Truth ... Lies and PR (Bush, CBS and Philip Morris)

What is truth.

Well in PR truth can be in the eye of the beholder. Recent stories of the Bush Admin paying for spokesperson (via Ketchum PR) and the CBS memo-gate are but 2 examples. If you want the facts on those, google it.

but in PR, how do you tell the truth , especially when we are all hired flack. What do you do about a client, when you know your client is not telling the truth, like Big Tobacco.

in the 1990s, when I worked at Burson-Marsteller, I was the PR lead for Philip Morris in Florida.

I don't smoke and I don't let people smoke in my house. So, how do you handle the "truth" about tobacco.

As long as I was not promoting under-age tobacco use or engaging in youth marketing, I was OK. I also did not bring any client materials home.

Afterall, tobacco is a legal product to be enjoyed by adults over the age of 18. During my years of working with PM, I handled sporting events such as the Marlboro Grand Prix and several programs with Florida restaurants to ensure the existence of non-smoking areas.

To make sure they had non-smoking signs in their establishments .... We set up training programs and free ads for them to welcome non-smokers to their restaurants (this was before the state banned indoor smoking)

We conducted economic studies to show how much money was spent by smokers in restuarants on coffee, drinks and desserts, all after dinner items that bring large profit margins to restaurant owners.

The spin here is we allowed non-smoking areas, thereby presupposing that you allow smoking. And that smoking is legal if not aslo socially OK.

See truth is in the eye of the client. And the PR agency. Or hired hack.

So, back to Bush and CBS.

• Bush: I think paying for a spokepserons in the right and smart PR tactic if you want to get your message out, but the spokesperson needs to be upfront about it. Otherwise you will lose credibility and your message will suffer, as it is w/ Bush right now w/ respect to this issue.

• CBS was wrong in their approach and cover-up and they have suffered a major set-back in the honesty and fairness of their product ... Which is NEWS.

• Philip Morris ... We all knew cigs were bad for you (read the friggen labels on the side of the box), but we were selling the legality of the product and I was always upfront with reporters about who I represented and how I felt about it.