Detroit. Longtime readers of this website know that I refer to the hard-working men and women toiling in the PR trenches as “minions.” This is written with humor, because I have the utmost respect for those people, and the fact that they’re too often treated as “minions” by their bosses’ borders on the insulting. But, then again, it is the reality much of the time.
Being a PR minion/pro in the auto biz can be a tough row to hoe. First of all, they’re charged with making their respective leaders sound cogent and look smarter than they actually are. Think about that for a moment. Job 1 for these people when they show up for work is to make their company leaders look and sound good, which can be a challenge, to say the least.
Now, to be fair, some of these leaders are natural, gifted communicators, and it’s not a chore for their PR minions to assist them in promoting their vision and help forge the company’s direction. When this relationship is firing on all cylinders, it can be a wonderful thing. When the CEO and PR leader are in sync, the message gets communicated with precision, the media is properly informed so that they can do their jobs, and the company’s position on matters of the moment is artfully presented. Again, when it’s working, it’s great. But as my dad reminded me time and again – he was GM’s PR Chief in the company’s heyday (1957–1979) – “It’s a very fragile thing. If the chemistry is off or nonexistent between the two, things can go south in a hurry. And then it’s like pulling teeth every single day.”
He knew of what he talked about. Over his career, he worked with both gifted CEOs and Unctuous Pricks masquerading as “leaders.” It was obvious when it was the former, because I could tell he enjoyed his work and his relationship with the CEO allowed them to accomplish great things together, and GM’s image shone. When it was the latter, however, dealing with a recalcitrant blunderbuss of a CEO was a chore every single day, and the strain on his face was obvious. You can only attempt to soften an Unctuous Prick’s persona for so long before the sharper blades in the media knew exactly who they were dealing with, and GM came off worse for wear because of the dislike and distrust of that particular CEO.
Some would argue that today’s auto biz is different, but they would be wrong, because it most definitely is not. Yes, you have the various – and constant – social media pressures and the all-consuming, 24-7 nature of the Internet dominating the proceedings, but the fundamentals are the same. PR minions are charged with helping senior operatives at their respective companies communicate the company’s position on the pressing issues of the day that are affecting their business, to help introduce products in the most effective way possible, which has grown more difficult due to the more experiential nature of said launches, and to basically keep their charges on an even keel so that they don’t go off of the rails. To be fair, that last bit can be a perilous, day-to-day challenge.
Why? Because CEOs who are catered to constantly and go throughout their days with rooms full of people hanging on their every word – to the tune of “yes sir, (or ma’am), may I have another” – not surprisingly develop considerable egos (Duh –WG.). In most cases, the senior PR minion tasked with guarding this from happening can skillfully navigate this possibility and save their leaders from abject embarrassment.
But then again, in some cases, abject stupidity boils over into plain sight, and this usually occurs after the carefully controlled press presentations when the CEOs are corralled into a post-press conference media scrum. This is when the CEOs are left to their own devices, and when their off-the-cuff remarks can’t be mollified in real time, and when, to put it mildly, mistakes are made. It’s on these occasions when some of the lesser-light CEOs who have been hiding behind the skillful guidance of their Chief PR minions – those PR pros who have managed to keep the baser instincts and the Unctuous Prickian tendencies of their charges away from the media – blunder their way into some sort of controversial remark. And then PR minions have to scramble to control the fallout, which in this 24/7 day and age can be damn-near impossible to accomplish.
Make no mistake, when the egos of these CEOs or senior operatives have been stroked incessantly, perspective can be, to say the least, lost. Yes, some of these automotive leaders can navigate these situations with grace and handle them with aplomb. Others, however, can be exposed for the calculated frauds that they are. Too harsh of an assessment? Hardly. Just because a person has achieved executive level status does not mean they are deserving of a kaleidoscope of accolades. In fact, some of them are truly marginal, and it’s only because of the steadfast and consistent work of a talented PR pro that the true scope of these leaders’ incompetence is kept from the media, and in turn, the public.
Two automotive CEOs of late have been exposed for the true incompetents that they are. One is a well-known repeat offender (Jim "Electric Boy" Farley) who will bring Ford to its knees if not put on ice – for good – and the other was revered as one of the “brilliant” leaders of this business and who now is considered a genuine hack (Carlos Tavares, Stellantis). That they're still around is an indictment of the entire industry, but I digress.
So, I’m raising my glass to the PR pros today, those long-suffering “minions” who have to deal with this stuff, day-in and day-out. It’s a tough job, and for the most part they do it very well. Well done, ladies and gentlemen.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.