Preface

This book could be written by my Russian friends (including Kremlin-based spin doctors), PR people from IT companies and start-ups. Occasionally, I see messages in my Facebook feed: “I could tell you so many things, but I’ll never do it, not even in memoirs.”

I’d be delighted to read such stories with you and with law enforcement officers, but my friends would never write a book like that and certainly not because of their respect for the law. In fact, there is no PR and lobbying regulation in Russia. This is just the PR ethic: if the client says “no” you should please him/her, no matter what.

I take high risks publishing this book, telling how things are done, and how explosive PR campaigns are concocted.

Want to know why it is risky to publish or even to read this book?

To begin with, I did not ask the permission of all my clients about whether I could publish their cases. I feel the moral right to do this without their permission. For instance, the budgets of some PR campaigns were so low (based on mutual agreement) it did not seem possible to do them only for the sake of money or pleasure (which is equally important). But if I enjoy the process of telling about this experience and thereby attract more clients to well-paid projects, it can be justified. First, I wanted to use the phrase “serious projects,” but then it dawned on me that my projects are more like laughing gas, so “well-paid” sounds better.

Regarding one project, the client said to me, “Please do not expose this was a PR stunt.” I ignored this request. Well, frankly, there’s nothing special to scheme against anybody. I’ll never write about really dangerous PR cases since my self-preservation instinct is sharp.

Secondly, a common opinion is that it’s difficult to repeat something known to all. Many entrepreneurs and business consultants used to tell me: “Why expose these tricks? How are you going to make a nickel? You unveil loaded dice.” My rebuttal comes down to my two convictions: let competition and the level of PR campaigns rise as a result of strenuous effort and PR people overreaching themselves. I earned my first degree in journalism, and this explains a lot. You cannot hide an owl in a sack – this is what people normally say about the likes of me.

In the final analysis, the outcome is similar to that of John Godfrey, a friend of Ian Fleming (author of James Bond novels). In prewar years, he published The Trout Memo1, where he described 51 ways to mislead the enemy, and then brilliantly backed Ewen Montegu.

That story is described in Operation Mincemeat. They did in real life what was described in the memo, despite it being thoroughly studied by enemies. Nevertheless, they succeeded.

Rear Admiral John Godfrey

The operation’s result: a passport for the man who never lived

Or take the US government which started more than one war after the release of Wag the Dog in 1997, which was the screening of Larry Beinhart’s American Hero (1993).

Not all wars were launched to smother up a sex scandal, but some provocations definitely took place.

For instance, it’s not clear if there was a real chemical attack in Syria before Trump smashed the Syrian forces with tomahawks. Maybe that attack was provoked or staged or could be seen only in a video and photos. I am not 100% sure, but smoke screens are always used to trigger a war machine.

This book is about business, not war.

Let me share several cases with you. If you are interested to know how we reached these results, continue reading this book.

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