PR bubble pops

Public relations became a bubble industry during the last decade. True, it was hard to buy groceries without the bag boy offering to find you a great deal on some condos he could sell you, but it was also difficult to go several hours without overhearing someone use the word “branding” 50 times during a three-minute conversation.

This article by an intelligent PR man notes that for public relations people, “This downturn will prove particularly brutal,” and that “If you’re a PR student, consider changing your major. Seriously…Many of you are in for a big disappointment.”

Ouch. During the bubble, there was a feeling that companies would pay you to basically hang out on Facebook, buy people coffee, and tell old people how to be cool. TV shows and movies featured hot, rich people who got that way by working in public relations.

The crash ended that fantasy. It turns out now, that to keep one’s job, one must actually be able to write in complete sentences and perform unpleasant tasks known as “work.”

Share

12:14 am on March 25, 2009