Why Ted Lasso continues to fuel false stereotypes about the PR industry
Sharon Zeev Poole, founder of Agent99 PR discusses the stereotypes of the PR industry portrayed in Ted Lasso, through the character Keely Jones.
From Mad Men, to the Morning Show, to Succession…the world loves TV shows based around the media and comms industry. However, my issue is not with these shows, but instead with a little-known comedy about football…
That’s right, I have a bone to pick with Ted Lasso.
Source: Facebook
Every profession is fair game in Hollywood.
As a comedy, the show has taken a relatable shared belief and has dramatised it.
Perhaps the PR industry simply needs to PR itself better to change what that shared belief is among general punters.
It’s a tv show. A comedy Tv show.
How many premier league soccer clubs hire gridiron coaches who know nothing about football?
How many shows portray journalists as unscrupulous fame hungry untrustworthy figures only out to destroy people? Well I’m a journalist and I’m none of those things but I can recognise that a fictional TV show is fictional for a reason.
And as someone who shared most of my university course with PR students? Yeah, a LOT of them were like Keeley.
Did the author just get offended by a comedy TV show?
I know how you feel. Im constantly aggrieved by false portrayals of garbage collectors on TV.
I mean, when im not crashing through peoples waste at 5 am and running after a beeping truck, Im reading through Schopenhauer, Voltaire and solving complex problems of ogive
However, TV’s portrayal of myself and my colleagues shows they just dont understand how sophisticated we are.
When oh when will waste disposal managers be portrayed as they are and not as self important cartoon character. I mean Geez! Keep it real!
…by this article.
I mean sure, you’re not like that, but i literally know someone who started their own ‘Social PR Agency’ right out of uni with zero experience and did quite well for herself for a while.
Thats not to say that PR doesnt work or drive value, but stereotypes exist for a reason. Sorry, maybe you should have been a doctor instead?