WEBVTT - Selects: How Publicists Work 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.720 Hi, everyone. We're going to jump back in podcast time 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:09.080 to September fifteenth, twenty fifteen, for this week's selection, How 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:13.120 Publicists Work. We've never had a publicist, you know why, 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.759 because nobody cares that much about us. So it's really 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:19.960 not a job that would get a lot of billable hours, 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:21.880 if you know what I mean. But anyway, it's a 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:25.840 pretty fascinating, weird job. And we heard from a few publicists, 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.080 I believe when we recorded this, so maybe we'll hear 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:40.000 from some again. How publicists, publicists, publicists work. Welcome to 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:48.320 Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.680 Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clarks, Charlte 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.120 w Chuck Bryant, there's Jerry so Stuff you should know. 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.920 This is it? That sounded like you're introducing the final 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:03.560 episode my voice? 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.200 This is it feels like it's the final episode. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:07.720 You won't be able to talk anymore. 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:08.959 No, I'm getting there. 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:16.360 That's not true. You don't know that. How's it going? 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.160 It's going pretty well? Man? How about with you? 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:21.240 I think both of us had a bit of a 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:27.399 dark time researching this article. Why well, because and we're 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.959 going to get well, we're going to get flack. That's 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:36.480 a teaser from publicists, because what I learned is that 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.640 publicists are professional liars. 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.119 I would say that depends on the circumstance. 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.039 Well, what do you mean, Well, you're saying there are 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:48.200 publicists who don't lie. 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.800 No, I'm saying it depends on whether the publicist is 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.040 going to the media or the media is coming to 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.840 the publicist, depending on the circumstance. 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.040 What I am saying is, no matter what who you 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.840 work for, if you are a publicist, then a percentage 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:08.240 of your job will be lying. 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.840 Right, Okay, depending on the circumstance. 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.160 Yeah, so Billy lie about something good. 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.520 Billy ray Cyrus is like, I am going to donate 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.239 a bunch of time and money to a local homeless shelter. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:22.520 Yeah, you don't have to lie about that. 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:25.480 The publicist gets on the horn starts letting everybody know 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.200 you guys should come cover this. Billy ray Cyrus goes 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.160 and does that, and everything's good. Then on the way home, 0:02:32.200 --> 0:02:35.720 Billy ray Cyrus decides to celebrate by drinking a bucket 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:42.519 of tequila and runs his car into a whatever. 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:42.959 Okay. 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.480 The publicist then starts getting calls and says. 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:49.639 He didn't drink a bucket of tequila. 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:50.720 That wasn't even him. 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.240 That's overstated. What really happened was this. 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:59.160 So the circumstances depend on the whether the publicist is 0:02:59.160 --> 0:02:59.920 fibbing or not. 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.560 Oh yeah, I'm not saying that all publicists do is lie. 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.040 But I'm saying if you work as a publicist, part 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.520 of your job is to cover tracks and to lie. Gotcha, 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:14.400 and you know that. Don't hate the publicist, Hate the system, 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:15.160 is what I say. 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.760 Yeah, they're definitely a part of a larger system. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:22.000 Yeah, a larger system which includes all of us who 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:23.400 digest news. 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.480 Yeah, especially say like entertainment news. Yeah, that kind of thing. 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.680 There's like a there's a whole. There's two from my understanding, 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:36.440 there's two routes a person can take as a celebrity. 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.000 You can either just go off and be a normal person, 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.480 and depending on your level, you might have paparazzi following 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.560 her that kind of stuff. There's once you get to 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:48.560 a certain level, it doesn't matter what your decision is, 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.119 or you can hire a publicist and feed yourself right 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.360 into that machine to get as much publicity and as 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:57.920 much press as you possibly can. 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.920 Yeah, well, I think any celebrity is going to have 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.560 a publicist, but it's really a matter of your directive 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.920 and your goal. I think some of those people like 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.240 to be like that, the old adage there's no such 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:10.320 thing as bad publicity. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.440 Yeah, I ran into that that that's more of a 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.880 PR term, where like so, if you're in a PR 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.599 you're probably representing a company or an organization or something 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.359 like that. A publicist is somebody who typically represents a 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:30.080 single person, an artist and author, a musician, something like that. 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.520 That's really the only definition I can find for a publicist, 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:38.440 and the job. The goal of the publicist is to 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:43.800 help maintain and promote the public image of that person 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:44.560 that they represent. 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:45.239 That's right. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.720 Bye, having a good relationship with the media. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:50.839 Yes, that's where it starts. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:51.840 That's the publicist. 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.160 And by the way, that no such thing as bad publicity. 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.839 I tried to find the origin of that, and the 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:01.520 closest thing I could find was P. T. Barnum. But 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.440 I don't know if that's true. I don't think that's verified. 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:04.760 Well then say Mark Twain. 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:06.680 Yeah, PT Varnember Mark Twain. 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.200 Everybody says, oh it was a Mark Twain saying. 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:12.840 And I don't think that's even true anyway. I think 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:13.400 maybe that. 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.839 Used to be true, that it was a Mark Twain saying. 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.200 No, that no such thing as bad publicity. I think 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:21.239 at one point that may have been sort of true. Yeah, 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:26.440 these days there's clearly bad publicity. Sure, So you I 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:30.320 said the word flak earlier as a teaser. Apparently two 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:35.359 flak or a flack is a term originating from Gene Flak, 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:39.920 early movie publicist Hollywood. 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.440 And that's with the ck that's right flak to take. 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:46.640 Flack is named after a type of German gun in 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:48.880 World War Two, a German anti aircraft gun. 0:05:48.920 --> 0:05:51.440 Two different things, but in this case it is a 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.720 pejorative term for publicists. They don't like it. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:56.960 A PR flack. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:59.920 Yeah, you shouldn't say that to someone that works in PR. No, 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:04.640 or call them a liar. They don't like that either. Yeah, yeah, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:06.400 I looked it up. Apparently it means that, like, you 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:10.520 can't be trusted, you'll you'll do anything for money. That's 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:12.640 what a flack is to them. That's like they One 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:16.719 article I read said that's like calling a personal injury 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:18.200 attorney an ambulance chaser. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:20.239 Yeah, just not a nice term, gotcha. 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:26.000 So there you have it. So a publicist, like you said, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.080 works for their client to make them to get their 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.599 good deeds out and to if they don't have good deeds, 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.040 to spin things to make it look like they do. 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.560 Right. You know, here hold this baby lamb. Yeah, oh, 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:40.160 we take your. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:43.640 Picture exactly, and then they get photographed later eating euros 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:45.119 down the block. 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:48.080 The two events were totally not connected. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.240 No, So what they do is they pitch ideas to 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:57.279 the media and they probably have to be good writers themselves, 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:02.000 because a press release oftentimes is a starting point. But 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:06.240 press releases, as we know, can get lost in the 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:07.800 shuffle and never see the light of day. 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.200 Yeah, it seems like a huge wasted time. 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:13.880 It can be. But if you have a good publicist, 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.200 they will be well connected to the media to ensure 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:21.200 that that publicity blast is not lost. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:27.080 Right exactly. So there's direction one, which is from the 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.560 publicist to the media, and the publicist is going to 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.680 have all these contacts with different entertainment reporters and business 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:38.720 reporters and anybody that could possibly run a story. Yeah, 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:43.680 anybody that could possibly run a story on their client, Right, 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:48.520 that's right. And they'll say, Billy Ray is going to 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:49.400 donate some money. 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:50.720 Why we pick it on him. 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:52.920 He just seems like the type who would donate a 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:55.000 bunch of money to a homeless shelter. Okay, and go 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.720 down there himself and help out. Great, so Billy Ray's 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.080 going to be down there. Plus it rolls off the 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.560 tongue Billy Ray. Sure, so why don't you send one 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.920 of your cover reporters down and let's get some coverage 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.680 for this. And since their friends, since these people have 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:16.240 worked together for decades, now this reporter and your publicist, 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.920 the reporter actually might respond and show up, or the 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:24.440 editor or the news producer, whoever the contact is. That's great, Like, 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.720 that's you hired a good publicist and now this story 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:29.960 is going to make it out there. That's right, because 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.559 they didn't just write up a press release with a 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.440 bunch of exclamation points in the headline and facts it 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:39.240 to every media outlet they can find a zero response. 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.400 Yes, so good. A publicist is only as good as 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:46.000 their relationships. I think the other way on that street 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.760 that you were talking about is from the journalists back 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.040 to the publicist. If they hear heard Billy Ray sires 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.200 Drenk a bucket a tequila and ran over a prostitute 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:57.200 with his car. They will then get in touch with 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:01.360 the publicist and then they go buddy, hey, we go 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:02.280 back a long way. 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:04.000 Would I lie to you? 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:08.680 What I lie to you? Uh So that's how that goes, 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:14.040 and they want they will be more forthcoming with people 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.120 who have It's a scratch your back, you scratch mind 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:16.760 type of scenario. 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.160 Yeah, like that reporter that actually showed up at the 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:21.839 homeless shelter and covered it and made a nice piece 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:22.439 and everything. 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:23.320 I'll give you the scoop. 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.240 When that guy calls, he's he's going to get the 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:28.959 better treatment from the publicist than somebody who ignored the 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:30.880 pitch before. 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.960 That's right, a lot of backscratching, a lot of backscratching. 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:36.200 He's in the machine. 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.480 I've seen a lot more women as publicists than men, 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.400 and I've always wondered why that's true. 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:43.840 I don't know that that is true. In researching this, 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.560 I saw about an equal amount. I really that as well, 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:49.200 but it seems like there's an equal amount these days. 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.640 It seems like every publicist I've ever known has been 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:55.040 a woman. And I just figured it's because women may 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.360 be more level headed and uh were able to like 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:03.280 smooth out a situation. It's some big dumb guy. Yeah, 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.800 but I guess the guys who were publicist aren't big 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.240 dumb guys like me. I'd be a bad publicist. 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.840 Oh yeah, So what would your response be if somebody 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.840 called to find out what stupid thing your your client 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:17.720 did or why they did some stupid thing. 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.480 Let's say, you know what, it's really none of your 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.560 business or bothers. Bad publicist? 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:25.960 Yeah, well that was something I ran across, as you know, 0:10:26.559 --> 0:10:31.199 saying something like my client needs their privacy respected right now? 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.400 Sure would just immediately shut down a relationship that you've 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.840 cultivated over the years that you have to give as 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.040 a publicist. You are like, there has to be something 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:45.120 that you give, so you better have something that will 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:50.480 placate the reporter, but will also is probably not the truth, 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.080 because that reporter will go off and write the truth 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.560 about your client, and your client will have just gotten 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.760 horrible publicity because of you. So it's a balancing act. 0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.480 Yeah, or they'll just say let me send you over 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:04.480 gift back from Fred Siegel. You like the last one, right, 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:10.280 But publish may also and it depends people that have 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.640 a staff of people working for them. Sometimes the lines 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:18.160 are blurred on who does what. But a publicist can 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:23.400 arrange interview requests and set all that stuff up. If 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.760 you have like a book tour, or you're a politician, 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.560 or your band with a new album coming out, they 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.880 might arrange all those interviews, in which case they are 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:37.080 prepping two things. They are prepping the interviewer saying you 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.200 can't ask about the bucket of tequila. If you want 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:42.080 this interview, i'll give it to you, but this is 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.960 off limits all these things. And then, as we've learned, 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.160 when we've had people work with us in publicity, they'll 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:54.640 be prepping you on as the interviewee. If they ask this, 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.160 this is how you should probably deal with it. 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.760 Don't answer that, Yeah, don't ridge back to what you 0:11:58.840 --> 0:11:59.760 were saying before. 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:04.920 And my favorite thing ever are videos where celebrities walk 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:07.720 out of interviews because the interviewer has asked something they 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:08.640 weren't supposed to ask. 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:09.040 Yeah. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.480 Those are great. Yeah, I just sit around watch those 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:12.839 all day. 0:12:13.240 --> 0:12:15.560 Yeah, you can probably find a pretty good super cut 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:16.000 of them. 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.199 Yeah. Probably. So all right, well let's take a break 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.760 and when we come back, we will talk a little 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:44.600 bit about the skills you need as a publicist. All right, 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:49.960 we've mentioned lying, and you know, I joke, but for real, 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.600 if you want to be a publicist, you better have 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.680 a certain comfort level with stretching the truth and lying. Yeah, 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.040 because you're gonna have to do that. If you're not 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.840 comfortable with that, you shouldn't go into that line of work. Yeah, 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:01.880 is that safe to say? 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:02.720 I think very. 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:07.040 You need to be good with people and cultivate those relationships. 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:08.400 You need to be a good writer. 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:10.880 Well, not only do you have to be a good writer, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.840 you have to be a good journalist. And a lot 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:18.400 of publicists have a background in journalism. Because I kept 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:22.079 running into this in this article and another article you sent. 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.600 The number one rule of being a publicist is to 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.280 think like a journalist. Even better than that is to 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.200 not only think like a journalist, but be able to 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.360 write like a journalist too, because as we kind of 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:39.640 demonstrated that, the publicist media relationship is a two way street. 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.240 The publicist needs the media to publicize in a flattering 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.520 manner their client, but the media needs a publicist because 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:50.840 they've got deadlines and they need to come up with 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:55.000 story ideas, and if something is brought to them, that's great, 0:13:55.080 --> 0:14:00.200 that's good, But that media professional has a reputation to protect. 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:04.200 Be like, you know, Billy Ray Cyrus got off of 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.520 his couch and mailed a check for five hundred dollars 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:07.920 to a local homeless shelter. 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:08.760 Yeah, boring. 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.040 Yeah, and it came in a pressure release in a 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:13.520 fax machine. Yeah, that reporter is not going to have 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.560 a very good reputation. But if a publicist comes to 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.720 this reporter with a great headline, creative pitch a good 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:24.720 story that's tailored to that reporter, and they're beat and 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:29.200 even more than that, tailored to that reporter's audience. Yes, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.480 there's a good likelihood the reporter will say I'm listening, right, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:35.840 and that's just music to a publicist. 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.160 Hears sure, just to be listened to. 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.320 Yeah, that's when you throw it into fifth gear. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:43.360 You can't be afraid of rejection. You've got to be 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.760 outgoing and you've got to take your licks because a 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.080 lot of your attempts are going to fail just by 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.360 nature of the job. So you can't get your feelings 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.520 all hurt. Yeah, you guess you could, but you don't 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.760 want to show that because then the journalists will be 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.280 like geez, Chuck's such a baby. 0:14:58.520 --> 0:14:59.920 You are going to be eating a lot. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.560 I didn't run the story, and he's complaining. 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.440 Crying when I saw him choking up in the bathroom. 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:07.680 While they may get a good laugh out of that, 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:11.480 probably won't want to work with you as much. You 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:13.600 got to be very patient, and you have to be 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:18.360 very flexible because if you're working for celebrities, it is 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:19.680 a very tough job. 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:25.280 That's another thing too, So you are your hours are basically. 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:26.840 All hours whenever you're needed. 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:32.640 Right, So, not only does your publicists frequently also have 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.400 to do other stuff or people associated with the publicist, 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.280 I have to do things like pick up things for 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.280 the client system. Yeah. 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:43.640 Sure. 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.080 In addition to that, like the higher up you go 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:48.840 on the food cham which you'll talk about in a minute. 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:54.840 The more that that client feels a okay with emailing 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:58.480 you at three in the morning saying like I need 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.720 to be reassured about my celebrity status or whatever, yeah, 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.320 and the publicist needs to respond, you're basically on call 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.040 all the time. Also, at three in the morning, your 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.840 client may have done something really horrifically stupid. Yes, and 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.680 some paparazzi caught it and now words starting to spread 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:17.960 and you're fielding calls from reporters at three in the 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.480 morning to get a statement on what your client did. 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.880 Yeah, I mean when Twitter came out, I remember thinking 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.680 at the time, like publicists aren't going to be around 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.600 anymore because people are doing this themselves. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.160 Well, they've actually figured out ways to use Twitter. 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.040 Well, ways to use Twitter, but Twitter is also their 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:40.600 biggest security blanket as well. Because of Twitter, more and 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:44.160 more celebrities are saying really stupid things that the publicist 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:45.640 is then going to have to cover their tracks. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:46.480 Yeah, that's a good point. 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:48.200 So they'll take down the tweet and then try and 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:53.320 spend that or just you know, the apology is always 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:54.080 very funny to me. 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.000 Awkward, Well, it's never like. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.920 Did you hear about Chris Carter, the NFL guy. He's 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:07.920 a former NFL player wide receiver. Yeah, he is in 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:11.840 hot water this week because he spoke. Was hired by 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:13.800 the NFL to come in and speak to the rookies. 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.000 They often do that for guys that had been in 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:17.600 trouble to come in and say, don't do what I did. 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:21.439 It's scared straight, Yeah, sort of. And he said in 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.800 his talk to the Rookie Symposium said something about, you know, 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.399 if you get caught with you know, da da da 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.600 da da, just make sure you have a fall guy 0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.439 on your team, like the guy in the car that's like, 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.160 it's my weed, wowly, And he got in big trouble 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:40.399 for that and his apology. His apology was like that 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.720 that's not the kind of advice I would ever give 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:46.240 young people. It's like, but that's the advice you exactly 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.680 gave young people, Like, how can you say that days later? 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:54.520 It's just so obvious. It's a forced, insincere apology. 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:57.800 So he either had a bad publicist, yeah, didn't listen 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.000 to his publicist, because part of the publicist job is 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.680 when you're going to make the statement, the public statement, 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:08.639 the public apology or whatever. Sure, the reasoning behind it, 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:14.280 the rationale, the wording of it, just the logic behind 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:17.919 the apology is probably going to be crafted by your publicists. 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.800 At least help they're going to help you with it. 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:22.920 At the very least they're going to want to help 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:27.480 you with it because they're probably scared stupid that you're 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:28.440 going to make it worse. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.560 Right, And it sounds like there's a lot of crisis 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.760 management and that is a part of it. But publicists 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.159 also are just trying to cook up opportunities. 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:39.960 I think that that's way more the day to day. 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.080 Yeah, yeah, for sure, depending on the client, of course. 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:43.440 Sure. 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:48.000 But I remember our former boss Connell was in a 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:52.600 band years ago and I read online somewhere that his 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:57.320 band was went to Elton John's. Do you remember the story, 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:01.200 went to Elton John's house and spelled out their band 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:03.440 name and fire on his tennis court. 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:04.000 No. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:05.879 I hadn't heard to try and get on his label 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:06.359 or something. 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:08.320 That's a great way to do it, I know. 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:09.480 And I went and asked him. I was like, dude, 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:10.879 I can't believe you guys did that, and he went, 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:12.960 we didn't do that. I was like no, and he 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:15.400 was like no, these are publicists made that up. It's 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:17.800 like nothing true about it. And he's like, no, they 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.919 completely fabricated that story. Huh as a publicity stunt that 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:22.760 never happened. 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.639 Huh. Yeah, So why even go to the trouble of 0:19:25.680 --> 0:19:28.240 it where you can just release a story that says 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:28.760 that you did that. 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.480 Yeah. Isn't that amazing when something like that could so 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:35.200 easily be fact checked, like by calling Elton John. 0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:37.800 Well, that's the other thing, like I don't have him 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.320 to call Elton John. You know, I don't know. So 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:43.879 I'm curious. I wonder how many media stories are just 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.200 totally fabricated matter of fact. I'd be you out there 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:50.520 in podcasts. Let us know if you know a media 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.200 story that was just totally fabricated that everybody takes his 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.359 fact right, we want to hear it. I love stuff 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:56.720 like that. 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:59.840 I do too, all right. We mentioned earlier that you 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.640 end up getting the laundry or dry cleaning as a publicist. 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.120 If you're the publicist intern. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.239 Yeah, that's probably what's going to happen. Is you might 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:08.879 get asked to go get the laundry, and then you 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:10.520 will say, sure, I'll take care of that for you, 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:12.520 And then you will go down the chain until you 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.760 find the underling who was trying to be a publicist 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:17.040 who still does things like that. 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.320 Right. This person may or may not be in college, 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.760 but it's probably college age. That's something that I ran across. 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:29.520 If you want a career as a publicist, you do 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.840 not need to spend a single penny on higher education. Now, 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:40.600 the entire career of publicists begins as a hands on experience. Yeah, 0:20:40.600 --> 0:20:42.640 you need to be in you need to be literate, 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.719 you need to probably have a knack for writing in 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.080 a journalistic way sure, and crafting good headlines and by 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.080 proxy good email subject lines. But you don't if you 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:58.119 have that already before college, you don't need to go 0:20:58.160 --> 0:20:58.760 to college. 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:01.760 No, Like you can go in major in journalism or 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:05.160