🗞️PR lessons from a real sleazeball of the old days

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Hope no one caught diabetes while trick-or-treating over the weekend. 

If you’re still with me, today’s Main Thing gives you PR (public relations) guidance from the dirtiest player in history. A real dirtbag. J. Edgar Hoover. But if we can’t learn from the bad guys, bad guys will keep finishing first.

After that story, take a gander at Monday Marketing News. 

Appetizer: Expert explains unrealistic expectations with PR.

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The Main Thing

How to Ethically Use the Winning PR Playbook of a Sleazeball

Ole J. Edgar Hoover ran the FBI for five decades. His tactics included:

• Illegal Surveillance

• Blackmail 

• Planting False Stories

• Infiltration

• Systematic Harassment Of Political Opponents

Other than that, a swell guy.  

Obviously, don’t play dirty like Hoover did. But do use the public relations strategies behind his success. 

PR is super vital now, according to Spark Toro’s leader Rand Fishkin, because clicks are hard to come by with the Googsters.

You cannot depend on Google to send you traffic. Public relations gives you a hundred alternative ways to get traffic and get eyes on your brand.

So, let’s look at a key part of Hoover’s PR game - the micro details.

Tyrannical Branding 

J. Edgar was the devil when it came to details, such as:

1. His agents dressed in dark suits, ties, & hats mandatory outdoors

2. No beards or mustaches

3. Regular inspections for office tidiness

4. Press releases had to begin with Hoover's name and at least two additional mentions of him

5. Mass production of press releases designed to be reprinted verbatim by newspapers

The idea was his G-Men should be instantly recognizable and the agency 100% professional in every aspect.

Two lessons from the above that any brand can take action on:

• Make it effortless for media and influencers to cover your brand positively

• Provide them with ready-to-publish content 

A simple example of the latter is asking for a blurb for your book. Don’t ask a busy person to write their own. Write it for them.

Hoover Didn’t Wait for Gatekeepers

Manipulating the media wasn’t enough for Hoover. He created his own media too.

Dude wrote books, contributed to pulp magazines, even financed Hollywood movies that portrayed FBI agents as heroes. 

This direct-to-public content bypassed traditional gatekeepers.

Today, old-timey gatekeepers are mostly gone, since you can hit publish on your website, YouTube, Spotify, etc. Gatekeepers still exist, though. Think of them as anything that keeps your content from being seen (e.g., various algorithms).

You can’t control algorithms, but you can manipulate them if you’re willing to study what’s working for others and experiment consistently. Also, you can avoid algorithms altogether. Nobody’s forcing you to use social media. 

Find alternatives for promoting your business. Newsletters give you more control than social media. Our main sponsor, TrafficGrid, can help you build your list.

Lie with the Truth

When the FBI captured Nazi saboteurs who landed in a boat in the Hamptons in 1942, Hoover called it one of his "most important accomplishments."

What really happened was the ring leader had simply called FBI headquarters and confessed!

Old man Hoover understood how to take that win and turn it into a gigantic win where he’s the superstar stepping on the neck of America’s deadliest enemy at the time.

Scott Galloway says the best storyteller wins. Hoover knew this.

People, especially in 2025, only remember the headline, anyway. Not the details in the article. 

You can use similar tactics:

• Collect customer testimonials and highlight the best ones

• Write testimonials for some customers to sign off on (no need to lie, just save them time)

• Make case studies interesting and call them anything except “case studies” because everyone knows they are boring as heck

• Research shows stories resonate 12 times more than facts alone, but bland stories don’t have that effect

• Find bubbly customers who are good on camera to talk up your brand

Hoover Saw the Power of Video

This dirty-dealing son of a gun understood visual narratives are more powerful and memorable than written words alone.​ He used film and TV to his agency’s advantage. 

The guy was incredibly immoral but he had vision. And headed into 2026, video will be even more important to show you are a real human and not AI slop in text form. 

Three ways you can lean into the power of video to build better public relations…

1. Video testimonials

2. Branded entertainment

3. Hire clippers to create luring clips that get views for your long videos

Ok, now we can wipe the sleaze off and grab hold of Monday Marketing News below…

Please share Inbox Hacking with a fellow marketing genius or business owner. I appreciate you reading & sharing.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin

“If you’re not a disruptor, you will be disrupted.” ~John Chambers