A little friendly Twitter banter, a shared link, and an article in the NY Times reminded me of the words “there’s no such thing as bad PR” – and how much I disagree with them.
It started when I saw a tweet from Tom Bebbington, a likable PR guy who often shares some good finds on Twitter:
His Tweet said
@TomBebbington An interesting take on Rush Limbaugh’s current troubles (will annoy if you lean left): Don’t Kill the Crisis, Milk It!
I am and it did – I read the article in the above link: Don’t Kill the Crisis, Milk It! Why Rush Limbaugh’s “Slut-Gate” Is the Best Publicity in the World.
Blogger Skip Mahaffey, whoever he is, writes very well, but seems misguided. Acknowledging that what Rush said was wrong, and noting Rush’s apology, Skip goes on to say:
Didn’t satisfy your personal sense of outrage, did it? If you were hoping that this will be what finally puts an end to Rush Limbaugh, I have some very disappointing news for you: It ain’t happening. (Isn’t this the same guy who skated through a drug scandal? Was his rehab covered by his insurance? “Irony, table for one.”)
Let me hip you to something: The outrage, the ongoing conversation, the endless media focus, is nothing but Manna to Rush. In truth, he doesn’t want it to end, sort of. Rush has gone from cash cow to milkman. Keep talking about me, milk those babies dry! A great radio man I worked for many years ago always said: Publicity is publicity. Good or bad, just make sure they spell your name right
Regarding the departing advertisers, Skip says:
But in truth, for Rush everything IS fine. Don’t worry Ditto-heads, Rush is still collecting his paycheck and will continue to until he decides it’s time to hang up the headphones. Rush Buddy, I’m right there with you. Apologies and damage control are a pain in the ass and seemingly do nothing but appease people that you don’t want to (but must) deal with in order to keep the peace and more importantly, KEEP THE MONEY COMING.
If you tilt to the left (or are a right-leaning but reasonable person), and just read the above, your blood is probably boiling (as mine was when I first read this).
But I put this aside – in the interests of continuing a civil debate with a Twitter friendlie – and defending my assertion that there is in fact such a thing as bad PR, I responded to Tom, and he replied.
Here is the exchange:
@rgeller Yes annoys RT @tombebbington: Interesting take on Limbaugh troubles (will annoy if lean left) Don’t Kill Crisis Milk It
@rgeller There is such a thing as bad PR IMO RT @tombebbington: An interesting take on Rush Limbaugh’s current troubles…
@TomBebbington @rgeller For most of us, yes. But when your image is based on calculated outrage, something like this is a win.
@rgeller D TomBebbington Could see ur point but when advertisers leave & he’s increasingly marginalized even by right, is that a win? Getting radioactive, fine by me
One thing I won’t dispute is the fact that this episode will not likely end Rush’s radio career (as Skip so eloquently put it in his statement above). But it is a long stretch from “Rush isn’t going anywhere” to “this PR is great for him.”
Despite the fact that Rush apparently thrives on caluclated outrage, there is such as thing as going over the edge into isolated, extremist nut job territory, and I think that is right where Rush has landed.
The Times article I referred to above was this Wedensday’s Media & Advertising column: After Apology, National Advertisers are Still Shunning Limbaugh. Here is an excerpt:
…the boycott has been a headache for the advertisers and the local radio stations that have received complaints from Mr. Limbaugh’s critics. There have been “logistical difficulties” in moving ads away from Mr. Limbaugh’s program, Lewis Dickey, the chief executive of Cumulus Media, said Monday in a conference call with investors. Last week, some local listeners even noticed silence — “dead air,” in industry parlance — instead of ads
You know you have jumped the image shark when you are the subject of an SNL skit – and last Saturday they led off with one that parodied Rush (see above).
Call me crazy but I do think there is such a thing as bad PR. In tennis, there was a term and book of the same name by the famous coach Brad Gilbert called Winning Ugly. He says “it is always better to win ugly than lose pretty.” No question, Rush’s words were ugly, and I do not think he is winning in this case.
