It should be easy to do public relations in a pandemic. After all, PR reps have had to be cheery, positive and inanely effusive during trying times since the earliest days of our profession! However, nothing in my lifetime ever hit us quite as hard as COVID-19. PR reps are social people–we like to get out! Unfortunately, the loneliness and isolation of this experience hasn’t been good for us, and I’m afraid a lot of us haven’t been doing our best work.
Don’t get too down about it! The truth is that we’re all making up the rules for public relations in a pandemic on the fly. I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes–including, perhaps, this blog post. In any case, here’s my short list of pandemic PR dos and don’ts based on the good, bad, and ugly that I’ve seen so far in coronavirus communications.
tl;dr: Now, more than ever, PR reps need to be the happily tweeting canary in the (possibly infected) coalmine for the American people.
Do! Say “Now, more than ever”
Now, more than ever, try to work into your PR pitches the phrase, “Now, more than ever.” You can tie literally anything to the pandemic with that phrase. Now, more than ever, stray dogs and cats need your donations. Now, more than ever, billionaire owners need you to pay to watch their professional sports teams. Now, more than ever, foot cream will resolve your callouses. Look, everybody’s doing it!
Don’t! Pretend there’s no pandemic
One of the worst things you can do is act like nothing is happening. You’ll come off as ignorant, insensitive or worse. So please, don’t invite reporters to in-person events or interviews. Don’t imply that someone with a different view needs to “get out more.” I know it’s almost Halloween, but watch it with the gallows humor, would you? And for goodness sake, please don’t use stock photos of people hugging, shaking hands or breathing on each other!
Do! Stay positive (It’s what we all need right now)
Everything you pitch is either a solution to–or wonderous distraction from–the virus. When I read clickbait headlines that end in “…is the [thing] we all needed right now,” I know a PR rep somewhere is getting a raise. A few real-world examples, if I may!
- Allure’s Best of Beauty Virtual Celebration Was Exactly What We Needed Right Now
- Susan Orlean’s Epic Drunken Tweets Were the Pandemic Comic Relief We Needed Right Now
- Hysterical Amazon Reviews of Haribo Sugar Free Gummi Bears Are Just What We Needed Right Now
- A Jonas Brothers Concert Is Coming To Prime Video Tomorrow & It’s Exactly What We Needed
Don’t acknowledge coronavirus too much
Look, it’s a balance, okay? You don’t need to hammer into people’s heads that 2020 sucks. Everyone knows 2020 sucks. Increasing your audience’s depression will only make them tune out.
And on that note, I conclude this grim blog post. Please add your own Dos and Don’ts in the comments page, and now, more than ever, reach out if you have any questions!
