The relationship between PR professionals and the media can be vexing due to a symbiotic reliance that both parties at one time or another resent. And no doubt, there are PR people out there who do nothing to uphold the reputation that we fight so hard to hold on to with writers and editors. But Gene Weingarten’s column in this week’s SDUT really got me steamed. While I understand that he was “trying” to be funny, he unfairly lumps all PR professionals into a pile of mediocrity.

What really got me is how disingenuous it is for the UT to print such a skewering of PR. We all know that the UT has seriously slashed its editorial staff resulting in people who are juggling 3 and 4 jobs, with no pay increase by the way. The result is that those writers and editors rely on PR pros more than ever to secure photos, provide background info, arrange interviews and more for them. They simply can’t handle the work load. So to print such a mean spirited piece would seem to bite one of the hands that feeds them.

Gene also expresses the desire to “expose the unholy alliance between the PR industry and the soulless marketing industry..”. Wake up Gene, PR is an integral part of every real marketing campaign in this country. This is not a new development. Just smart marketing. If people are being “cajoled or deceived into making silly, discretionary purchases they cannot afford” is that the fault of PR, or the banking institutions which continue to provide endless credit to people who can barely pay their rent or the individuals themselves who seem to take no responsibility for their actions?

This year, we’ve decided to forego the typical cornucopia of holiday glitter and glut for our client gifts and instead opt for real live bonding. Yes, we are instead suggesting that taking our clients to lunch to celebrate the holidays will be a better use of our time and money — investing in the relationship rather than feeding the greedy organ, so to speak.

Not that I don’t love a good chocolate covered pretzel or cheese spread with a shelf-life of 500 thousand years, but I’m thinking maybe our clients might already have their share of that kind of love. Perhaps instead, we can divert to some other things the holidays are supposed to include — celebration, thanks, relationships, camaraderie and maybe a little wine thrown in for good measure. We’re thinking a nice lunch still feeds the stomach and pleases the palate, and perhaps a happy by-product will be the feeding of a good relationship.

Our clients mean everything to us. Literally. They pay us well to do fantastic work, and we owe them our gratitude and continued fantastic work. At BG, we’re particularly lucky because we truly enjoy the clients we work with, and the thought of sharing a meal with them does not cause a gag reflex.

So why do so many companies invest thousands of $$$ in holiday gift baskets? Maybe because it’s easier. Maybe because they own stock in Harry & David. Maybe because they don’t have the great clients we do and they would rather not eat in their presence. Or maybe they are a little afraid? Afraid to just sit and get to know their clients better without the pressures of work or the office? I dunno.

I just like this idea better. Maybe next year we’ll just call Dean & DeLuca instead.

It’s the whole chicken and egg thing. You know, which came first: the public’s perception that nothing is free or a marketer’s ingenious message-disseminating techniques? (Ok, ingenious or devilish? I went back and forth here. Devilish nearly won, but I felt like a magician telling tricks of the trade, and I just couldn’t sink that low.) Today I had the honor of helping the Honda Dealers of San Diego County offer free* waterless car washes to visitors at Plaza Bonita mall.

I know, you want to know what the catch is. So did everyone else– even those visitors standing in front of the two-sided sandwich board with the word “FREE” written in one-foot tall letters.

Marketers have overused the four-letter word to a degree that we have actually altered its definition. It no longer means “at no cost;” it means “at no cost as long as you do what the little asteric at the bottom of the pages tells you to do.” At the car washes today, I enjoyed watching partakers walk through the process of elimination until they felt safe that something can truly cost nothing.

And with no catch.

And a truly free gesture, even one as simple as a waterless car wash, makes people genuinely happy. That’s a sight rarely seen these days.

* If those 100 people can just each tell ten of their friends about the free car wash from the Honda Dealers, then…

I guess when speaking with acquaintances about re-baking fruitcakes at 200 degrees for ten hours, I should expect the question: “What exactly do you do?”

In the changing scope of media, public relations careers aren’t so cut and dry (although my fruitcakes are). The foundation of my job still includes traditional PR skills such as writing press releases, pitching media and communicating. But as my clients’ target demographics become technologically savvy and evaders of traditional media, I have come to master new skills to help messages reach intended audiences.

In the case of Seaport Village’s Deck the Palms, I turn fruitcakes into bricks, transform sand dollars into shiny ornaments, and help Santa build quads by asking him to pose like a surfer for six hours.

“Express yourself” is the messaging in BOTOX Cosmetic’s latest TV commercial. It’s a funny tag line given BOTOX’s reputation for inhibiting facial expressions. If I did BOTOX, here’s how I would express myself: