As I think I’ve said before, I always feel sorry for my colleagues in the fashion world and the hoops they have to go through to secure a story. Questions in advance, picture approval, quote approval, copy approval… the gradation of demands can go on and on, and it takes a strong writer or a publication secure in its place in the world to resist them all.
Thankfully we are less prone to that kind of silliness in our industry.
There’s very little bullying/blackmail/bribery, not because we are better people (although we are, obvs) but because the stakes aren’t so high. There’s just not the same amount of money sloshing around the system, so I’m not worried that displeasing a brand will cause a dent in our advertising revenue or deny me a front-row seat at the launch of the next plant-based food range.We all just rub along nicely.
It doesn’t stop the very occasional PR from trying to play hard ball but thankfully most of you are far too sensible to resort to that.
You’ll know, for example, that you can’t get us to change a headline or photograph or excise an offending paragraph online just because your client “really, really hates it” and you’ll know that saying you’ll have to think twice about working with us in the future just makes you look a bit silly.
Because you’re a nice person. And nice people always come out on top in the end.
