The very first lesson I was taught as a member of the media was from a crusty yet affable public relations master. No one knew Miami and Miami Beach better than he, and his reputation for holding power across so many different types of clients was legendary. No one crossed him, and few questioned his advice.
“Edward”, he said while yet again doing at lest six different things at his wide and overflowing with papers desk, “there is no such thing as bad publicity”.
As the grasshopper in the group, and already forecasting my unceasing need to question everything, I wasted not a second diving in.
“You mean to tell me there is no scenario whatsoever where something someone says or does is permanently injurious to their reputation?”
He stopped what he was doing, already a little incensed at being questioned, lowered his head just a touch and glowered at me over the top of his stylish, dark rimmed glasses.
“No scenario, young man. I can spin any level of bullshit into 24 karat gold”. He stayed there for a moment to make the impression, then turned back to his business at hand.
I now recall something else he burrowed into my skull during or time together. “Every good PR person shovels a level of bullshit so well that you will never know you are being snowed under”.
One slice of news and both lines come into play, and the juxtaposition plays itself perfectly.
His edict about bad publicity, as well known in the industry as any one-liner, was never meant to be taken as Gospel. It was there, and remains so, by those with a supreme level of confidence that they can wiggle out of any PR disaster and make it work for them instead of against them.
However, there is something as evident and irreparable as bad publicity. We see it every day, thanks to social media and trolling more so than at any time in our history.
Just ask South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
There will be, and honestly there should not be, any level of repair, redress, obfuscation, cover-up, putting lipstick on a pig, take your choice of descriptive text, in the wake of her proud revelation about killing one of her dogs. Reason? The young dog wouldn’t listen to her, displayed “vicious” tendencies, and failed as a hunting companion.
So in her new book, Noem made no beef whatsoever about taking the 14 month old female to a nearly gravel pit and executing her because the dog was "useless" and Noem "hated her so much". Apparently locked in a good stewing bloodlust, she dragged a young goat she also owned to the same pit and shot that animal, also for being “aggressive”. I have, for the sake of brevity here and already with a rising blood pressure, chosen not to go into the details and will leave it for you to find them numerous places, including right here.
Noem wants to be Vice President of the United States, second only to Donald Trump. As of this writing and revelation, she is certainly a candidate for the position. Without dragging this into yet another political diatribe, let’s just say that her callous and despicable act seems to fit in nicely with a good number of those who would find her a good choice for such a role. Those who would find her actions laudable, even worthy of a powerful leadership role, and have already come to her defense.
Actually, they are a smidgen minority. Noem’s actions and abject pride in them has been, thankfully and for the most part, excoriated along innumerable lines, including, for the political side, bipartisan opinion.
Imagine for a moment those who still heartily support her for such a lofty position and having to excuse her callous nature in what could be a consideration of how she might treat fellow human beings. But, I digress.
The main point here is back to that concept of “no such thing as bad publicity”. It’s a lie. Always has been. It’s a snow job of gargantuan proportions, one that only the delusional and ignorant would fall for. Perhaps one day in the era of hand-held telephones and interoffice memos with no regard for who reads them, the edict might have been true. I'm certain when P.T. Barnum first coined the phrase, he was able to dig himself out from under any negativity as there was no one net to him taking a selfie or tweeting out the dire tidings.
That now stone-age concept won’t make the grade here in the “nothing is private 2024 world of social media”. Nothing escapes scrutiny, notice, ridicule, twisting of narrative and then being blasted out to anyone and everyone with a manner of electronic reach.
This then is the takeaway for every personal and professional life, and every manner of profitability, be it in reputation or actual payment. That reputation cannot be whitewashed. The insatiable social media has swallowed whole any chance of being able to just “slide by” and “get away with it”.
The image of Kristi Noem taking a weapon to the head of not one, but two innocent creatures simply because she failed miserably at their training is now permanently ingrained in a global consciousness. Even without an actual picture, trust that there will be plenty of AI pictures that will capture the event, and some of them will likely seem the real thing.
Bad publicity over even the smallest wrong will follow you the rest of your life. It will be inescapable. It will negatively impact you live and your possibility of earning. It may keep you down and excoriated for reasons you cannot fathom or understand. It may haunt you without you even noting the ghost in that machine. It can destroy everything you’ve built, and everything you hope to achieve.
The best way to avoid having your reputation, your brand, your image sullied by such mistakes is, and here’s where everything gets really down to simple basics, is not to do those things that you know are wrong, and you know someone will use against you.
Unless you’re proud of putting a real or figurative bullet in the brain of something, or someone, you hate. In that case, be proud of your accomplishment, and pay the price.
Do you really want to be cashing that image the rest of your life?
Kristi Noem will.
I doubt even my old friend would be able to bullshit his way out of this one.
Not that I believe as honorable a man as he was, that he would even try to assist such a cavalier individual admitting to such a truly heinous act. .
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