PRtainment – ​​why PR wanted to be cool in 2025

For a long time, the world of public relations was a place of sober sentences, structured statements and reliable clichés.

But by 2025 everything was different: The PR industry suddenly discovered emojis, memes and TikTok audio tracks – and tried to be cooler than the target audience itself.

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What used to end in neatly formatted PDF documents with the classic sentence "We are always available for any questions" now sounds more like: "Slide into our DMs for more ??".

Story pitches via Instagram story

The new PR is cheeky, fast, digital – and sometimes a bit cringeworthy.

Agencies now send press releases with GIFs, Journalists receive original sound bites via voice message, and those who want to go really wild can send story pitches via Instagram story – with a survey sticker (“Interested in an interview? Yes / Of course”).

Welcome to the era of so-called PRtainment. Sounds absurd? But it works surprisingly well – at least when targeting audiences under 35.

The main thing is range.

Because if you want attention in a world of 15-second reels and push notifications, you have to come up with something.

And let's be honest: the classic press release often ends up in the trash these days or is shortened to three lines by AI anyway.

Of course, there are also dissenting voices. Old PR hands frown and wonder when exactly we made the transition from communications professionals to meme editors.

Avocado emoji helps

But – the main thing is reach, right?

Ultimately, as always in PR: what matters is not just what you say, but how many people share it.

And if a dancing avocado emoji has to do that, then that's the price of visibility...

Sierks Media / © Photo: Lidya Nada, Unsplash