Wal-Mart’s PR Firm Edelman: Virtuous to the End

Think Edelman had something specific in mind when they made these statements?

“Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie.” [Gawker]

In response to our call for lying flack stories, a tipster who works as “a high level advertising and marketing executive” brings us a story about Edelman, the huge PR firm that reps clients like Wal-Mart and Shell, and talks a lot about ethics in its marketing materials. So this little tale, while perhaps not surprising to those of you who have ever thought about the true meaning of “media training,” is still pretty blatant:

I’m a high-level advertising and marketing executive who’s hired - and used- some of the top PR firms in the nation.

As part of their “media training” they commonly tell you lying is fine.

From a direct quote within an Edelman (the nation’s largest independent PR firm) session, training our entire senior management team:

“Sometimes, you just have to stand up there and lie. Make the audience or the reporter believe that everything is ok. How many times have you heard a CEO stand up and say “No, I’m not leaving the company” and then - days later - he’s gone. Reporters understand that you “had” to do it and they won’t hold it against you in your next job when you deal with them again.”

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, February 14, 2008

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