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Legendary circus impresario PT Barnum knew about the power of PR - this is the man celebrated in the Hugh Jackman film The Greatest Showman (in reality he sadly didn’t have Hugh’s good looks), and known for his clever publicity stunts, which included using elephants to plough his six-acre garden in Connecticut, and marching animals across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York - both to [successfully] promote his circus.
He was also the master of a good quote - gems like "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right".
One of his other famous sayings was “There's no such thing as bad publicity” which, sadly, isn’t always true.
While there are upsides to courting controversy and ‘getting your name out there’, any PR professional worth their salt will always advise a client of the dangers too.
Edgy campaigns - if done right - can spark debate with those ‘watercooler’ moments discussing a brand’s latest social post or clever stunt. They can also make you stand out from the crowd, and ultimately raise awareness of the brand, product or event you’re seeking to promote.
When publicity goes wrong, however, there’s the client’s reputation to consider (Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi ad springs to mind); financial implications (McDonald’s probably thought being the subject of a whole film, Supersize Me, was good publicity, until the negative health implications of Morgan Spurlock’s film forced the ‘supersize’ option to be ultimately dropped); and then there’s the emotional impact (Brewdog had to apologise in 2022 after employees signed an open letter describing a “culture of fear”.
This was swiftly followed by a BBC documentary featuring claims of a toxic and misogynistic culture. Brewdog’s name was everywhere, just for the wrong reasons - and anyone who worked for them may well have suffered from emotional turmoil around that.
He may have been a master of self-publicity, but Barnum wasn’t always right. He also didn’t have TV, radio and social media to contend with…
