What are some ethical considerations for a PR campaign?

Answer 1

Let's start with the basics: PR is about getting news out. Being ethical about it means that this news is communicated in a way that is not deceptive: Obviously, it can't be a straight-out lie. That's simple, but the question gets more complicated as you consider the use of generalizations and broad, non-detailed statements. For instance, you can't state a fact that has an unstated or understated disclaimer. Saying "In studies, American men prefer boxers" when your "study" included only yourself, your room mate and your brother. Likewise, you can't state that a product has health benefits simply because you think do; it must have a recognized organization confirming this fact using accepted standards. It's also unethical to quote statistics or people out of context; if the statement was not made by the third party about this specific situation, they can't be used as if they were. PR often uses short, simple statements in order to get ideas across quickly; this is required due to peoples' short attention spans and the preference for mentally digestible bites of information. Bottom line: these are basic, over-arching concepts but every type of PR medium has its own consideration and often-abused methodologies. When taking on a PR projects (either as a hired gun or in-house resource), the very easiest ways to execute a PR plan are either to: 1) Have a product/service you that you truly believe in and can be honestly boastful about. 2) When the product isn't ideal or easy to promote, look for a specific angle or aspect that #1 above does apply to. Being unethical (which generally means untruthful in this context) very often leads to negative backlash when people figure it out; this puts you is a position often worse than when you began