ABSTRACT
Having considered the main areas of dispute or confusion about public relations as a profession, as a practice and as an academic subject, the author wants to expand the understanding of public relations as an element of the promotional industries in order to interrogate its contribution to and rewards from the promotional culture which has flourished in richer countries for the past 80 years or so. In this chapter the author explores few ideas, starting with the powerful allure of Grunig and Hunt’s four models, which relegate promotion and persuasion to history or the margins in order to elevate the professional standing of public relations. This leads to discussion of professions as promotional instruments for advancing the interests and status of certain occupational groups as first suggested by Margali Larson. She considers recent writing on the promotional industries from those outside and inside public relations itself, revealing a range of perspectives.
