IDEALOGUES AND PRIVATE JETS: FROM A NON JET OWNER OF A PR AGENCY
Last night, I lectured on Public Relations to a group of 75 or so MBA students at New York University, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I spoke about marketing, journalists and day-to-day PR practices. It was fun, particularly as I heard the questions and furor from so many sitting there. Isn’t it so much easier to be ideological in an institution compared with working day-to-day? I loved and enjoyed my time in school… but public relations is so incredibly different working for real brands and real money than it is as a “concept.” Food for thought. I remain ideological, but often times the reality of work demands that I become more realist than idealist.
Clearly there is no idealism at work in General Motors, Ford Motor or Chrysler, whose executives showed no shame in flying on a private jet to ask for taxpayers to bail them out. Is this nothing short of absurd and offensive? The whole thing is just criminal. The New York Times may have had my favorite headline:
“Taking a private jet to hold out a tin cup”
And as long as we are on this topic, “integrity” in business is different when it’s spending other people’s money versus spending your own money and sweating your own sweat. Entrepreneurs operate in the real world: they spend their own money and take their own risks (real revenue, not accrual; if I don’t have the money, I cant spend it). Versus some out there who spend and believe they are immune to others suffering (i.e. the three companies above, whose CEOs also refused to take a pay cut).
As the owner of a PR agency and an entrepreneur, I believe the key is building a profitable business, not just building for the sake of building. Clearly, a private business owner wouldn’t think they could get bailed out while flying private jets. Asinine would be a kind word to describe their behavior.
Ronn Torossian
December 8th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Great Read, thanks for the post.