I got the chance to watch SPINdustry, the new show on E!, and thought “big deal – one more reality show about PR that gives everyone the wrong impression of what the field is really about.”
In saying this I don’t mean to criticize the entertainment PR field. And I get the fact that we are in a celebrity-driven culture. Hollywood is great and so are attractive people and flamboyant personalities. I could see how some might find all this to be very entertaining.
On the other hand, does the show really do the broader PR field any favors?
The good people at E! hope to make money on this show, and it is excellent PR for the agency Command PR. My Flack’s Revenge gig , on the other hand, is to examine issues about the industry (PR in general and tech PR very specifically), pull back the curtains and educate.
In that vein, let me humbly submit that the field of tech PR could be good fodder for a reality show and provide its share of fun moments, while helping to educate people about the profession and showing another side of it.
There are parts of the business best left to the imagination – all the back office administrative stuff, for example – but other parts that would be great fun to watch (or maybe I am partial). We’ve experienced many “fly on the wall” moments that have been entertaining and funny (often unintentionally). Some of the most outrageous ones occurred in the dot com years, granted, but lots of frivolity still ensues.
Here is what the ad copy might say for some fictional reality show for Tech PR (I am accepting proposals to produce this, serious offers only please).
Tech PR, the Reality Show! (OK not the most creative, I am still working on the title – how’s about Tech Reality Bytes?)
- See the rock star CEOs of tech exert their Svengali effect and entrance the media!
- Enjoy brainstorming sessions in which we devise ways to make a chip or circuit board seem exciting
- Gaze at the trade show booth babes – yes, sex sells even in tech!
- Laugh at the confused looks on journalists faces as spokespeople string buzzwords and acronyms together with nary a real word in between!
- Delight in our campaigns and stunts, which have featured everything from neutered bunnies to drinking shots on tricycles at trade shows!
- Watch the tap dancing and delight in the smoke and mirrors as software demos hilariously go off the rails!
- Laugh as the tech PR peeps take a break from daily business to do team building in the form of bowling – scores will be settled!
