Wanted: A PR for PR

In the past couple of years, there has been a growing interest to explore and expose the inner workings of the public relations industry. Although some movies and TV shows like The Spin Crowd, PoweR Girls and The City, positioned our industry in the spotlight, they haven’t exactly portrayed it in the best light. It’s a known fact that pop culture has overly glamorized the public relations industry. From Samantha in Sex and the City series to Whitney Port in The Hills, public relations professionals are portrayed as powerful ladies dressed head-to-toe in Gucci and Dior, who spend their nights in exclusive VIP parties. All in all, the PR industry is perceived as superficial and frivolous.

Kim Cattrall plays Samantha, a glamorous PR Executive
 in Sex and the City.
Photo Credit

Although working in the entertainment PR industry has its perks (such as attending trendy parties – in which you have to work), the movie and television industry has failed to expose the realities that come along with choosing public relations as your field of work.

This is quite surprising, taking into consideration the drama that goes on behind the scenes of an event, the challenges that come along with representing an artist and how hard it is to make a name for yourself within the industry. With all this audience-attracting content (because we know how much audiences love drama) unexposed, I think there’s a great opportunity for a new kind of PR-based show: a reality TV series to give PR, good PR. It’s time to get rid of some of the myths and stereotypes that pop culture has inflicted upon our industry.  

When developing this new entertainment product, it’s important to follow certain trends, which will guarantee a degree of success. Taking the biggest reality TV shows as reference, we can pinpoint some of these trends: having a competition element, having artists do cameos or special appearances, and incorporating a social networking element that will make the show transcend the once-a-week one hour time slot.

With that said, we should acknowledge that have untouched Play-Dough in our hands. It’s our job to demonstrate, through the development of a new kind of reality TV show, how creative PR professionals really are. Whoever tackles this market opportunity has a great responsibility in their hands, but a great opportunity for professional growth as well.

What better way of showcasing your abilities as a PR professional than by responding to a market opportunity, coming up with a creative pitch, and securing great media placement and good publicity for the industry you work in?  Saying you’re the publicist for the public relations industry, that’s pretty impressive if you ask me.