PR as portrayed on MTV’s “The City”
Although I don’t currently have cable (thank you Hulu.com), I definitely still watch my fair share of TV, and more specifically reality TV. While its seems that “trashiness” is the prerequisite of a successful reality show, I’ve always been fascinated by the personalities, relationships and interactions of the “real people” on these shows and love to see how others choose to handle conflict.
I’m currently catching up on Season 2 of “The City,” which I admittedly watch for the genius and inspiration that is PR guru, Kelly Cutrone. What I’m loving this season though, is the added PR insight as Whitney launches her new collection, and Olivia and Erin duke it out over at the PR department of Elle Magazine.
In real life, I have to believe that Olivia would be canned for her behavior and lack of PR sensibility by now. She never follows direction, has zero attention to detail, sends her clients on national TV segments unprepared, always thinks she is above the tasks at hand, and when confronted about the terrible job she’s doing, consistently uses the defense “I’m not having this conversation with you right now.“ Then, they give her the job of interviewing up & coming fashion designers in the industry, and she consistently starts and stops with one original question, “what was the inspiration behind your collection?” followed-up with an interruption to talk about herself.
PR101 = be a good listener, work hard, pay your dues, do the grunt work, do your homework, validate other peoples thoughts, ideas and opinions, and be respectful.
So the purpose of this post is a giant thumbs up to Miss Erin Kaplan, who remains poised and respectable despite Olivia’s reckless imitation of appropriate workplace behavior.
To learn more about Erin, check out this Q&A interview submitted by an Elle reader (via Elle.com):
On the show, you are always very confident and to-the-point, but has there ever been a time when you were at a loss for words?
That’s so nice to hear, especially since I feel quite the opposite when filming! Hindsight is always 20/20 and the majority of the time I wish I could go back and change what I said or at least phrase it a bit differently. You can never be too sure of what you’re walking into so it’s impossible to prepare. I just try to handle each situation the way I would if the cameras weren’t there.
We’ve seen Whitney’s love life crash and burn multiple times and it seems like Roxy might find a romantic interest this season. Will we see that side of Erin on the show?
Probably not….It seems like such a contradiction because I’m on a reality show, but I really try to keep my private life private. Dating can be awkward in general but it would be that much more awkward to know that my boss, coworkers, work contacts and parents were going to be watching the date!
Are you satisfied with how The City has portrayed you? If not, what would you like people to know that would help them get a more balanced and accurate idea of who Erin Kaplan is?
I’m always so serious (and ridiculously dramatic) on the show! I have an incredible job at ELLE and a great time doing it but you rarely get to see me actually working. I think they’ll show a bit more of what my job entails this season though. My relationship with Joe is also so much less formal off-camera. It’s not so serious and we spend a lot of our time laughing.
Can you elaborate on one of your most memorable moments with ELLE?
I definitely don’t think I can pick just one! I’ve been lucky enough to work on so many incredible projects…Ugly Betty is the first thing that comes to mind though. I was such a huge fan of the show to begin with, so to have the magazine be integrated into a storyline was surreal. I also love working with Robbie and the editors so anything involving them is always pretty memorable.
I read in an article that you are the youngest PR Director in the magazine’s history! Do you feel any added pressures to prove yourself because of your age?
Not so much pressure, more motivation. I think that at the end of the day it’s results, not age, that really matters.
