In 2009, Ryan Holiday purchased a series of billboards scattered throughout Los Angeles to promote his client Tucker Max’s film “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell,” but this was no typical publicity campaign. Shortly after they were put up, Holiday defaced the very billboards he purchased with obscene, 2-foot-long stickers implying that Max have something despicable done to his genitals.
After snagging a few photos of his pseudo-vandalism, Holiday emailed the pictures under a fictional name to two local blogs saying, “Good to know Los Angeles hates Tucker Max, too.”
“You’re not lying, are you,” the blogger asked.
“Trust me,” Holiday replied, “I’m not lying.”
The subsequent backlash and barrage of tweets and Facebook protest groups resulting from Holiday’s act gained significantly more publicity for the movie than any billboard could have done alone.
This is one of several eccentric publicity stunts that Ryan Holiday features in his controversial book “Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator.” But it’s more than a playbook for swindling the media. Holiday acts as a whistleblower, pulling back the curtain on modern media and exposing its corruption.
While Holiday describes how he lied, cheated and bribed the media to promote his clients, TMIL provides a brutally honest but vital look into the complex world of online media that’s increasingly dominating the fields of PR, advertising and strategic communication.
So what can you learn from TMIL that isn’t covered in your communications classes?
A common trend exists to think of public relations as some vague, corporate term that involves billion dollar companies paying big bucks to firms that protect their reputation. But, as you will quickly learn from Holiday, the paradigm has shifted.
In a culture where journalists and bloggers are slaves to money and page views, Holiday argues that “news” can be created based on tips from manipulators like himself. The stories that will generate the most clicks, which inevitably make cash, are the ones that get published.
It’s a disturbing thought for PR practitioners: your client loses millions of dollars because of a malicious rumor started by a tipster looking for a big scoop and a quick dollar.
The web has enabled virtually anyone to pull the levers of blogs and news sites to twist what we read and watch. With the mass media no longer being the main conductor of news, we are forced to adapt to this chaotic environment which requires skill to navigate.
At the least, TMIL will challenge your presumptions about how publicity and news are generated. It also serves as a sharp reminder that the media is a pliable, workable substance that can and is easily manipulated.
Although it’s not often that a Wall Street Journal bestseller needs any additional publicity, TMIL is an exception. This book is indispensable for anyone in the communications field. Whether you simply want to be informed or actually use Holiday’s tactics for your own benefit is up to you.
Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University. He founded a campus newspaper and later went on to advise, ghostwrite, and edit for colleagues and startups. His biweekly newsletter with his personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations, can be found here. For any questions or comments, email dominicvaiana@gmail.com.
