A Squirrel is Just a Rat with Good PR

“A squir­rel is just a rat with good PR.”

Or:

“A squir­rel is just a rat with good publicity.”

Yes, we all know the clas­sic­al say­ing in pub­lic rela­tions. Buzzfeed’s Nathan W. Pyle made a com­ic strip out of it:

I also find the Sex and the City ver­sion amusing:

“A squir­rel is just a rat with a cuter outfit.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t ruin a good joke by bring­ing sci­ence into the mix. But the halo effect is well-known and well-researched. Attractiveness mat­ters in PR. ¹Silfwer, J. (2023, December 17). The Halo Effect: Why Attractiveness Matters in PR. Doctor Spin | The PR Blog. https://​doc​tor​spin​.net/​h​a​l​o​-​e​f​f​e​ct/

Then, we have the “domest­ic­a­tion syn­drome,” where it’s dis­covered that domest­ic­ated anim­als often under­go phys­ic­al changes that make them appear more juven­ile or “cuter” com­pared to their wild coun­ter­parts. This can include fea­tures like smal­ler teeth, floppy ears, short­er snouts, and more roun­ded faces. These traits are thought to be linked to reduced aggres­sion and a more docile tem­pera­ment, which are desir­able in domest­ic­ated animals.

Squirrels aren’t domest­ic­ated, but they tend to have more juven­ile fea­tures. Neoteny is the bio­lo­gic­al term refer­ring to the reten­tion of juven­ile fea­tures in the adult animal. 

The Russian Silver Fox exper­i­ment is a fam­ous example of domest­ic­a­tion affect­ing appear­ance and beha­viour. In this long-term study, foxes were select­ively bred for tame­ness. Over gen­er­a­tions, these foxes became more docile and began to show phys­ic­al changes like floppy ears, curly tails, and changes in fur col­our, which are traits not typ­ic­ally seen in their wild coun­ter­parts. ²Trut, L. N. (1999). Early Canid Domestication: The Farm-Fox Experiment. American Scientist, 87(2), 160 – 169. https://​www​.jstor​.org/​s​t​a​b​l​e​/​2​7​8​5​7​811

Ergo: Squirrels are much more liked than rats. From a pub­lic rela­tions per­spect­ive, how you’re being per­ceived matters. 

THANKS FOR READING.
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PR Resource: Good PR vs Bad PR

Good PR vs Bad PR

In pub­lic rela­tions, say­ing the right things will not be enough if you do the wrong things.

Doing the wrong things + say­ing the wrong things = bad PR

Doing the wrong things + say­ing the right things = bad PR

Doing the right things + say­ing the wrong things = bad PR

Doing the right things + say­ing the right things = good PR

What does this mean?

Every now and then, I have to point out that some organ­isa­tion­al prob­lems aren’t PR prob­lems; they’re organ­isa­tion­al problems.

With PR activ­it­ies, you can fix pub­lic rela­tions prob­lems but can’t fix organ­isa­tion­al prob­lems (harm­ful products or ser­vices, uneth­ic­al prac­tices, illeg­al prac­tices, etc.).

Learn more: Good PR vs Bad PR