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| Fraser P. Seitel |
In a world led by a cadre of cowards, clowns and crackpots, even the immediate future is impossible to predict. Stock markets, wars and everyday prices turn on a dime. What’s skyrocketing today is cratering tomorrow. Society is racked by uncertainty. And only one ominous result for any working stiff below the age of 80 seems inevitable: Someday—perhaps soon—your job will be replaced by artificial intelligence.
Data entry associates, telemarketers and customer service representatives? All gone. Office administrators, cashiers and web designers? They’re outa’ here. Finance managers, secretaries, paralegals and junior lawyers? Need not apply. Reports from McKinsey and Goldman Sachs say up to 300 million jobs are vulnerable to AI.
Yes, it’s depressing. But one tiny ray of light shines through this otherwise bleak outlook. The demand for public relations counselors has never been greater.
From the C-Suite to the state house to the Oval Office, officials everywhere are flailing lately in the absence of sound public relations advice. A few obvious recent examples:
Parlez vous français?
When Michael Rousseau, the CEO of Air Canada, released a video to the world expressing his sincere condolences in the wake of two Air Canada pilots perishing in a freak crash last month at LaGuardia Airport, it was a classically correct, positive public relations tactic. Except that …
Air Canada is headquartered in Montreal, in a country that has two official languages: English and French. And Mr. Rousseau’s video message, except for an opening “Bonjour” and a closing “merci,” was delivered solely in English, which was interpreted as a slap in the face to Canada’s Francophone community. The backlash was immediate and unrelenting. Canada’s prime minister said he was “very disappointed,” and lawmakers in Quebec called for Mr. Rousseau’s resignation.
Reluctantly and embarrassingly, Monsieur Rousseau stepped down a few days later, apologizing profusely for the oversight. There was no word from Air Canada if the CEO would be followed out the door by the public relations executives who failed to provide him with common-sense advice to keep things bilingual.
The curse of Mario Procaccino
By all rights, Mario Procaccino should have become mayor of New York City in 1969 had it not been for one intractable problem: He talked too much.
Procaccino won the Democratic primary that year by skillfully vanquishing five opponents, including former Mayor Robert Wagner and influential author Norman Mailer, and then even coined the lasting term “limousine liberal” to describe his dapper mayoral opponent, John Lindsay.
Alas, candidate Procaccino’s mouth spelled his doom. In an effort to smooth relations with the city’s African-American population, the candidate declared famously—and tragically—at a campaign rally in Harlem, "My heart is as black as yours." Lindsay proceeded to trounce him in the general election.
Fast forward 57 years to Gavin Newsom, California’s loquacious governor, whose public relations campaign to win the 2028 Democratic nomination for President has already kicked into high gear with a weekly podcast, a recent autobiography and a ubiquitous Trump-bating social media presence.
But Newsom, like Procaccino before him, can’t keep his mouth shut. Ergo, the governor’s cringe-inducing declaration in Atlanta before a largely African-American audience. “I’m not trying to impress you, I’m just trying to impress upon you, I’m like you. I’m not better than you. I’m a 960 SAT guy.”
Ooops. As cries of “condescension” and “racism” rang through the land, a mortified gubernatorial public relations advisor had to wonder why he or she hadn’t interceded to prevent the governor’s grievous gaffe.
The wrong coarse
Finally, there's no greater proof of society’s pressing need for more wise and influential public relations counselors than the continuing performance of the President of the United States.
Even in his swashbuckling New York City real estate days, Donald Trump was viewed as a headline-grabbing child of privilege and questionable character. But as President, as his power has grown relatively unchecked, Trump has become even more belligerent, intimidating and coarse.
While Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insists that the President is “an incredible listener” who always seeks out the opinions of others, the overwhelming evidence suggests that Trump more often considers himself the smartest person in the room and mostly repudiates sound public relations advice.
So, when Trump labels murdered Hollywood icon Rob Reiner as a “tortured and struggling individual” or greets respected prosecutor Robert Mueller’s passing with “I’m glad he’s dead” or warns the Iranians on Truth Social to “Open the f-ing Strait,” the President knows best and doesn’t need no stinkin’ public relations counsel.
Maybe. But perhaps more likely is that Trump, surrounded by groveling toadies rather than objective advisors, has reached his limit in terms of public tolerance of presidential meanness and vulgarity. The staying power of plummeting approval ratings and the outcome of mid-term elections will provide the answer.
Meanwhile, it’s undeniable that the necessity for society’s leaders to have at their side trusted and experienced human—not artificial—public relations counselors remains essential.
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Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for more than 40 years. He’s the author of the Pearson text “The Practice of Public Relations,” now in its 15th edition, and co-author of “Rethinking Reputation" and "Idea Wise.” He may be reached directly at [email protected].
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