[Viewpoint] Is Any Publicity Good Publicity?

The consumer media’s focus on the pest management industry can fall into one of two categories: positive or negative. Similar to when you flip a coin, you often don’t know which side will turn up when a reporter comes knocking at your door. Will he or she take a bit of research and turn it into an article that reflects kindly or poorly on your chosen profession? You rarely know. This month, PCT features two editorial pieces that are kind of like those two sides of a coin.

The first is an editorial tribute honoring the 10th anniversary of the Professional Pest Management Alliance. This industry awareness campaign, led by NPMA’s Vice President of Public Affairs Cindy Mannes, is a powerful voice serving the pest management industry. If you contribute or not, know that PPMA helps the industry — and thereby your business — every day. Whether it’s proactive, public relations-type articles or a well developed reactive message, PPMA is the “go-to” source for consumer media with questions about our industry. Mannes and PPMA’s board of directors painstakingly think about every penny they spend and how it can best be used to help grow (and protect) the professional pest control industry. Their work has blossomed into a growing number of pro-industry resources, including a Web site for children (www.pestworldforkids.org), ready-made press releases and more.

Then there’s "Cockroach Comics." This feature may seem like a smack in the face to what PPMA is working to accomplish, but there’s more to it than that. In this article, PCT profiles a relatively new comic book series called “The Exterminators.” The comic book, published by a subsidiary of DC Comics, features racy language and a not-so-flattering look at the pest management industry. (I shudder to think of describing the characters in the comic as “pest management professionals” because they’re anything but.)

Here’s a quick run-down of the comic book series: The story centers on a man with a checkered past who takes a job at his stepdad’s pest control company. “I did a lot of research before going into it. (PCOs and cockroaches are) such a rich source of information,” author Simon Oliver told PCT. “You see the trucks everywhere. I tried to focus on this job that everyone takes for granted and never really thinks twice about.”

Oliver and PPMA are doing similar things in two diverse ways. They’re each making people think twice about pest management professionals. PPMA is doing it in an overtly positive way. “The Exterminators” is doing it in a different way, but doing so nonetheless (and, in an unusual medium that by its very nature pushes the envelope).

Is the old adage “any publicity is good publicity” accurate in this case? I think so. Despite all the work done by PPMA (and your local efforts) to positively promote our industry’s image, situations pop up that are unpredictable and unpreventable. So even though you may not like what Simon’s characters have to say, you still may have to deal with it if a customer asks you if you’ve seen the comic book. And that’s why you and your employees need to exude as professional an appearance as possible, answer questions by reporters accurately and ask for help when you need it.

Oliver said he identifies with the plight of a PCO: forever fighting a battle against bugs. “It must seem like an endless game of ‘whack a mole’ when it comes to dealing with pests,” he said. I bet that’s what PPMA representatives sometimes feel like — that they’re playing “whack a mole” with the consumer media. So the next time a TV report airs about your profession, don’t leave what happens up to chance. Because when you flip a coin, you only have a 50/50 chance that you’re going to like what turns up.

The author is editor of PCT magazine.