Now that Hancock is out in all big theaters across India , PR folks must be getting a sweet surprise to see that even a super hero sometimes needs good PR. We have Jason Bateman, a PR guy who after being saved by Hancock deciding to use his PR skills to change the poor image that the drunk super hero has. So what happens next? Hancock surrenders himself to the police and lands up in jail, shaves, dons a clean super hero suit, say nice things to cops, and learns to save people without causing collateral damage.

I quite liked the Hancock’s PR campaign, if you’d call it that. There was no excessive media scouting. The focus was on Hancock and what he needs to do to change his image. There was no ‘this is what I do’ and we have to spin it to make it to look good in front of the public. (are our clients listening? ) No TV and newspaper interviews. You focus on doing something good and the media ultimately follows you. Of course with some good creativity like the PR shock factor in the movie when Hancock surrenders himself to the law, standing apart as a classic PR stunt.

Ultimately, the movie has done some good PR for PR. Cheers to that.

Photo credit: IMDb

Parker wrote in Blog Campaigning about Jason Bateman playing a role of a PR advisor to a difficult superhero in Will Smith’s upcoming Hancock film. He also talked about the movie, I Heart Huckabees, where Jude Law played a PR guy. Also in the movie, Thank You For Smoking, Aaron Eckhart played the role of the spokesperson for Big Tobacco.

We have seen so many movies where the actors are playing the young and smart generation next from the advertising industry. We seem to wonder when will we see our PR heroes. But doing a bit of retrospect I realise there are already some movies where PR characters are there in the storylines.

I remember watching Jerry Maguire where Tom Cruise played the agent to sportstar Cuba Gooding Jr. Not exactly a PR hero but I could relate to the client-agent drama. There is also the movie, A Guy Thing, where there are two PR executives.

What about Fun with Dick and Jane where Jim Carrey played the company spokesperson who got sacked. Not the inspiring PR film type but well there is PR.

Then there is Phone Booth where Colin Farrell plays the PR guy who got trapped in a phone booth as a lunatic accuses him of doing all the wrongs int he society. So PR people lie and corrupt the society, mind that.

Back home in Bollywood, we have seen Rani Mukherji playing an escort in the film, Lagaa Chunari Mein Daag, but was introduced by her client as his PR person. What do you say to that.

Then we have Abhishek Bachchan in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna getting friendly with the magazine editor, Preity Zinta.

These Bollywood movies were not exactly PR movies but well can we take them as a start.

I guess there are many PR agencies in Mumbai handling Bollywood clients. Can some of you people persuade Pradeep Sarkar to have Konkana Sen play a PR professional in Phir Se Lagaa Chunari Mein Daag.