all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, this is especially frustrating. Having to constantly justify my (hopeful) career choices and face disheartening and uncomfortable realities has stripped the sheen off. I have heard that it's us youngin's though, having grown up in an era lacking any sort of privacy, that will make the biggest strides towards transparency. We're used to our business being all out in the open. Often quite literally.
In the meantime, thanks to people like you ginidietrich who can serve as positive role models!
Corianda I didn't recognize this avatar! I hope you're right - I'm all for you young 'uns creating serious transparency!
ginidietrich I know, you can actually see my face. Not facing my boyfriend nor devouring a taco. Crazy, right?
Corianda Not that devouring a taco is bad!
Corianda ginidietrich Well, if you think PR is tainted... just try your hand at advertising! :-(
Unfortunately, liars and cheaters win occasionally, albeit usually in the short term. I appreciate the good guys who lead by example.
barrettrossie Boo hiss! :) I know...they do win in the short-term. We just have to keep looking at the bigger picture.
I'd like to freshen the argument. For many years I was a big Lance Armstrong fan. One of the colleges I went to was Appalachian State University. Lance kind of used the mountains in and around ASU to get his mojo back, to get his love of cycling back after he recovered from all the cancer treatments. For many years, I rode in a different bicycle-based charity ride 10-20 weeks per year. I agree with John Falchetto that human bodys are not designed to ride 130 miles a day through the alps every day for 20 days. Completing the Tour is difficult. Winning is amazing. Winning without drugs, in consecutive years, is amazing
For arguments sake, lets agree that Lance Armstrong did use a bunch of drugs... Lets say that he cheated - he knew it. He cheated further when he worked over his drug tests to come out negative, and lets say that he lied about all that cheating.BUT:When we agree on all the lying, cheating and such, lets also say that he did all this so that he could start a charity - so that he could run a charity, so that he could use his fame as a cancer survivor who returned to win amazingly grueling races, and ultimately he did it to raise huge amounts of money for cancer research and cancer treatment so that he would make life better and longer for thousands of other people stricken by cancer. Lets say that his charity was raising $54million per/yr by 2009. http://www.livestrong.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Strength/Financial-Information (not getting to the nagging question about "Why haven't they posted any financial information since 2009??") - but LETS say that he did all those bad things... so that he could do all the good things. I wonder if that balances out the character issues and ethical issues.
More to the point, what would that (doing evil for good) look like in a PR world?
JohnAkerson This is like the Michael Milken argument. Let's sell junk bonds, go to jail, and then come out and create a foundation to help entrepreneurs. In my book, it's all bad, including doing evil for good. Let's say he had that much foresight and could conclude that if he did drugs, and he won, he'd be able to raise $54MM every year. My bet it's not that all, but competitiveness taking over and doing whatever it takes to win.
I think it's really hard to compete against unethical players. They don't care if they cheat, only if they win. Sadly, that's such a slippery slope and soon enough the clients are expecting that "level of service." I think the only way to make this work is to fire clients like that, and make sure as part of the interview process with prospective clients that transparency and ethics are a core value that you share. If you can get there, don't take the gig. If the money is that important, well...
rustyspeidel I only care if I win and I don't cheat. And you know me well enough to know I have to win. But I don't cheat to do it...and I do win. Lots. Do I win every time? No, but I win more times than not. But I agree that the rub comes in working for/with clients who expect it. Won't happen here. Ever.
In 1977 I had to admit to myself that Elvis Presley took drugs (with the help of Geraldo Rivera); everyone after that got a little easier.
PattiRoseKnight I refuse to believe it!
I learned much about ethics in PR when I worked for Jean Way Schoonover, and her sister Barbara Way Hunter, at D-A-Y Public Relations and Ogilvy & Mather PR. I hope it's OK to share my tribute to Jean, who passed away in April. PRSA just posted it: http://bit.ly/m9GYB0
KensViews Oh Ken. You can do whatever you like.
We do have those that will call PR pros to task. They are called journalists. Not content producers, but the good ole' 4th estate.
MikeLee Sure, and that's what happened in the BM case. But what are the real consequences? It's doubtful that anything bad really will happen.
As with everything cheating and half-withs tend to ruin things for all of us. My good buddy KeithTrivitt has been railing on this for a while now on behalf of the PRSA. Problem with their code of ethics is that not every PR pro needs to be a member so may not subscribe to those things you call ethics. Would you look to force all flacks to be members?
jeffespo KeithTrivitt Keith and I have this debate all the time and I've become super educated on the role PRSA plays in our industry. I would LOVE to see BM and other agencies in Silicon Valley and DC called before a grand jury to discuss their ethics. But the fact of the matter is that it's not going to happen. We don't have a regulatory board nor do we have to take any tests or get certified in order to do our jobs. So the bad ethics run amok while the rest of us fight the good fight. Not to say we don't make mistakes (or won't); it's all in how the mistake is handled and whether or not "I'm sorry" is uttered.
ginidietrich jeffespo KeithTrivitt Good stuff, GD. All three of you and several others here do a ton to fight the good fight. We have ti keep blogging about, tweeting about and discussing these issues. That is the responsibility we have as PR people and communicators. If we let up even a little, that's when things can really spin way out of control (pun intended).
JGoldsborough ginidietrich KeithTrivitt the good fight is something that I hope will die in some way as it needs to not be a fight.
Unfortunately, I think the best we can do is to not compromise our own integrity and be consistent in our ethics.
It always saddens us when we see someone who we admire fall from grace. Or seeing a smear campaign targeting someone else.
I don't think in an imperfect world we'll ever see that go away. Sadly, we do the best we can and control and manage what we have the power and authority to oversee.
janbeery Perhaps the imperfect people will not be raptured then! Bahahaha! I couldn't resist one more jab. :)
I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. What bothers me the most is that unethical PR practices (smear campaigns, etc.) occur more than any of us would like to believe, and although it doesn't make it right (in my opinion), it still can work. Often times it achieves the desired effect. And maybe we can recognize it because we're in the PR industry, but can the general public figure it out? (Unless of course word gets out like BM/Facebook)
So, it can be somewhat of a catch 22. But that sucks. I guess I'll go with your "I refuse" statement by saying that I refuse to think the unethical methods will prevail in the long run. Is it naive of me? Maybe so, but I sure hope not.
jackielamp It might be naive, but I'm right there with you! And we'll look awesome in our shoes.
ginidietrich That's true...if we're going to be naive, at least we'll have our cute shoes on ;)
jackielamp ginidietrich I think the Political Attack Ads, RoboCalling, False Mailers stuff that we as a nation refuse to reject kind of bleeds into the Corp world. Why shouldn't an Agency try to Swift Boat Google on behalf of Facebook.
HowieSPM jackielamp ginidietrich It doesn't bleed into the corporate world, it comes from the corporate world. If you think Swiftboat was a grass roots movement without polling, alternate ads and professional insight, would you like to buy a bridge? Further if you see nothing wrong with it, you are entitle to your opinion. You're also part of the problem. Feel free to DM, we can discuss further.
I wasn't going to comment until your last sentence; then I got lured in. Your "drugs" and my "condoms" from Saturday's post (About Condoms & Social Media) and I'm leaving a link b/c it's highly relevant to this discussion (http://soulati.com/blog/condoms-and-social-media) is all about character. @johnakerson wrote an incredible comment on my post referenced above. Drugs and condoms are merely tools that need to be imbibed, used by the humanoid. Said individual who elects to do so will indeed suffer the consequence and rightly so. It seems, to your point, of having Lance as a cyclists' role model that we (the fans and supporters) suffer. And that goes hand in hand with trust. The crux of the matter is character and trust -- it appears, sadly, that neither is existent and everyone suffers.
Soulati | B2B Social Media Marketing And in this world of transparency and authenticity, trust and character are even more important. As my mom always says, "Remember who you are and what you stand for."
I've been trying to wrap my head around what happens to PR companies who do this. Technically it's libel or slander which are, of course, illegal. But legal action isn't always taken. It's concerning that this can happen multiple times seemingly without consequence.
I've never seen what happens within a PR company when this happen, and I'm curious - what are the consequences? Does the company itself handle its own situation? Does a third party get involved?
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