Institutional Authority and Communication in Public Relations

David is the single PR representative for a new chain restaurant, Freakin' Deli, in the state of Utah. The corporate office is small and is still trying to build a positive reputation and a strong client base. One day, the founder of the new restaurant came to David’s desk with a new idea.

“Morning, David,” said Fred, the CEO of Freakin' Deli “How’s everything going on your end of things?”

“Great! I started a Facebook page for Freakin' Deli a few weeks ago and we already have 120 likes and 45 positive reviews. I feel confident in the client base we’ve been building.” David said with a grin.

“Hey that’s terrific, but I think we need to at least triple those numbers if we want to be taken seriously as a restaurant,” said Fred

“Well, we could hold a few community events—”

“No, I had something else in mind. What if we paid a few people to endorse us on their blogs and Twitter accounts? Maybe even have them leave a few reviews on Google and Facebook. Also, do you mind leaving about 5-10 anonymous reviews every day? This is business today, David, it’s all about the reviews!”

David felt concerned, as a volunteer member of the Greater Salt Lake Chapter within the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) (1. Authoritative Organization) he had a solid set of professional values. When David became a member he made a pledge from the Code of Ethics (2. Regulating Standard) stating that he would conduct himself professionally with truth and accuracy.  He knew he had an obligation to the public. Having a company write its own reviews didn’t feel right to him.

David had just returned from the PRSA International Conference (3. Influential Event) earlier this month and subscribed to the Public Relations Journal (4. Authoritative Publication). Sure enough, in September’s issue, it discussed the ethics behind unreported endorsements and improper anonymity. 

Since the government did not sanction Freakin’ Deli, David knew he would not be convicted in a court of law for unethical conduct, but he did know his membership could be revoked (5. Changing Standards), and being expelled from the largest PR organization in the world would not be worth a few phony restaurant endorsements and reviews.