When reading the summary of "Toxic Sludge is Good for You" I became extremely interested in what the book was all about. Toxic Sludge basically is a book that explains the world of media and how easy it is to manipulate the public into believe what they want us to believe. The reason why I am intrigued by Toxic Sludge is it gives me an insight of what my future career is all about. The book is filled with case studies where the Public Relations industries has twist the truth to sell their product/client. Going in to the PR industry I find myself terrified of who I could become and what lengths I would go to just to succeed and impress my clients.
Reading the first given example in the book was the 1929 campaign to get women to smoke during the Easter Parade in New York. Lucky Strikes, which were considered the "it" brand for the women of the 1920's. The PR industry made the public to believe that "Lucky Strikes" was worth the publics' money. When reading this case I thought that the approach to selling their product was deceitful.
Though I do not agree with the work ethics of the PR world, I must admit that if people are ignorant enough to allow the media to choose their lifestyle rather than influence their decision than the PR industry should not take any responsibilities in the end results.
Even though Toxic Sludge has given me an insight of the world of PR , I hope that my work ethics would not change. I strongly believe that I will not push anyone to the limit just to sell my product.
Stauber, John, and Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You. 1st ed. Canada: Common Courage P, 1995. 1-227.
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1 comment:
stauber and rampton definitely leave you with something to think about as you make your way through the pr stream.
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