[pp.int.general] International public relations initial drafting process,

[Valentin Villenave]

On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Sven Clement <sven.clement at gmail.com> wrote:
> As for the question about how being dressed, I do agree with Christian that
> I do not want liars in front of the camera and that the pirates should be
> authentic, but I do also think that a minimum awareness about how to dress
> is required for everybody speaking to the press if images are involved.
> You do not have to dress like a Fortune 500 CEO but you should avoid
> confusing shirts like a TPB shirt because such an image only strengthens the
> idea that pirates are linked to TPB even if thats not the case. If we want
> to be considered as serious contenders in any election, we should be able to
> dress at least in a way were we are authentic but still do not show signs of
> radical parties. (No affront, but I do not want to see a spokesperson in
> shorts and sandals)

There two separate issues at stake here: the TPB shirt (or any other
politically-marked shirt, for that matter) has to be worn solely as a
humorous reference.
I wouldn't mind seeing a Pirate with a Che Guevara T-shirt or even a
"I <heart> RIAA" T-shirt, as long as it's surrounded with enough
material -- speech, documents, etc. -- to make clear that this doesn't
directly relate to what the PP actually is. In this regard, newspapers
may do the trick (if we have enough space to explain our arguments
very clearly) but TV interviews, for example, are to be dealt with in
a much more cautious manner.

The second issue you're referring to is strictly a matter of personal
taste wrt dress-code. And telling them (let alone *demanding* as Glenn
does) what to wear is simply infantilizing and pointless. I enjoy
wearing blazers and tailcoats, but I'm perfectly happy with one of my
fellow pirates wearing street hoodies and the like. Being photographed
together on the same picture always makes quite an impression ;-)

Cheers,
Valentin