What would happen in a PR strike?

Everyone seems pretty intently focused on the writers strike that has caused our favorite shows to be delayed or pushed off for a year or more. We thought this mess would go away in a few weeks, but now it looks like the end is nowhere in sight. So that got me thinking… what if every PR professional went on strike?

For starters, you’d have a lot of journalists scared shitless. Who would provide them with roughly 70% of their story leads, facts, background information, interview access, or exclusive information? What would they do if all of a sudden, gasp, they had to do all the background work themselves? We’d have a lot of speculative stories or coverage of pretty boring events that news media are invited to (read: grand openings, news conference, book signing, etc).

Next you’d have the financial investors that wouldn’t have a lot of information to go on because all the analysts would actually have to do research themselves. Jim Cramer’s producers would have a lot more work to do finding information on pressing companies and stocks.

Let’s not forget the corporations that, when faced with a product release, crisis, community relations event, or sales push would be pretty much left out to dry. I guess they could try to advertise their way out of a crisis. I can see the CEO of a major company whose product just inadvertently poisoned thousands of innocent babies going on TV and saying, “Our product doesn’t suck. Really! You can trust me!” Brilliant.

Whether you want to believe it or not, public relations influences things you do and think every day of your life. It is one of the most underappreciated, yet incredibly effective marketing functions. I’m not suggesting we go on strike (our union isn’t quite as well organized), and I hate to equate us to the waste management industry, but without us, your life would get a lot more rotten. And it probably would start to stink after a few days.