Little White Lies

We all tell them. Our mother asks us how we like her new hairdo and we say we do even if we don't. We urge our spouse to take us to a local favorite local restaurant to quietly celebrate their birthday knowing full well that a boatload of their friends are eagerly waiting to yell "surprise" and turn an intimate dinner into a blow-out party. These are just two examples of little white lies, innocent fabrications that everyone tells from time to time. Society has deemed them to be harmless and even kind. Therefore, though technically lies, they are acceptable and even expected. For instance, if I had ever told my mother I did not like one of her new hairdos, then I would be viewed as rude and borderline mean.

Even on a broader scale, it is ok to exaggerate or take liberty with the truth. In these current political times, for instance, there is much truth-stretching going on. In one television ad, former Governor Mitt Romney shows clips of President Obama commenting on the national economy in a manner that illustrates how our current commander-in-chief is not a man of his word. Shortly after the ad was run, however, it was quickly noted by a number of sources that the clip was purposefully altered in such a way to depict Obama as saying something he did not actually say. When confronted with this, members of the Romney camp - and Romney himself - simply laughed it off.

Was this a little while lie or something darker? And if it was darker, will the Romney campaign experience any negative blowback? Where and how does society draw the line between the little white lies we all tell and ones that have potentially deeper consequences? I do not see any hard and fast lines of demarcation here though over the years the courts have tried to draw them in matters involving commercial and political speech and possible libel and slander. This is tricky and potentially dangerous territory for any public relations practitioner. My sense is the origins of this murkiness can be traced back to those little while lies. We grow up with the notion that, at times, it is ok to sretch or violate the truth. While I do not believe little white lies should be viewed the same as darker tall tales, I do feel professional communicators, especially, need to practice extreme caution when they are asked to knowingly tinker with what they know to be true and factual.