You know how doctors have those framed certificates on walls, displaying their college degrees, and such? We didn’t have much — if any — of that in my profession. At least, not where I worked.
So, I’ve been thinking, maybe PR professionals should have something suitable for framing on office walls, something with some gravitas, with an impressive-sounding descriptor. Maybe, ‘PR-ologist,’ since ‘ology’ is defined as “a branch of learning.” People with ‘ologist’ in their job descriptors, apparently know their stuff.
Let’s go with that; let’s make it ‘PR-ologist,’ with a hyphen placed strategically, because anyone quickly glancing at ‘PRologist’ — without the hyphen — might think it’s ‘proctologist.’
With such a weighty job descriptor for their profession, PR-ologists could analyze — uh, let’s see — how about slow ticket sales for some upcoming Trump-O’Reilly stadium tours? Politico initially reported on the tours, I believe, with other media running stories, later, as well. Business Insider had an article, and People Magazine, for example.
Bill O’Reilly is a former Fox News host, and Donald Trump, of course, is the former president of the United States.
The stadium tours will feature O’Reilly’s “conversations with Trump,” which “will not be boring,” said O’Reilly, “while the former president promised ‘fun, fun, fun for everyone who attends.’” And, “while most seats are priced between $100 and $300, a ‘VIP Meet & Greet Package’ goes for more than $8,500 and includes getting pictures taken with Trump and O’Reilly and a pre-show, 45-minute reception.”
As you can imagine, the news about slow ticket sales hasn’t played well with Mr. O’Reilly, who, during a phone interview with the reporter who wrote the article in Politico, “denied that ticket sales are lagging, calling it ‘false’ and ‘totally ridiculous’ and provided a dollar figure” that was a couple million dollars higher than the amount noted in a statement issued by a spokesperson for former President Trump. The spokesperson said the tour “has already sold over $5 million of tickets,” adding that “the excitement and enthusiasm is unlike anything we’ve seen before.”
Mr. O’Reilly cited other numbers, and such, to counter anything, whatsoever, about potential issues regarding the “fun, fun, fun for everyone” tour series.
But the ticket sales discrepancy was a bit of a sticky wicket, among more such wickets, as news about the stadium tours kept unfolding. When, for example people outside of the Trump-O’Reilly orbit were asked about the upcoming events.
There was the spokesperson at a Trump-O’Reilly tour venue in Dallas, who when asked to confirm some of O’Reilly’s numbers, “could not comment on ticket sales for any event per company policy,” and had to refer “questions to the tour publicist,” according to the Politico article. And the spokesperson for another tour venue in Sunrise, Florida, who “did not respond to a request for comment when asked to confirm O’Reilly’s Sunrise numbers.” And the marketing director at yet another venue in Orlando, who said that a “box office person” had not provided an accurate assessment, nor do they speak for us.” The marketing director then “referred Politico to the Orlando city clerk’s office, which did not provide numbers in time for publication.
And the sticky wickets seemed to go on, from there, with Mr. O’Reilly, at one point, telling the Politico reporter: “You put one word in there that’s not true, I’ll sue your ass off…”
Imagine the field day PR-ologists could have analyzing all this PR surrounding the Trump-O’Reilly “fun, fun, fun for everyone” stadium tours.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.