So, I'm Having a Conversation with Betty Now...

Continuing the dialogue with a Betty user, what if....

Just to refresh your memory, this product was launched by Betty Beauty, a New York startup that is marketing pubic hair dye for “the hair down there.” The dye comes packaged in kits with names like Brown Betty, Auburn Betty, Blonde Betty, Black Betty and Fun Betty (hot pink). And it’s not just for female Bettys either.

I ended my last post with having started an imaginary conversation with you about why you use Brown Betty and your friend uses Fun Betty and why I don’t use Betty at all. And from a PR point of view, that’s great. But if our ultimate PR goal is to adhere to a two-way symmetrical model, then that means that I have to not only hear you but also respond to what you’re saying.

So, we have a difference between us. I don’t see any reason to use Betty products, but you do. And in order to convince me that Betty products are worth using, you’ll have to tell me a lot more about the product itself. For instance, what’s in the product? Are there any ingredients that are harmful? Where is the product made? Since it’s new, do we really know about all the side effects of it? Do we really know that the dye isn’t permanent?

In answering these questions, what would happen if, for instance, you tell me that using Betty products is helping provide jobs in a Third World country? Shouldn’t that make a difference to me? And what if, through PR’s two-way dialogue, I find out that Betty folks are launching a campaign against nonusers simply because they’ve developed the idea that a real Betty is defined as one who uses Betty products?

If collectively we don’t continue a conversation, tensions could presumably escalate to the point where opinion becomes belief and belief is translated into action. And the actions of Bettys might not be all that fun to the rest of us. What if Bettys everywhere united and made it their mission to make everyone a “real Betty”? The role of PR becomes more important, seen from this viewpoint. Why? Because through PR, we can discuss what is reasonable, what is principled and what is conscionable. And in the end, together we might find that “Betty truth” may exist somewhere between the nonuser position I advocate and the user position you advocate. Another result might be that Betty users realize that nonusers pose no threat—and vice versa. And that’s a conversation worth having if it transcends the disrepect inherent in promoting our own definition of what a real Betty is. Maybe in the long run, a real Betty means continuing the conversation. And that's what PR does best.

Question of the Week: When someone disagrees with you, do you continue the conversation?