Is all publicity REALLY good publicity?

This statement is often quoted to defend questionable promotional choices.

😡 Should he have made that post?
😤 Did that company really just do that?!
📢 Well, you know, all press is good press.
🤷🏻‍♀️ Cue the simultaneous shoulder shrug and sigh.

Why do we think this?

That would likely be thanks to P.T. Barnum, the ‘Great American Showman’ who entertained the masses in the 1800s.

There’s no historical record that Barnum said these exact words, which isn’t surprising given that his success depended on short news cycles and the disappearance of factual information. But over time, the telling of Barnum’s story has led to a fairly solid assumption – even if he didn’t say it, he certainly lived it.

He relied on hype and controversy to gain free press coverage. All he needed to do was tell a compelling story, it didn’t matter if it was true or not.

I first remember seeing Barnum’s name as a lesson while studying Public Relations at Ball State University. He was an example of what PR is not – it’s not spin, manipulation, or deceit. It’s not the manufacturing of facts, it’s the presentation and distribution of them.

Ethical PR professionals fight this fallacy – battling clients who equate coverage with success and trying to correct misinformation that spreads faster than truth.

People who spend their careers earning media coverage know that manipulated media is not earned media and all publicity is not good. Believing otherwise discredits meaningful stories, drowns out truth and prioritizes attention over integrity.

In The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History, author Darrin Lunde who is the Collection Manager at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History writes that

“Barnum’s most outlandish trick played on the tools of the naturalist trade. After obtaining a taxidermy mount of what appeared to be a mermaid, Barnum was careful to not display it right away. Instead, he went on a PR offensive, spinning a yarn about the discovery of the strange specimen he called the “Fejee Mermaid” in the local newspapers.”

For weeks, Barnum promoted this elusive creature, claiming it had been discovered in the far-off Hawaiian Islands and that a scientist was bringing the specimen to be displayed. The public was captivated by the exotic sea siren, eagerly awaiting its arrival.

However, what greeted the curious crowds was “a shriveled 18-inch specimen” that was no mermaid at all. In reality, it was a “monkey torso stitched to a fishtail, a novelty item for sailors”. Barnum’s deception not only misled the public but also wasted specimens that could have been preserved, studied and displayed by actual scientists for their true nature.

Barnum’s other money-making efforts included exploiting people with disabilities – marketing them as ‘freak shows’ for spectacle.

His most famous acts included The Bearded Lady, Conjoined Twins and Tom Thumb. These “performances” were commodifications of disabilities at a time when people had few legal rights.

The Disability History Association has detailed atrocities committed under Barnum’s watch, including kidnapping and exploitation. On behalf of the association, Dr. Erin Pritchard, a Special Educational Needs Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University, has even called for Barnum’s statue to be removed, stating:

“The removal of the statue of P.T. Barnum would help to deliver the message that his legacy is no longer tolerated.”

The very industries Barnum once claimed expertise in now reject his tactics.

Modern PR is built on credibility, not reckless stunts. OceanGate ignored safety concerns, dismissed expert warnings and leaned into a hype-driven narrative about extreme adventure. Its disastrous implosion in 2023 led to the deaths of five people, global scrutiny, lawsuits and the company’s collapse.

🚨Publicity without trust can be a death sentence – not just for brands, but in extreme cases, for human life.

Clickbait and manipulation burn trust faster than they build awareness.

🚨 Fyre Festival ended in jail time, proving hype without substance is a ticking time bomb.

Barnum’s fabricated “exhibits” were a joke to real naturalists like Theodore Roosevelt, who valued understanding, education, and conservation over staged deceptions.

🚨 Falsified discoveries don’t push science forward – they erode trust and damage real progress.

Society has moved away from exploiting people with disabilities and animals for entertainment. Ringling Bros. relaunched without animals, elephant acts are banned in most major cities and unethical animal parks like those in Tiger King, such as Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park and Wildlife in Need, have been shut down due to public outcry and legal action.

🚨 People no longer accept cruelty for spectacle.

WeWork’s rise and fall showcased the dangers of businesses built on hype and manipulation. Once valued at $47 billion, WeWork’s house of cards collapsed as its financial instability, mismanagement and unsustainable business model came to light. Investors pulled out, trust evaporated and WeWork became another don’t-do-this- documentary on unchecked hype.

🚨 Hype without substance doesn’t just collapse businesses – it exposes the cracks that were there all along.

Despite Barnum’s legacy of deception, some still consider him a model for success. In 2023, Harvard Business School published an article titled ‘From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World,’ positioning Barnum as a leadership case study.

The article praised Barnum’s ability to “know his audience” and give them what they want, even if he knew it was “biased, inflated or untrue,” because “He had an absolute eye on the customer. He knew what the customer wanted, and he gave it to them.”

And we see the deception continue, Elizabeth Holmes and Anna Delvey both served prison time for their deceptive business dealings, all built on trying to appeal to people’s desires before anything substantial actually existed.

While understanding your audience is crucial, catering to their desires without regard for truth or ethics is a dangerous game. Fraudsters may gain initial traction by telling people what they want to hear, but in the end, the truth will likely come out.

In a society with instant access to information, businesses that prioritize transparency and integrity will always outlast those built on hype and deception.

There is an angle where “all publicity is good publicity” holds true – not for exploiters and scammers, but for the public.

Thanks to publicity…
🐘 Ringling Bros. eliminated animals in their acts
🍭 The Willy Wonka Experience scam was limited to one city
🐬 There are likely fewer humans and animals being abused for entertainment
🛑 Countless wrongs and fraudsters have been exposed before their impact could worsen

If the measure of “good publicity” is a documentary then I guess OceanGate, WeWork, Theranos, Fyre Fest, Anna Delvey are all considered successes.

Publicity has the power to minimize harm and drive positive change by exposing unethical practices and holding wrongdoers accountable.

In that light, perhaps all publicity IS good publicity – it just depends on who you ask.

Our understanding of what works in PR, marketing, advertising, business ethics, animal welfare, and scientific study has evolved beyond the 1800s when Barnum lived out this all publicity is good publicity marketing strategy.

In the age of digital permanence, integrity is the only marketing strategy that lasts.

Can we stop saying “all publicity is good publicity” in defense of attention at all cost efforts now?