I knew about Phineas T. Barnum from an early age as my brother and I had a couple of books about his “curiosities” including the Feejee mermaid, a creature with the head of a monkey and the tail of a fish, Monkey Boy, self-explanatory, and General Tom Thumb, the 99cm tall dwarf. However, it was only when I got into PR and began studying the discipline that I discovered Mark Borkowski’s book Improperganda, and Barnum forever more took on “creative hero” status for me both for his ingenuity and sense of hoopla (in equal measure). This sporadic blog is, of course, named after him.
So, I was pretty excited to go see The Greatest Showman, the Barnum biopic depicting the rise, fall and rise again of the circus ringmaster. Of course, the movie should be taken with a huge pinch of Hollywood, but boy I loved it. And for the first time in a long time I felt proud to be living a life that could trace (a tiny part of) its lineage back to one of the founding Fathers of the publicity stunt.
I’m still on the Barnum high so I thought I’d share a few thoughts it made me think.
1. DOING BEATS TALKING, ALWAYS
It’s a new year so every agency head is doing a round-up and scheduling posts accordingly in the hope of catching the eye of prospective clients and hires. Here’s mine. But this year, more than ever, I was struck by just how little work agencies are actually putting out, and how many PR people seem content to just let time fly past without making an impression. There are people like James from Hope&Glory, Peter Mountstevens from Taylor Herring and Mark P formerly of MHP Brand, now W, who want to make a name for themselves by actually putting out work, but they seem to be the exception, not the rule.
I see too many people saying they’re “creative”, scheduling talks on creativity, or worse, critiquing other people’s creativity without actually putting out any creative work of their own. Only today I learnt there’s an event being planned critiquing winning D&AD work where the PR people on the panel are likely to have never created D&AD-winning work, which is a little odd (and insulting) IMHO. Barnum didn’t critique. Barnum didn’t talk. Barnum did. And fame and fortune followed. Doing beats talking, always.
2. REACT ACCORDINGLY
“Without publicity something terrible happens…Nothing”, or so the quote attributed to Barnum goes, and there’s a moment in the film (spoiler alert) where his show gets a scathing review attacking its moral compass. Rather than crumble or complain, he reacts and offers discounted entry to anyone who brings a copy of the bad review to the gate. Barnum reacted accordingly and made a virtue out of the controversy.
We are lucky enough to work in a discipline that can react quickly to events – either concerning our clients or relevant to our clients – and we need to make the most of it because our advertising friends don’t really know how to do it. After all, they’ve not grown up being told by dyed-in-the-wool news editors (in usually colourful language) what exactly constitutes a news story and what doesn’t. But do headlines make things happen? Back in the day we phoned through a story of QVC seeing an 800 per cent increase in sales of Diana-esque lookalike rings 20 minutes after Prince William announced his engagement to Kate and she was pictured with said Diana ring. No matter that it was me who bought the eight rings to get the percentage increase, the press wanted the story and the headlines generated the hype (news travels fast across all mediums), which led to tens of thousands of pounds of sales. All because we reacted accordingly.
3. BE PROUD OF WHAT YOU DO
The movie documents Barnum assembling a crew of curiosities, a bunch of misfits shunned by “normal” society, who were turned into stars by the greatest showman. The circus grows in popularity, Barnum’s bank balance swells in the process, but society considers it hokum and not of cultural worth. The man himself begins to feel ashamed before (long story cut short) he realises that “the noblest art is making others happy.”
This struck a personal cord with me. I’m doing okay for myself. I live in a nice gaff on the South coast, can afford regular holidays and, most importantly for me, am able to buy my son and daughter new football boots of their choice every season (something my mum did three jobs for so I could have the same when growing up). PR gave me this lifestyle. Along with the occasional private boxes at the sporting events, comedy galas and music gigs. Along with the lavish award ceremonies and company away days in Halls and Houses normally reserved for Royalty. I’m grateful to the discipline and certainly not ashamed to say I work in PR, but I know lots of people who are, and I know lots of people who think it’s a shameful profession. I once got a pint of beer poured over me for saying I worked on the PR for The Sun newspaper despite running campaigns to improve child literacy, get kids coding and increasing checks for breast and prostate cancer all in one week. The point of this paragraph is, like Barnum, to realise that you are the best judge of you, and if you are how you spend your time and you’re working for a purpose – for the betterment of your family, for the betterment of humanity, or just for the betterment of yourself – then be proud of what you do.
Be More Barnum.
A load of old Barnum. 
Loved the film and the article, cheers Dan and a Happy New Year
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And to you!
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