PR, Pigs, Horses, and Porn Moms

http://euroconcerns.com/tag/the-big-lie/

 In our last blog post we continued our tortuous look at how “public relations” and advertising work  –or more correctly, how they don't work.    

All along, we have proceeded from that assumption that PR is a form of propaganda, which – in essence – is really just an expression of the human tendency to “look good”.  I have argued that you can look good without lying.  Choosing the right camera angle and lighting can show off your best side, which is real and not a deception. That is quite different from pasting in a photo of a super model. which is not you. .

PR often blows up small things to create something real-looking – at a distance -but artificial—to manipulate human delusions, which is about 50% of our psyche.  

The appeal is visceral, not intellectual.  It pushes the buttons of  social conditioning.  Dogs salivate when bells ring; you do too.    Of course, it has to be the right bells.

And what you see below is probably not the right...um...bells.

Alas,  radical cosmetic surgery,  PR/ proganda/ spin  are foten  often  just money wasted. 

Sorry girls-- “after” is not always better than “before”.  And while everyone lies – no one likes to be lied to.    Want to look good?  For people contemplating nip and tuck,  not to mention, countries, companies --and other singles on the prowl  --  verisimilitude is the key  -- and balance.

Natural is Good.    Plastic skin is un=sexy.  A “big” lie must be believable.  Too big, too hard,  too symmetrical, visible evidence of the fakery  -- such things generate a negative reaction.  You look bad.   If you are going to lie--do it well, with grace -- I hate myself for saying this -- the Obama way, not the Bush way.

In the world of Spin -- whether it is your face or your company or your asshole, or your company's asshole --  commonsense matters..... One has to wonder sometimes, how people -- nominally intelligent people -- could be so blind!

Spin, unfortunately, always involves some degree of deception.  We don't want people to "see: certain things.  So we lie to others and then we lie to ourselves. "Oh what a tangled web..." You remember the rest.  And some people are just not good at this. 

Think of the US and its wars.     Vietnam. It lied about Iraq. It lied about Afghanistan.   Libya.  Now,  Syria.  We all know the official line.  And we all know the truth is out there somewhere -- but probably not we hear on CNN..  The Fourth Estate is a puppy farm, run by four or five large companies who hate dogs..  No hope there. 

But we have Wikileaks.  And a few courageous truth tellers.  And the Internet.   The truth will out.  

Not that the US and its government of corporate cabals really care what a few million ragheads think or feel.  They don’t buy Ipads do they?

The American public?  A solid 30 percent always has rags in their heads --rather than meriticiously wound around them. 

Of course, the US is not any better or worse in this respect than any other country.  The problem is that it pretends to higher standards.    

How would you feel if your Mom not only took you to church every Sunday and was active member of the PTA and did charity work --and was constantly proselytizing against gays, sex before marriage,  -- and then you found out she worked outside doing gangbang movies.

Now,  just suppose that Mom wasn't a Tea Partier and didn't hold herself up as a paragon of GOPish (hereafter refered as "goppish" or "goppy") virtue.  if Mom were honest in the first place and told you that she did, say, “erotic” movies because a.) she liked sex and Dad had run away with a sailor  b.) she needed the money to pay for your  college c.) the important things in life are kindness, loyalty, love and friendship --, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal..  

  

Why for example is Obama neck and neck goppishly with a man like Romney?   It’s like a race between a horse and a pig – with the pig ahead sometimes, with detours to eat offal..  In this case, Obama is not much of a horse. More like a donkey,   weakened by poor feed --you can’t thrive eating your own ...um... horseshit – which is what Obama did when he forgot the substance of his original campaign promises and the expectations of his base.   Like a donkey he often moves backwards when you want him to go forward.   Obama used to look good -- and still does.   Tall, handsome, athletic looking, a great voice.  A made for TV guy. 
And he can sing!   Yup, American Idol --the real American dream.

Pigs, by the way, are smarter than horses or donkeys.  But a lot greedier -- and only George Clooney keeps one as a pet.

I digress....

“Change you can believe in”.  What was not to like?  Now we know  – and it is a lot.   But it probably doesn't matter.  All that Americans learned in life, they learned from MTV.  Only looking good matters.

Trouble is you can't get lazy. You have to work at it.

When you fake it, people catch on.  Obama will get elected, more or less by default.  But he has lost a lot of friends.

So this is the basic rule of  Spin.  If you look in the mirror and you see something you don’t like – like you’re fat – don’t go out and buy clothes that you think hide it – because they won’t.    Lose some weight.  If you're a company, and your products suck -- make better ones.    If you are a politician -- tell the truth (but do with impact and elegance, the JFK way).  To show your best side -- you need a best side.

  A lot of advertising  and PR is so lazy. Which means stupid.   And people catch on.