Lipstick on a Pig (the no-spin era): book profile and conceptual summary

Lipstick on a Pig

Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game

1. Book profile

• Title: Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game
• Author: Torie Clarke (full name Victoria Clarke)
• Year of first publication: 2006
• Publisher of the original edition: Free Press
• Field: strategic communication, public relations, political and corporate communication, and crisis management.
• Kind of work: a practical guide based on the author’s professional experience.

The publisher’s official page presents the book as a guide to the era of transparency and says that Clarke distils her 25 years of experience into eight rules of communication. She had earlier been Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and a communications adviser to political and organisational figures. Publisher’s source

2. Message and central thesis

The book’s message can be summarised like this: in an environment with abundant information sources and fast-moving news, “spinning” the narrative or dressing up reality is a fragile strategy. Organisations should tell the truth early, repeatedly and in plain language; get ahead on bad news; admit mistakes quickly; and, instead of spending energy dressing up a bad decision, prevent it from being made in the first place.

The title comes from an English proverb: “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” The metaphor says that cosmetic dressing or a favourable narrative does not change the nature of a problem. If a product, decision or behaviour is genuinely flawed, positive communication alone does not fix it.

3. Structure and table of contents

The English edition’s table of contents has eight main chapters:

1. You Can Put a Lot of Lipstick on a Pig, but It’s Still a Pig: dressing up reality does not change its nature.
2. Flood the Zone: the title of the second chapter concerns an active presence in the information field; its exact interpretation should be checked against the full text.
3. Have More Than One Weapon in Your Arsenal: using more than one communication tool.
4. Time to Get a Bigger Monkey: the details of this title cannot be drawn from the current summary.
5. Isn’t That Why We Hired You?: the chapter’s exact subject is not clear from the underlying summary.
6. Communications Is a Science, Not an Art: the title stresses a systematic approach to communication.
7. What Was I Thinking?: the details of the argument and the chapter’s examples need the text.
8. It’s About One Thing: a focus on one message or main point.

The table of contents can be checked on Google Books and Perlego.

4. Independent concept notes

Foundational principles

• The No-Spin Era & Transparency
• Tell the Truth Early, Often, and in Plain Language
• Deliver the Bad News Yourself & Admit Mistakes Fast
• Flood the Zone
• Don’t Create a Pig in the First Place
• Credibility & Trust

Strategy and execution

• Message & Objective First
• Crisis Communication in the Real World
• Have More Than One Weapon in Your Arsenal
• Communications Is a Science, Not an Art

Points that need completing

• Chapters That Need Direct Checking Against the Book
• Interpretive Considerations and Responsible Use

5. A few practical principles for organisations

1. Check the reality before the message. Communication must not take the place of fixing the decision or product.
2. Start the message from the goal. Positive coverage is not the final goal or a sufficient measure of success.
3. Don’t hide bad news. Explain the verified facts, the impact, responsibility and the corrective action.
4. Use plain language. Complicated jargon should not be used to dodge the main question.
5. Keep updating. In a crisis, separate the knowns from the unknowns and report changes.
6. Match the channel to the audience. One tool or medium does not suit every audience.
7. Measure the result. Do not confuse the number of news items or views with understanding, trust or behaviour change.

These points combine principles stated explicitly in the publisher’s description with a practical elaboration of the concepts in the underlying summary; attributing detailed examples to specific chapters requires the full text.

6. Critique and limits of application

The book was published in 2006 and written in the media and communication context of that time. The principle of transparency is still important, but channels, the speed at which content circulates, social networks and fact-checking mechanisms have changed since; so its application today has to be revisited to suit the digital environment and audience expectations.

Risks of applying the book’s principles wrongly:

• “Transparency” is read as disclosing personal or security data;
• “flooding the zone” turns into bombarding the audience with many messages or burying bad news;
• getting ahead is mistaken for hurrying to publish unverified information;
• an apology becomes a show, without practical correction;
• the success of communication is measured only by positive media coverage.

7. Sources

1. The publisher’s official page: Simon & Schuster
2. Google Books: title, author and table of contents
3. Perlego: details, description and table of contents
4. The Washington Post: a 2006 review of the book
5. CBS News: an interview with Torie Clarke

bookstrategic-communicationpublic-relationscrisis-management