I was excited to see The Lorax last weekend. For some reason, at 2 years old, my oldest son took an odd liking to the book. It was very odd. He was more than excited to see a movie about his favorite book being released, and I was happy to sit with the family to view it.
However, midway through the movie in one of the most important aspects of the plot, I was absolutely mortified. In the scene where the Once-ler is tauting his successes making Thneeds and snubbing his nose at the world, the negativity that runs deep in our culture about PR people reared its ugly head. Now, I want to quote here, but in the interest of being absolutely correct, I won't do it. I will paraphrase and state that I'm fairly sure the words to the song were...the PR people were lying and the lawyers were denying. What? What?!
As a mother, I was thankful my sons, 4 and 2, have no clue what I did for a living or I teach for a living. I had images flash of them saying, "Mom, you lie?!" Or, "Mom, you teach people to lie?" Or, worse. One would say, "Mom, you are a liar." That's a declarative sentence. Oh, the horror.
All of this had me thinking of my favorite PR-related movies. If you haven't seen them, please take a moment to watch. There are great lessons to learn - both good and bad. Here are my top three, and if you dare keep going, I offer a quick little tribute to my PR collegues - Dr. Suess style.
#3 - Hancock (Image Repair)
#2 - Thank You For Smoking (Ethics)
#1 - Wag the Dog (Crisis Communication)
So, as a tribute to Dr. Suess, I offer the following:
I am PR. PR I am.
I do not lie. I do not cheat. I do not say what I don't see.
I strategize. I promote. I write.
Do you want coverage here or there?
Do you want coverage everywhere?
Tell me what you do. Tell me what is good.
I will get a reporter to cover it like he should.
We will work long. We will work hard.
We will get people to know who you are.
I am PR. PR I am.
I am good. I am right.
I can make relations with your stakeholders overnight.
They will be good, they will be real, they will keep you ever still.
So, do you want coverage here or there? I can get you coverage anywhere.
But, it will done good, and it will be done right.
Because I do not lie. I just enlight.
Hmph.
