A thought for Monday. When I wrote The Art of the Publicity Stunt, it wasn’t just a book, it was a manifesto.
It was 1999, when the stunt was the tool of the maverick, the performer on the fringes who understood that attention wasn’t given; it was taken. The Borkowski way was about disruption, but not chaos. It was about spectacle, but with purpose. Theatrics, but always with a message. We disrupted to elevate, challenge, and shape stories that would last.
Fast forward. The world has changed. And so has disruption. Where once it was the calling card of the outsider, now the word has become a shibboleth of corporate establishment conformity. And the action of disrupting has become the weapon of the powerful. The architects of mayhem are no longer rebel visionaries; they’re world leaders, billionaires, and digital overlords who understand that controlling the narrative is no longer about shaping perceptions but fracturing our very relationship with reality. Musk, Xi, Trump, Putin: their brands are built on perpetual instability, their power amplified by a media ecosystem that thrives on noise.
Elon Musk’s spat with Poland’s Foreign Minister Sikorski was a masterclass in power play. Musk, posturing as the ultimate disruptor, dismissed Sikorski as a “small man” after Poland challenged his statements about the use of STARLINK internet in Ukraine.
In today’s world, disruption is used to obscure accountability behind a smokescreen of histrionics. Musk pedals the illusion of rebellion whilst fortifying his own empire. His power rests in keeping the world spinning in the orbit of his unpredictability. It’s as much manipulation as disruption. And it’s the same playbook being used at the highest levels of power, over and over again.
Disruption is no longer radical, it’s routine. When the radical becomes the norm, it stops working as a tool for cutting through the noise. So, where does that leave those of us in PR? The answer is not in being louder. It’s not in chasing attention. It’s not in chaos. The answer is in wielding disruption with precision. In knowing that real impact doesn’t come from adding to the chaos, but from crafting something that makes sense of it.
When Borkowski turned ten, I was struck by how we had grown from upstarts to grownups by constantly redefining ourselves. Now, as the industry faces another reckoning, it’s time to do it again.
Because here’s the truth: if you’re still chasing disruption like it’s 1999, you’ve already lost. The world doesn’t need more noise, it needs those who can see through it. If you can’t craft clarity, and you can’t carve meaning from the mayhem, you’re not a disruptor – you’re just another voice in the storm. The only way to truly stand apart now? Cut through. With vision, not volume. With insight, not outrage. With something unmistakable, undeniable, and unforgettable.
Clarity isn’t just rebellion, it’s survival. And in this age of engineered confusion, it’s the only power worth wielding.
It was 1999, when the stunt was the tool of the maverick, the performer on the fringes who understood that attention wasn’t given; it was taken. The Borkowski way was about disruption, but not chaos. It was about spectacle, but with purpose. Theatrics, but always with a message. We disrupted to elevate, challenge, and shape stories that would last.
Fast forward. The world has changed. And so has disruption.
Where once it was the calling card of the outsider, now the word has become a shibboleth of corporate establishment conformity.
And the action of disrupting has become the weapon of the powerful. The architects of mayhem are no longer rebel visionaries; they’re world leaders, billionaires, and digital overlords who understand that controlling the narrative is no longer about shaping perceptions but fracturing our very relationship with reality. Musk, Xi, Trump, Putin: their brands are built on perpetual instability, their power amplified by a media ecosystem that thrives on noise.
Elon Musk’s spat with Poland’s Foreign Minister Sikorski was a masterclass in power play. Musk, posturing as the ultimate disruptor, dismissed Sikorski as a “small man” after Poland challenged his statements about the use of STARLINK internet in Ukraine.
In today’s world, disruption is used to obscure accountability behind a smokescreen of histrionics. Musk pedals the illusion of rebellion whilst fortifying his own empire. His power rests in keeping the world spinning in the orbit of his unpredictability. It’s as much manipulation as disruption. And it’s the same playbook being used at the highest levels of power, over and over again.
Disruption is no longer radical, it’s routine. When the radical becomes the norm, it stops working as a tool for cutting through the noise. So, where does that leave those of us in PR? The answer is not in being louder. It’s not in chasing attention. It’s not in chaos. The answer is in wielding disruption with precision. In knowing that real impact doesn’t come from adding to the chaos, but from crafting something that makes sense of it.
When Borkowski turned ten, I was struck by how we had grown from upstarts to grownups by constantly redefining ourselves. Now, as the industry faces another reckoning, it’s time to do it again.
Because here’s the truth: if you’re still chasing disruption like it’s 1999, you’ve already lost. The world doesn’t need more noise, it needs those who can see through it. If you can’t craft clarity, and you can’t carve meaning from the mayhem, you’re not a disruptor – you’re just another voice in the storm.
The only way to truly stand apart now? Cut through. With vision, not volume. With insight, not outrage. With something unmistakable, undeniable, and unforgettable.
Clarity isn’t just rebellion, it’s survival. And in this age of engineered confusion, it’s the only power worth wielding.