No wonder public relations gets such a bad rap. Even PR’s comrades in marketing, the ad folks, are presenting PR in a negative light and perpetuating the slick spin-doc stereotype.
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I’m referring, of course, to Apple’s latest Mac vs. PC TV ad. The one I saw last night features a PR spokeswoman for the PC guy (John Hodgman) who tries to put a positive spin on the problems with Microsoft’s Vista operating system. It’s one of three new Mac vs. PC ads Apple has rolled out recently, and as Digital Journal reports, the new ads are more mean-spirited than previous ones.
I haven’t seen the other two ads — only the “PR Lady” piece — so I’m not qualified to comment. But it isn’t the mean-spiritedness that I mind as much as it is the way fellow marketers are perpetuating the corporate PR stereotype. For instance, as Digital Journal reports, “When PC admits how many users have gone back to XP after facing challenges with Vista, the PR rep says: ‘By downgrading he means they’re upgrading to an older, more familiar experience.'”
Besides, what PR person ever says “No comment”? Again, another stereotype.
It seems the new PR Lady ad might say more about the state of corporate ad agencies today than the PR business.
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Higher Ed Marketing 
I just felt the need to comment because my anti-spam captcha word was ‘edu’. How’d you pull that off? :)
Brad – I have no idea. Um, I mean, it’s top secret.
Besides, what PR person ever says “No comment”? Again, another stereotype.
Drew Rosenhaus comes to mind