Also, since public relations is largely the activity of people who are paid to be invisible, a lot of these people cherish the idea of emerging as historical figures. I've been approached a lot. I told them that they should become a humane institution and they'd have nothing to worry about. It might have, but I decided against it, in part because I felt it would undermine my ability to do what I do. I told a historian friend of mine the story of how Benetton creative director Oliviero Toscani had approached me.
All magazines are catalogues.
They're simply vehicles for selling the products in their ads. Although I thought this was sophistry, I also thought it was an intelligent response to my resistance, the sign of an agile mind at work. In any event, I made a decision not to do it. All I ever read are catalogues. I didn't do it, but it would be dishonest for me to say that I didn't find it an intriguing proposition.