I was at a state fair over the weekend visiting family and very much enjoyed experiencing this traditional all-American type event. It was impossible to do everything in a few hours, and aside from riding the crowded ferris wheel, biting into a must-have corn dog, and watching people’s reactions as they waited impatiently for their fried Oreo, Snickers bar, or this year’s favorite…fried butter, I was especially looking forward to visiting the cattle establishments, to see what that’s all about.
So, I decided to sit in and listen to this man talk about the cow milking process, as well as about the environment and nutrition. What I heard overall astonished me. From his too-long 15 minute speech before showing us how the cow is actually milked by machine, the small audience listened to why it’s best for the cow to be in a dairy farm vs. roaming freely, to use antibiotics on dairy, and why it’s best for the cow and the calf to be separated two days after birth, because apparently the calf would eat way too much. I’m not a farmer, but I am mother, and I can’t imagine how a separation like that could be the best thing for anyone other than those who can potentially profit from the process. That’s just my humble opinion.
Anyway, the point I’m making is that the farmer had a very clear message in that speech to us, which seemed very one-sided, self-serving, and probably designed to be that way. From a PR perspective, my question is: aside from the specific topic, is harboring and delivering your message in that way generally effective/good PR?
Especially with sensitive topics like this one, where opinions will clearly vary, how do we distinguish the difference between PR as a communications process that influences public opinion and what could be thought of as propaganda? Hmmm…
Tags: messaging and propaganda, pr and messaging, propaganda and pr, speeches and pr
Thank you for this post. This debate over neutrality and PR can be applied to farmers like to powerful organisations, politics or anyone using large communication means. Think of how many people in the audience listened passively, without the ability to step back like you did, and went away to spread the message to their relatives… !