The disservice of PR hacks to our industry

For your convenience, I’ve labeled these rhetorical gems in various categories somewhere on the “Severe Desperation Continuum” between: 1) shameless sales pitches; 2) sleazy at best; and 3) just plain awful.

Those are the highest compliments I can muster.

Hard to believe that, in a profession dedicated to the art and science of communication, such drivel exists—and, worse yet, gets paid for! Then again, I’m sure the end customers cutting the checks for their particular flavor of the 15-minute fame wagon never see the pitches actually scribed by their reps that are then sent to journalists. All they care about is:

1. whether the pitch worked;
2. what time their interview is and what they should wear (if on TV); and,
3. what their talking points are.

One of these Deadline Detroit jewels involved a PR person offering a sports agent who would give his tips on keeping athletes out of jail for off-the-field “indiscretions” (I know. Athletes in trouble with the law— shocking, right?). Another offered a story on a 50-year-old woman’s dating tips as she wears Google Glass.