On-line Readings in Public Relations by Michael Turney
	Further perspective on the publicity phase of public relations: "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right."
	© 2000 Michael Turney	Table of contents	Performing Public Relations home page	About the author

The quotation above which is widely cited in public relations and advertising books reflects the now out-dated but once-popular notion that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Although it's been widely quoted, there is little agreement on who actually said it. It has been attributed to many different celebrities and situations.

While researching the history of public relations in 1994, I found it attributed to:

• Mae West in one book, two articles, a videotape, and several newspaper articles;

• P.T. Barnum in two books and a motion picture biography;

• George M. Cohan in two books;

• Will Rogers in one article and an electronic encyclopedia;

• W.C. Fields in one article.

I then went on-line and queried several hundred public relations professionals and teachers who subscribe to the PRForum listserv. The fifty-some postings that responded to my question repeated all of the possibilities listed above and added:

• Mark Twain;

• Oscar Wilde.

At this point, I really don't know whom to credit as the first person to make this statement, but it is a perfect summation of the mentality underlying the publicity phase of public relations.