Don't Read This While Driving

Carter is on a well-deserved vacation this week, so the blog post is being written by the boss.  Bear with me.

It’s a working vacation for Carter … not working for PR/PR, but working to help a friend move cross-country.  Carter flew to Los Angeles to help his friend drive to Florida.  Having made the trek myself many years ago, I’m envious of the adventure Carter is having.  When I did it, there were no smartphones so we didn’t have texting or Angry Birds in our car.  Fortunately, there are two of them so they can trade off the driving and avoid the distraction of our electronic age.

The story of the young man on trial for allegedly texting while driving, causing a head-on collision and the death of the driver of the other car, has been discussed in the office recently.  Many Americans would scream to the heavens if you try to pry their cell phones from their gearshift-holding hands.  Many states already have hands-free cell phone use laws and others have no texting while driving laws.  The National Transportation Safety Board has called for a nation wide ban on all cell phone use in cars, while Chapel Hill, NC has already implemented this.  The state of origin of this story reminded me of another American institution which has waned in use in recent years. 

The parallel that popped into my head was the protests of tobacco users when the ban on smoking began.  Being of an age that remembers ashtrays at the isle ends of grocery stores, I also remember the Marlboro Country citizens’ outcry as their areas allowing exhaling shrank and eventually disappeared.  If you had told children of the ‘70s they would see a country where smoking was the exception, not the norm, they’d tell you you were crazy.  Yet as public opinion turned the popularity of puffing began its dénouement.

Popular opinion dictates what is socially acceptable and what is not.  Perceptions of common activities change over time and generations.  Consider these social norms no longer viewed through the same filters: views on sexual orientation, violence and nudity on television, tanning and sunscreen use.

Is it possible we are seeing the beginning of the end for cell phone use in cars?


- Russell Trahan
President, PR/PR Public Relations

Pinterest and Internet Trends

If we were to personify the collective Internet, it would be comprised of a toddler’s attention span and a teenager’s keen awareness of revolving trends; essentially a virtual hyperactivity disorder with a dash of rebellious competition as to what’s ‘hot’ and what’s ‘not.’ If MySpace is an acid-washed t-shirt, then Pinterest is low-rise skinny jeans.  As a twenty-something male (not denoting my actual age, but rest assured it’s at a number that I’m no longer comfortable listing publicly; think wrong-side of twenty-five) who is an outlier in terms of Pinterest’s target demographic, my knowledge of the burgeoning social media giant is cursory at best, but it’s been impossible to ignore the website’s meteoric ascent. In the rapidly shifting online arena, it’s essential to keep your finger to the wind to maintain a working understanding of the latest trends, whether they immediately apply to you or not.

Five years ago no-one would’ve predicted the world-altering effect Facebook would have on interpersonal interaction. I like to joke that it’s even made high school reunions obsolete (you didn’t want to go anyway, regardless of the open bar). Zuckerberg and Co. have created the up to the second news cycle, and ushered in an unprecedented level of connectedness, forging the way for other social media outlets to follow suit.

Working with Amanda and Lindsay, two dedicated Pinterest disciples (I colloquially refer to the pair as ‘pinheads,’) I’ve gleaned a great amount of knowledge as to the website’s purpose and potential by simply listening to their conversations. This social media incarnation takes a different avenue for connecting others: visual branding. I like to think of it as an online dorm-room corkboard, outfitted with your favorite personality-encompassing Internet graphics; be it memes, recipes or sarcastic quips about waking up on Monday mornings. With its user-base multiplying daily, businesses are clamoring for opportunities to utilize Pinterest much in the way that they use Facebook and Twitter.

In our office we’ve been exploring the benefits and possibilities of adding Pinterest to our own social media cache, although the existing interface and format seem a little outside of our realm of business. Pinterest has carved a unique niche as a visual and graphically-driven outlet which is not immediately applicable to what we provide, but as other social sites have shown, this can change at the drop of a hat. So while we are not adding the Pinterest rung to our ever-increasing social media ladder at the moment, we are keeping our ears to the ground for ways this burgeoning website can benefit PR/PR and our clients.

Staying ahead of the e-growth curve is synonymous with maintaining a stout online footprint, which at times can feel a bit daunting. The whirlwind nature of social media trends can at first seem confusing and make your head spin, like when your teenage son calls you a square for still wearing pleated jeans or colors out of season. When did all of this go out of style? The ‘when’ is unimportant and irrelevant, and in the age of ‘now’ it has never been more imperative to attune yourself to the ever-changing online world and keep ahead of the game.

-Carter Breazeale

PR/PR Public Relations

Konyism: The Power and Peril of Pathos

Emotional appeals are the redheaded stepchild of crafting and supporting an argument. Pathos, the black sheep of Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion (which also include ethos and logos, ethical and logical rhetorical devices), has long been regarded as a slippery slope on which to base a claim, albeit a powerful one. This is not intended to be an intro course in communications; I’ll spare you that brand of drudgery on a spring-ahead-induced sluggish Monday. Still, there is much to be said about the important role emotions play in framing a point, and how they can make or break your audience connection.

By now you’re well aware of the Invisible Children charity and the Kony 2012 video that went viral last week, prompting a social media conversation about the documentary’s effectiveness, the charity’s agenda and the deliberate plucking of the viewer’s heartstrings. An interesting dialogue developed in our office about the pathos devices utilized in the video, with admittedly split opinions as to their worth. Concerns over perceived emotional manipulation via scenes of the documentarian’s young son learning about kidnappings in Africa, and segments blatantly designed to elicit sympathy provided a thought-provoking discourse that dominated our discussion topics on Friday.

Regardless as to what side of the fence you reside concerning Invisible Children, there is no denying that emotional appeals are powerful rhetorical tools. When employed in the correct manner alongside established credibility and logic, they provide a tangible ‘human’ element to any argument. Over-utilized, however, and you run the risk of denigrating your entire point and invalidating yourself.

Many of our clients secure our services for the placement of op-eds, and these often contain personal accounts that have contributed to a concrete opinion. While stories comprised of supportive evidence of the emotional variety have their place, we caution our clientele from overusing them. Unabashed emotive appeals undermine your argument and can potentially alienate your audience. As seen from the rapid (and rabid) responses to the Kony documentary, these types of claims are not always well-received, and can be interpreted as ‘cheap shots’ with purely manipulative intentions.

Providing a layer of humanity to formulate an argument is Communications 101, and is an essential component of supporting a claim. Tread lightly when emphasizing the emotional, however, as you risk the possibility of creating a disconnect with your readers. Invisible Children accomplished their goal of making Joseph Kony famous overnight, but by relying heavily on the emotional spectrum they may suffer a loss of support for their cause.

-Carter Breazeale

PR/PR Public Relations