FEATURETips for the traveling PR proInternational public relations has be<strong>com</strong>e a way of life for<strong>com</strong>municators in the United States. When the opportunityarises to develop a PR plan or supervise a project in anothercountry, etiquette and cultural sensitivity are paramount.You may be in for a big surprise.International PR often has little similarityto the way we practice it inthe United States.In London, the president of a large, prestigiousPR firm called me aside after he’dlectured my students about British PR.“Hey, chap,” he said, “What is the ‘evaluation’thing you yanks do? How does itwork? Can I bill the client more if I workevaluation into the mix?” I gave my newfriend a fifteen-minute lecture on the valueof evaluation as part of the PR mix. WhatI learned in that fifteen minutes is that noteveryone in the world practices PR as wedo in the United States.In Hong Kong, the head of a PR officesaid “we should call it ER, not PR.Emergency Relations is what we do.” Hewas sending emails as quickly as possibleto a newspaper in Korea. He wanted aKorean reporter to correct an error in astory. The reporter insisted the story wouldremain as it had originally been written;the error would remain. The integrity ofjournalist varies from country to country.Don’t expect the type of journalistic excellenceyou find in the United States in everycountry of the world.In preparation for traveling to anothercounty, you don’t need an in-depth knowledgeof the language where you’ll be visiting.However, you do need enoughknowledge of the host country’s languageto show respect. Some of the words you’llneed include: Hello, Goodbye, Thank You,Yes and No.English is a required language in manycountries. Many high school graduatesmay be able to converse with you inEnglish. But, you should arrive in thecountry with a basic vocabulary in order toopen the language barriers.Check with your local university inorder to hire a tutor, who can give you acrash course in conversational language. Aquick review of a college foreign languagetextbook (available in the local bookstore)will bring back some the language youlearned in school.For legal documents and financial agreements, contact the American Embassyfor a translator. The person you hire mayBy David Ritcheynot work in the Embassy but would beacquainted with the Ambassador’s staff.Culture dictates how people behave in acountry. A group of Arab students invitedme to dinner. Out of respect for the food, Iremoved my shoes at the doorway to theroom where the food would be served.Second, we sat on the floor. Arabs do notlet the bottoms of their feet show. Theyconsider the bottom of the foot to be thedirtiest part of the body and it must neverbe exposed. The Arabs wore long robesthat covered their feet. I was wearingslacks and it’s impossible to cover the feetwhen wearing slacks. I removed mysweater and covered my feet with thesweater.We ate family style, with our hands —no knives, forks or spoons — out of a large<strong>com</strong>mon bowl. At the end of the meal, themen left the dining area one at a time.When a man returned to the room, anotherwould leave. I assumed they were going tothe bathroom. Later, one of the men toldme they left to go to a prayer room, whereeach prayed alone.People eat based on what they canafford. In China I was alerted that dog wasusually served with tomato sauce. In aHong Kong market I saw live snakes availablefor the evening meal. The marketoffered slaughtered rabbits.Don’t ask your host, “What is this stuff?”Sneer or not, it’s an insult to your host.You can easily order something thatmight be appealing to you by reviewing themenu and asking questions. Don’t expect ahamburger and fries. You need to enjoynew foods.When working in another country, whopays for what is a delicate issue. You mustbe willing to pay. In truth, you have themoney to pay for the dinners. Avoid theembarrassing moment when the check isbrought to the table. Take the check. Don’tlet this be a problem for you, your host oryour guest.A colleague invited me to tour theCarpathian Mountains. We would travel inhis car, but I was expected to pay for all ofthe food and drink. When it was time toleave, his wife and daughter joined us. Ipaid for everything.The gifts I’ve been given in other countriesusually represent that country. InBeijing, a student, who knew I collectedstamps, gave me a first-day cover of astamp issued jointly by China and Sweden.He remembered my interest and gave mean appropriate gift. If you’ll be exchanginggifts, bring items that are indigenous toyour country. Give practical, inexpensivegifts. Don’t embarrass a host who can’tafford to buy you something expensive.Dress appropriately and conservatively.Don’t wear any clothing with words writtenon them and don’t wear clothing with amanufacture’s logo prominently displayed.These clues readily identify you as anAmerican.Don’t ask about family, spouse, home orlifestyle. Some cultures consider it rude toask about the wife of a business associate.We might innocently ask, “And how isyour wife? What does your wife do?”These fairly innocuous questions may notbe acceptable in another culture.Show respect for what your hosts holdspecial or sacred. Attitudes about religionwill be different than what you’ve know inthe US. I left Westminster Abby followinga worship service. One of the students said,“They certain do the worship service well.”Another student responded, “They’vehad about a 1,000 years to get it right.” Athousand years of religious traditionsdemand your respect.Don’t flaunt your wealth. In most countriesand in most situations you are a richAmerican. Don’t display photographs ofyour house, car or other possessions inorder to show your new friends how youlive.Money is important. Don’t refer toAmerican money as “real money.” InRomania, the money hasn’t been re-evaluatedin a long, long time. My breakfast atthe Hilton Hotel in Bucharest was 100,000Lei. “Oh, I can’t afford this,” I said.A friend responded, “It’s only $3.40.Tickets to the top opera house in Romaniawere $3.40. An excellent Italian dinner inRomania, with salad, two glasses of wineand tip was $3.40.Prepare for your visit to another countryby reviewing how you practice public relationsin your office. Study the countryyou’ll be visiting — language, currencyand history. Finally, show respect for thetraditions of the host country. You’ll bemore successful professionally and personallyif you make a point of enjoying yourself.David Ritchey, Ph.D., is a Professor inthe School of Communications at theUniversity of Akron. Ritchey has workedin St. Petersburg, Bucharest, Hong Kong,Beijing, London and Cuba. 12JUNE 2011 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM
Health pros want McDonald’s to give Ronald the bootMore than 500 healthcare pros and medical institutions signed aletter to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner asking him to stop marketing“junk food” to children in an effort to <strong>com</strong>bat the “staggering”rates of obesity and diabetes among the nation’s young.By Kevin McCauleyThe letter appeared May 18 as a fullpagead in the <strong>com</strong>pany’s hometownChicago Sun-Times, New YorkMetro, Boston Metro, San FranciscoExaminer, Minneapolis City Pages andBaltimore City Paper. The ad’s full-text atLettertoMcDonalds.org contends that thedramatic rise in sickness “mirrors thegrowth of your business — growth drivenin large part by children’s marketing.”The letter reads, in part:“As health professionals engaged directlyin the largest preventable health crisisfacing this country, we ask that you stopmarketing junk food to children ... Our<strong>com</strong>munity is devoted to caring for sickchildren and preventing illness throughpublic education. But our efforts cannot<strong>com</strong>pete with the hundreds of millions ofdollars you spend each year directly marketingto kids ... We know the contributorsto today’s epidemic are manifold and abroad societal response is required. Butmarketing can no longer be ignored as asignificant part of this massive problem.”The letter zeroes in on corporate mascotRonald McDonald and other promotions“to appeal to kids in environments thatinformed parents and health professionalscan’t constantly monitor — from schoolsto libraries to the Internet.”Ronald McDonald is an “icon as recognizedas Santa Claus, and the McDonald’smodel of marketing is used by a range ofabusive industries,” says the group.Skinner was asked to retire marketing tochildren for food high in salt, fat, sugar andcalories, as well as Ronald and toy giveaways.McDonald’s says it’s concerned withhealth issues and that it takes its “<strong>com</strong>municationsto children very seriously.” It is<strong>com</strong>mitted to being part of a dialogue onchildren’s health and nutrition. The fastfeederalso says parents have told it that“they appreciate our Happy Meal choices.”Corporate Accountability organized thead campaign that received signatures fromorganizations such as the MassachusettsPublic Health Assn., American AcademyFull-page ads appeared in newspapers acrossthe country asking McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinnerto change the <strong>com</strong>pany’s marketing plans.of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,Illinois Maternal & Child Health Coalitionand Physicians Committee for ResponsibleMedicine. JUNE 2011 WWW.ODWYERPR.COM 13
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