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Max Clifford, Simon Goldsworthy, Trevor Morris (chairman), Simon Lewis and George Pitcher
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Max waxes lyrical on the dark arts of PR
Max Clifford argues that he has loyalty only to clients
HONESTY is not always the best policy, public relations guru Max Clifford told listeners during a heated debate on whether PR had a duty to tell the truth.
Mr Clifford, whose roster of clients includes OJ Simpson, Mohamed Al-Fayed and Shilpa Shetty, persuaded an audience of PR students and professionals at the University of Westminster on Regent Street that public relations officers had a duty “only to their client” and not to moral ideals such as ‘truth’.
He said: “We have the most savage media in the world – sometimes the price of telling the truth is more destructive than telling the lie.”
In a series of tantalising references, Mr Clifford mentioned high-ranking politicians and celebrities that he had saved from public shame by sidestepping the truth.
Mr Clifford did not mention names, but said: “Most of the people I represent would not have been successful unless I had lied for them.”
He went on to mention a married premiership footballer who had come to him asking him to cover up his homosexuality, which Mr Clifford dutifully did.
George Pitcher, founder of PR firm Luther Pendragon and now a practising priest, was keen to separate PR from the ‘story-broking’ which he associated with Mr Clifford.
He said: “I’m not calling Max a professional liar – I don’t want a visit from his lawyers – but the world of celebrity is a fantasy world. It is very substantially not true. PR for functions and corporate companies is a different sort of function and requires a different sort approach.”
Speaking for the motion that PR has a duty to tell the truth, Mr Pitcher warned about the practical importance of being honest. He said: “The demands are too high today, with global warming and unjustified wars, for posturing.”
Simon Lewis, former communications officer for the Queen, agreed, saying: “Lying will always come back to haunt you. The dot.com bubble, Enron, the Iraq War – these are a few examples of how not telling the truth in PR has cost jobs and lives. We need to tell it like it is.”
But the outspoken Mr Clifford had the last word. He said: “I’d much rather be honest and when I’m allowed to be I am, but I deal with reality, not some fantastic ideal, and sometimes you have to lie to protect your client. If you don’t like it, don’t get involved.”
The floor agreed with Mr Clifford and voted against the motion by 138 votes to 124.
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