Kim Kardashian's Going to Show us all what PR Really Is.

Previously, I blogged about the presence of PR in reality TV.

In an update to that post, People.com has announced Kardashian's newest project, a reality show focused on public relations. The show will be focused around her friends in the industry, "PR gurus Jonathan Cheban and Simon Huck" of Command PR.

"It'll show all the ins-and-outs or PR. It's going to be really fun. It'll show how there's lots of drama and crisis in the PR world."

Now granted, I have not seen the show, therefore I can not judge thus far. However, I will say why this makes me nervous. So far PR has a Hollywood reputation of being a job in which publicists help celebrities clean up messes. Although I have a deep respect for those in entertainment public relations (it's a tough and 24/7 type job!), there's just a lot more to PR.

Celebrity publicity is just one small facet of public relations. Among the intricacies of the public relations profession are creating press releases, organizing media, strategies of product releases, fostering relationships, facilitating business to business relations, and more. PR professionals can specialize in consumer marketing, manufacturing technology, agriculture, investor relations, and digital media. Each of these practice areas differ from each other in some ways, and are equally challenging in their own right.

The sad thing is, none of this can be conveyed through a half-hour television show no matter how well produced. It took me four years of college, and 5 internships to begin to grasp what PR fully entails. It would be wonderful to see a show attempt to expose the real world of PR. And in the end, it wouldn't really make for good entertainment (credit to my first commenter for this modification, as it's so very true).

Again, this is my opinion. But...If you listen really closely, you can hear a collective sigh among many PR professionals everywhere.

Next on MTV: The 'SAC

Rumors are swirling this morning about AAF president James Edmund Datri's remarks to turn NSAC into a reality TV show.  Its impact on perceptions of the ad industry is debatable, but there are only two ways it could affect NSAC students:

SUPER AWESOME

• Potential employers would see the blood, sweat, and tears students pour into the campaign and would take NSAC seriously when considering job applicants.
  
  
• Speaking of taking NSAC seriously--the case for AIM referred to NSAC as an "exercise," and sometimes I feel like the AAF wants NSAC to exist in its own make-believe world as something "those kids" are working on.  I know NSAC is different from real industry work, but I hope the AAF would realize that NSAC participants view their campaigns in the context of real-world advertising, not just a paper assignment.
  

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

• I don't know about other schools, but the University of Minnesota's NSAC team has seen its fair share of drama that I wouldn't enjoy being broadcast.
  
  
• Teams once comprised of geeky ad kids could morph into attention-seeking actors.  Nothing could be worse for the perception of the ad industry.
  

Of course, selling an NSAC sponsorship as a reality TV tie-in will also attract certain sponsors and deter others.  Any brand to sign on will be bold and unafraid to try new things, which would be fun for students to work on, but not representative of real-world advertising.  Also, the past three campaigns have been targeted to Gen Y consumers, and I don't see this trend shifting if a TV element is added.

I sure wouldn't have minded having my ideas showcased on national TV for agencies around the country to see, though...

MTV Shows Us the "Reality" of PR

Fellow Yaybia member Danielle recently posted about the portrayal of the ad-industry in movies.  With the debut of "The City" (MTV’s spin-off of The Hills, which is a spin-off of Laguna Beach… whew my head is spinning) I started to notice that PR has gathered its own reputation based on a few television series, all thanks to MTV. 

Loyal followers (or lazy channel surfers) of MTV may remember a reality show several years back following PR agency owner and celebrity socialite Lizzie Grubman.  “PoweR Girls” chronicled the lives of Grubman and four female assistants competing for a spot in Lizzie Grubman Public Relations, an agency based in New York that deals mainly with celebrities and their endeavors.  The women had to plan nightclub openings and album launches, mingle with celebrities and the press, and ultimately earn Grubman’s respect. 

Then came “The Hills” featuring Lauren Conrad of “Laguna Beach” fame.  After a couple seasons at Teen Vogue, Whitney and Lauren relocated to The People’s Revolution, a PR agency run by Kelly Cutrone.  The agency deals heavily in the fashion industry. 

Also, Heidi Pratt of "The Hills" (supposedly) works at Bolthouse Productions, an event firm which deals in Los Angeles's nightlife scene (club openings are the main “work” we see Heidi deal in when she’s not draping herself over creepy Spencer Pratt). Her job is featured often on the show, as well as promoted on the company's Web site.

“The City” spun off very recently, and with only four episodes under its belt, shows the life of Whitney Port in PR position at  Diane Von Furstenberg’s company.

Finally, Kelly Cutrone of The People’s Revolution is now in talks of having her OWN show following her work in the fashion PR industry (network unknown so far). 

All this exposure to the industry from MTV, what are the reprocussions?  Is MTV bringing a false light to PR?

Well in my opinion, the Pros are that some of these shows do show that working at an entry level is hard work, and you can’t just breeze through or you’ll make major mistakes that cost you (i.e. Heidi drinking on the job and getting fired).  However, the Cons are that most of these girls live in homes I’ll never dream of owning, wear clothes that cost more than my rent, and frequent clubs that only celebrities can get into.  This is NOT the typical life of a public relations professional, especially at intern or entry level.  I would hope, however, that most of the viewers take these shows with a grain of salt and realize fake from reality.  Any thoughts?

This was just too bizarre to ignore....

Meow Mix just announced a new reality show called “Think like a Cat” that recently premiered on the Game Show Network. Immediately it reminded me of Brawny’s “Brawny Academy” reality show crafted by Minneapolis’ own Fallon, which got some good attention in 2006. However, Meow Mix’s (along with Grand Central Marketing which developed the concept) attempt at associating their brand with entertaining whimsy and fun, only plays off as creepy and disorganized. The New York Times’ television review describes the show as a “lame attempt to use game-show trappings to disguise what is nothing more than a lengthy cat food commercial.” And that is actually one of the nicer things said in that article (it is also described as “a significant step toward the collapse of civilized society”). If I were handling the PR, that is one media impression I would not want to claim.

On a slightly better note, Best Week Ever’s Michelle Collins (whom I worship for her pop culture insights) dubbed this show one of her “Reasons to Live” simply because this promo is too hilarious to ignore.



While this is all very amusing, I don’t really see what it’s doing for the brand except drawing ridicule upon a pretty staple name in the cat food industry.

Fallon may have been able to pull off the commercial disguised as a reality show quite well, but does that mean other brands should attempt the same? Sometimes good ideas are best left alone to the ones who crafted them in the first place.