America 1982

Thirty-nine-year-old Sean Ray dragged his somewhat bloated body and sat across from Tommy. His first words after sitting down were:

"When Mr. Rick Luther stood up to leave, I saw him wiping his sweat. It seemed like he was walking a little tight. Unlike him, I am used to wiping my sweat first."

While speaking, he looked at Tommy kindly with his cloudy-looking eyes, and said gently: "Generally when I deal with people, I will first tell them in a subtle way that I am severely obese, so my heart and blood vessels are damaged. Question, don't be frightened. This trick works very well. They will treat me more gently and give me some... I think you are unlikely to be like that kind of person. Mr. Hawke, I have said so much, but you are not prepared. Pass me a tissue and let me wipe away my sweat...I'm just kidding."

After speaking, he took out his handkerchief and wiped the non-existent sweat on his forehead.

"Rick just didn't expect that our discussion on the programming ideas was a bit...comprehensive, covering entertainment, science popularization and humanistic care. He always thought that I was just an investor who took money to have fun on a whim, so when he heard my comments After seeing the specific ideas of the program, I was a little surprised, that's all." Tommy smiled and looked at the fat middle-aged man opposite:

"So, Sean, how many pounds do you weigh? Are you sure you have heart and blood vessel problems? Did you do your onboarding physical?"

"About weight, are you asking now or at work?" Sean put away his handkerchief and asked Tommy.

Tommy was stunned for a moment, and asked with some confusion: "Is there any difference?"

"There is a slight difference. I am about 170 pounds now, which is considered moderately obese. But when I go out to work, I will wear clothes that make me look fatter. I tell them that I am almost 200 pounds. I am definitely severely obese. In the eyes of most people, fat people are harmless and appear to be more loyal. Some more vicious people may even think that fatter people have slower brain reactions. I like to be thought of as loyal or slow in reaction, which is not a bad thing." Sean winked at Tommy and said, "Who would hate a fat man who is harmless and good-natured?"

Tommy nodded in agreement:

"I have a friend named Jim who told you that he can actually build abdominal muscles at any time, but he likes to look like he has a belly. The most exaggerated thing is that the belly matches his That ugly face can actually win the favor of many women. In his words, he has a muscular body and wears an Armani suit. With that ugly face, the girls think of him as a poor boy who has no money and is trying to cheat. In fact, when he first started to gain weight, he was a poor guy who didn't have the money to look like his weight, nor the strong physical strength to maintain his abdominal muscles. However, the girl believed that he was successful just by wearing an Armani suit to show off his appearance. People, not low-level white trash.”

"He is just poor, not incompetent, and women are not idiots. There is a big difference between a capable man and a waste wearing the same clothes, even if they are both equally fat." Sean Ray grinned:

"The same goes for public relations work. First of all, you must be capable, and then you must not seem annoying, so that the other party will be willing to give you the opportunity to contact them."

"When Mark told me to help me find a suitable vice president of public relations, I had doubts because he had not been in the headhunting business for a long time. Then I saw your information. He has worked in public relations in newspapers, magazines, television and other industries, and also You once served as the public relations manager for the campaign team of the Washington State Attorney General. Your last job was as the vice president of media public opinion in the public relations department of the Playboy Adult Television Channel. You successfully helped the Playboy Adult Television Channel resolve a major crisis. But after you solved that crisis, you resigned." Tommy picked up the cigar on the table, handed one to the other person, and smiled as he talked about what he knew about the situation.

Sean took the cigar and said thank you, then put it in front of his nose and sniffed: "Actually, there is a follow-up. One year after I resigned, the Playboy adult TV channel also stopped operating. It is basically the same as closing down. Therefore, it can only be regarded as a half-perfect public relations operation and a perfect failure. I don’t know whether it should be regarded as a stain or a highlight in my public relations career.”

"Would you mind talking about your last public relations action in your last job? It sounds very attractive." Tommy cut off the cap with cigar scissors and chatted casually: "I'm more curious about how employees can help the boss solve it. trouble, and then leave the company."

Sean did not accept the cigar cutter handed over by Tommy. He bit off the cap with his teeth skillfully and somewhat roughly, then directly picked up the lighter to toast the cigar and said:

"That's a long enough story."

"It doesn't matter, tell the story, the company will pay you, and you won't be treated as if you have nothing to do." Tommy looked directly at Sean and said with a smile.

"Playboy opened its adult television station in 1980. In fact, the television station is not very attractive because it looks little different from the magazine. If the audience buys a magazine, there is absolutely no need to pay to watch its television station. Likewise, Women have just changed from photos to videos, and written interviews have become TV interviews. They are the video version of Playboy. The ratings are so low that it is said that every time the boss Hugh Hefner holds a meeting at the headquarters, the TV channel is responsible. People should shut up and not report ratings, lest he suffer a heart attack and die at the conference table. He must be encouraged and comforted by at least four bunny girls before he dares to open the TV channel data."

"It wasn't until 1983 that Mr. Hefner finally, spurred by three consecutive years of ultra-low ratings, was ruthless enough to replace his channel leader who had no shitty abilities and only had the trait of loyally following him for twenty years. He was given a severance package and allowed to return to his hometown to retire.”

"The TV station's situation improved after we hired professional TV professionals. At that time, we had ten hours of broadcast time a day and prepared about seven self-produced programs. At other times, we only played R-rated movies, and three of the seven self-produced programs were broadcast. Two of the programs that stood out and became phenomenon-level, causing problems, were "Six Pack Abs", an outdoor reality show aimed at adult female users, and "Six Pack Abs", an elderly adult travel program aimed at seniors with good incomes. Don’t forget to please yourself before you die.”

"There are many married women who saw some married women flirting and playing intimate games with strong young men in the show "Six Pack Abs", and finally couldn't help but choose to cheat on themselves as well. The first season of the show was broadcast Afterwards, some organizations calculated that there were probably more than 700 divorced couples who divorced because the woman cheated on her, and the woman cheated because she was tempted by the show "Six Pack Abs."

"The same goes for the second program. Many older men and women thought the program made sense. They didn't have much time, so why not do things that make them happy? So they began to imitate that program. There were 80-year-old men He went to trashy Vegas to party for three days and three nights and finally died suddenly."

"There are women in their seventies who muster up the courage to become film actresses just to leave a side of themselves to the world that has never been exposed before, thereby humiliating their children."

"There are many more cases like this. The most exaggerated one is a guy in his sixties who changed his nationality and religion after watching the show. He went to a Middle Eastern country and married several beautiful young wives to help his wife who thought he could be alone. The son who inherited the inheritance added a bunch of younger brothers and sisters.”

"Normal people should know that all this is caused by their own character flaws and has nothing to do with our program. Just like when the "Superman" movie was released, there was a fool dressed like Superman and jumping from upstairs to imitate Superman's flying posture. It’s the same thing, it has nothing to do with the movie, it’s just that the guy himself is mentally retarded.”

"But the world is like this. Although it has nothing to do with you, as long as you have enviable results, trouble will naturally follow. As we expected, seeing our advertising fees and ratings soaring, trouble will come. Coming to the door.”

“Perhaps the sales volume of seven million copies of a single issue of Playboy during its peak period was scary. It was claimed that every two men would buy a copy of Playboy, which made people think that the company was very powerful, but in fact, it was far from enough. Big, tattered and leaky, just because the pornographic magazine industry is too small, and morally controversial, those big guys who really care about feathers are dismissive of it. As we all know, Hugh Hefner has been from 1960 to now In 1987, for nearly thirty years, he has firmly told everyone that he is anti-feminist. He makes adult magazines and is opposed to women's rights. There is no problem. But when he stepped into a new industry and tried to steal the cakes of other large companies, this It’s a pretty fatal problem, especially after he rejected the cooperation offered by some people in the television industry.”

"After he refused to cooperate, various feminist organizations and some organizations in the television industry began to deliberately amplify the social problems caused by the two homemade programs, accusing the Playboy Channel of lacking a sense of social responsibility. Later, a family relative was the owner of a television station. Mr. Senator, it is natural for Congress to announce the establishment of the Commission to Investigate the Ethical Responsibilities of Television Entertainment Programming in Congress."

"Actually, our public relations operations have already started before public opinion emerged. We paid newspapers that reported relevant news to remove their pages, including announcing support for same-sex marriage, and allowing the bunny girls to quickly appear on major television talk shows. We talk about the company's social responsibilities, welfare for female employees, etc., trying to change the direction of the trend, but these are not important. The most important thing is that the big bosses must negotiate as soon as possible, that is, Mr. Hugh Hefner should talk to the person who is causing trouble. Cooperation or mediation, the other party was very gentlemanly and gave buffer space. During that time, we suppressed public opinion and the other party did not intervene. Maybe they were already sitting at the negotiating table and thought that Mr. Hefner would be willing to talk to them about how to cooperate. .”

"Unfortunately, the fact is that Mr. Hefner felt that TV stations should be like when he founded Playboy magazine. They should start it on their own without seeking any cooperation. We persuaded him that adult magazines were an emerging industry at that time. You You can grow on your own and feel free from scruples, because you are the pioneer and industry leader. You have set the rules. But you are a newcomer in the TV industry. It is best to play according to the rules. In any industry, it is all about compromises and transactions, and the other party provides a buffer period. , even if you don’t want to talk about cooperation, you still have to sit across from the other party and give the other party a satisfactory reason, instead of dismissing the other party as a small role."

"It's just that Mr. Hefner was about to turn sixty at the time. He had been in a high position for so many years, and the compliments from countless beautiful women made him think that he was omnipotent. Being willful is a taboo for people in high positions. In short, communication is very good. It was unpleasant, and could even be described as embarrassing, because my immediate boss, a certain governor’s campaign manager and the vice president of public relations for a TV channel, yelled at Hefner in the conference room: You are nothing! Those TV networks were founded in 1926 , if I want you, it’s as simple as you do those bunny girls living in the Playboy Mansion, you don’t need to ask if they want to, just take off the other person’s clothes and push them down.”

"Then my boss left Playboy Company under Hefner's rage. The remaining members of the public relations team began to discuss other plans. I noticed at that time that the senator was speaking to the public. , once said with disgust that he and his family had not watched our channels and programs, so I came up with a bold idea. As long as we prove that the other party has watched our programs and use them to solve the opponent's problems, that is Mr. Senator, as long as Mr. Hefner is willing to cooperate with that senator's opponents in Congress, show goodwill to women's organizations, and use the media to completely publicize public relations, he can survive this crisis, at least the immediate crisis."

"It just so happened that during that time, Mr. Hefner was so angry that my boss was cursing him that he had a stroke. He left the company to his daughter to take care of it and went to the hospital to recuperate. His daughter agreed to my plan and was willing to contact and cooperate with the enemy in the future. He promised to talk about issues such as stock ownership or cooperation, etc., so I started to contact the senator’s opponents. After all, if you want to know a person, the best way is to ask his opponents.”

"With the help of my opponents in the Senate, I planned for about three months to get other organizations to launch a charity event, so that the Senator and his wife could successfully attend, and his wife and the man from the "Six Pack Abs" show The actor had an intimate encounter at the event, without going to bed, but an older woman and a younger man had an intimate encounter together at an event that was indeed charitable but not respectful enough to women, including touching each other and whispering. These behaviors seemed to be morally wrong. It was extremely inappropriate, especially when her husband was still righteously criticizing us. After we got the photos, we immediately handed them over to various media outlets for publication. Everything pointed to the fact that the senator was a hypocrite and he did not want other women to enjoy the enjoyment of men and women. However, my wife and I enjoyed it endlessly. At the same time, some female organizations that I had prepared for a long time began to use their strength to bite each other and confuse the situation."

"The other party was caught off guard. In order to maintain the goodwill of the female group, they announced their resignation from the investigation committee. The investigation activities were immediately suspended because they had to wait for a new leader to be elected. At the same time, this also meant for the Huahua Company Channel, I tried my best to get a precious second buffer period for it.”

"Because the enemies need to think about why you have the courage to break up with each other at this time. After they realize that you have found a collaborator, they naturally do not want the situation to worsen. They must first see clearly each other's strengths and whether it is worth increasing the stakes and continuing the war. So be cautious, and that's why the second buffer period is coming."

"The normal process is for the Playboy TV Channel to cooperate with the senator's opponents. If the other party helps you, they will naturally receive benefits. Miss Hefner understands this truth, but unfortunately, Mr. Hefner was discharged from the hospital, and he still I chose to refuse...I knew then that I had better run faster, the guy had completely turned into a self-righteous idiot."

"I resigned, and as I expected, the investigative committee quickly grew and reopened the investigation. Although the senator resigned, the committee was filled with opponents of the senators who had helped us before. A year later, the investigation was closed. Playboy TV channels cease operations.”

"That's why I say it's only half a perfect PR move." Sean Ray exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at Tommy, and ended the story.

Tommy nodded slightly: "This story tells me that you should never think that you are strong enough to fight against everything, and always stand on the side of justice."

"Yes, as a failure case, it can provide a lot of experience." Sean said with emotion.

After Tommy finished digesting the story, he asked Sean: "Want to talk about our BT TV station? Some opinions, opinions, etc.?"

Sean took off the cigar from his mouth and said seriously: "No, Mr. Hawke, I have been talking for so long because I want to say that you are the boss, I am the publicist, and you are always the one who gives the order. There is no doubt about it, but you It’s important to tell me clearly what you need me to do. The biggest mistake Hugh Hefner made was that he needed us to constantly give him advice and show him how to deal with it. If public relations only respond passively, it’s like hiring us. A boss of people, the lowest possible use of our profession.”

"So?" Tommy hesitated.

Sean looked at Tommy with sharp eyes that should not appear on his honest face:

"Tell me, you need to tell me what you want to achieve, the real purpose. I don't want to elevate my job, but our profession is similar to lawyers. We must know the employer's real demands, no matter how exaggerated or bizarre it is. , that’s not important, you are responsible for telling me, I am responsible for considering whether it can be achieved, you can disguise, we can even cooperate with your disguise, emit countless smoke, take countless detours, but in the end... towards the destination you want to reach. .”

"Of course, if I have this job, I will also form a team to complete branding, media, planning, copywriting, docking, etc., but these are node tasks and do not need to consider issues from a strategic level. I You can brainwash them, give them a false answer, and use this false answer to hold various regular meetings with them to unify their thoughts, but I must know your ultimate goal."

Tommy lowered his head and played with his cigar for a long time, then raised his head and looked at Sean again: "I hope that BT TV station will rely on its huge base of black people at the bottom to slowly grow through annexation, cooperation, acquisitions, etc., and eventually become a large-scale American TV station. The fourth television network, like the other three major television networks, can influence the election. It allows me to talk to people who want to be congressmen and presidents to talk about cooperation, to talk about deals, to talk about how to be a talkative person. My dear friend, does it sound like a fantasy?"

"Is it possible for an actor like Ronald Reagan to become president? My job is not to consider whether it is exaggerated or not, but to consider how to help you achieve it, so I don't know about the person in charge of programming, commercials, etc., How should I view BT TV station? In their eyes, the product may be programs or advertisements, but for me, it is already clear that the only core product of our TV station is black viewers and powerful people. My job is Sell ​​the black audience product to powerful people, tell them that this product is indispensable to their political life, and when your station grows, the second product is called powerful people, and sell them to your audience." Xiao After En finished speaking, he stared into Tommy's eyes:

“As an employer, you want to tell me, am I understanding this correctly?”

"Exactly, Sean, if any of my friends wants to run for president like Reagan one day, I will definitely recommend you to be his campaign manager." Tommy said with a smile:

"Welcome to BT TV, Mr Sean Ray."