History Main / SlaveToPR

* This was one of the biggest flaws of Victor Steiner-Davion in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech''. At the age of 22, he became ruler of the Federated Commonwealth in 3052 after his father, Hanse Davion, died of a heart attack. He really wasn't up to the task and was ''far'' too prone to basing his decisions on what to do based on whether or not it was something his subjects would perceive as the "good" thing rather than what was a smart long-term decision. The largest one was when his sister, Kathrine, stole half his realm in 3057. Everyone in the Inner Sphere expected him to immediately try to retake it, but wanting to play peacemaker he let her keep it. This led to her mismanaging that side of the realm for several years, then in 3060, after he returned from fighting the Clans to protect the entire Inner Sphere, he discovered that she'd gone and stolen the other half of the [=FedCom=]. Every single soldier in the international coalition he'd commanded immediately pledged their support in going to get his realm back, even the soldiers from the Capellan Confederation, the [=FedCom's=] most hated foe. Victor again refused, backing down because he was so concerned about potentially being seen as a warmonger (despite the fact that he already knew that Kathrine had also arranged for the assassination of their mother). Unfortunately, leaving Kathrine on the throne turned out to be a disaster as she was an [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen ambitious but incompetent ruler]] who's hamfisted policies of lashing out at anyone she perceived as not showing sufficient respect to her resulted in tensions boiling over until open issurection began on multiple planets, which ''finally'' motivated Victor to act against her in the [=FedCom=] Civil War.

** One episode in Season 4 involves an actor shadowing Danny in preparation for a role in a movie. When said actor gets himself stabbed in a fight, he doesn't want the public finding out so Danny has to drive him to a secret clinic rather than call an ambulance for him.

* Reimu Hakurei from ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has her reputation as Gensoukyou's resident youkai exterminator to think about. The problem is that [[TheMasquerade unknown to its human populace]], Gensoukyou is actually a FantasticNatureReserve and Reimu is its warden, so she doesn't "exterminate" youkai as much as she "roughs up the ones who get too rowdy." Unfortunately, she's also a very popular warden... among Gensoukyou's youkai populace, that is. Meaning her shrine [[DropInCharacter often has visitors]] in the shape of [[DefeatMeansFriendship the many youkai she's "exterminated"]], and [[FantasticRacism the "haunted shrine" run by its "youkai shrine maiden"]] [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer is no longer popular with the humans.]] Long story short, Reimu has a hard time balancing her job with keeping up appearances and making sure she doesn't lose whatever little good PR she has left.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Fudge refuses to acknowledge Voldemort's resurrection because he doesn't want to deal with the Wizarding World entering into hysteria. His solution is to make Harry and Dumbledore the scapegoats of a Smear Campaign. He even states that "He has to be seen doing something."

** An aspect of the World Government that becomes more prominent as the story goes on; when Crocodile's attempted coup of Alabasta is made public, rather than admit that the situation was resolved by the Straw Hat Pirates, they claim it was the work of Marine Captain Smoker (much to his [[MedalOfDishonor anger]]). After the Whitebeard War, it transpires that multiple super-criminals escaped from [[TheAlcatraz Impel Down]]; Fleet Admiral Sengoku wants to immediately warn the public, but the Government heads insist on keeping the matter covered up, much to his fury. The Government is essentially dedicated to appearing all-powerful and flawless, so they spend much of their time covering up anything that would make it look bad and sway public opinion to their enemies.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''

* The Conclave's leader Margaret in ''Literature/ThePsychologyOfTimeTravel'' will do anything to preserve her reputation and legacy. She ostracizes and ruins the scientific career of her co-inventor Barbara because Barbara's public breakdown made time travel look bad. She also installs psychologists in the Conclave, not to treat time travellers who become mentally ill as a result of time travel, but to weed them out before they can create another Barbara incident. The Conclave will hush up potential scandals by sending reporters death threats and subjecting employees who leak information to trial by ordeal.
** This is one of the differences between Angharad and Margaret's leadership. Angharad tries to bury the true scandal under a slew of sensational lies. Margaret would never allow herself or her organization to be tarnished like that.

* Gaming fans of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' refer to this as [[LawfulStupidChaoticStupid "Lawful Stupid" and "Chaotic Stupid"]] when one's alignment rules ''force'' them to do something obviously detrimental. This often depends on one's interpretation of the various behavior codes.
** The {{Sourcebook}} ''Book of Exalted Deeds'', based around the Good alignments, devotes sections of its first chapter to ''avoiding'' the Lawful Stupid trap. The first lesson: when the villagers tell you "A dragon is attacking us!" it does not ding your alignment to ask, "How big and does it have friends?"
*** However, the book also establishes that performing an evil act to save a lot of innocent lives is still ultimately a victory for evil and that a hero may end up in a situation where they can't avoid doing an evil act. But since good and evil are actual forces in [=DnD=], this makes sense. And the book stresses that the forces of good are forgiving, though heroes must pay a price to make up for what they did.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'': [[KnightTemplar Gabriel]] is one of, if not ''[[TheAce the]]'' [[TheParagon most respected and feared]] [[OurAngelsAreDifferent archangel]] in service to the Holy Council as an agent of [[{{God}} the Father's]] divine will. A veteran of countless battles, Gabriel has never lost a fight or failed a mission. That is, [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable until he's defeated]] by [[KillerRobot V1]] while they're rampaging in Hell. This single blemish in his otherwise perfect record is enough for the Council to cast doubts upon his loyalty and brand him a heretic since, by their own logic, he couldn't possibly be defeated by a machine, a "mere object", unless he deliberately threw the fight. Being empowered by the Father's Holy Light, to even imply that he could still be defeated is considered a blasphemy. The Council then rips out the Holy Light from Gabriel and grants him 24 hours to correct his "mistake" by killing V1.

* The WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague and Franchise/{{Batman}} clash over this issue in the episode when the American government won't believe someone hijacked their KillSat. Green Lantern at first suggests they let them think what they want to think and continue doing their job ("We're not here to be liked."), but Wonder Woman convinces them they need the people to have faith in them and turn themselves in until their [[ClearMyName names have been legally cleared]]. They ask Batman, the original AntiHero, to join them, but he unhesitatingly rejects such a plan and instead works to find the real culprit. As it turns out, it appears that having both options working in tandem was the best thing to do; the League gained credibility that they were being responsible, while Batman, who had a reputation as a loose-cannon anyway, was able to convince Amanda Waller of the truth.

* Shego of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', a FallenHero, is very much a CardCarryingVillain. In one episode, Kim threatened to expose her heroic past in order to coerce her into an EnemyMine, and Drakken infuriated her by suggesting that she was too "soft" to betray her brothers.

--> '''(Ex-)Queen Haven:''' [Being arrested and led away] No comment, and no photos! {{Beat}} Okay, one photo! [Poses as camera flashes]

** The Whole Cake Island arc also explores this with the Four Emperors. What hadn't really been touched upon in the story until this arc is that being an Emperor is as much about ''projecting'' an image of power and invicibility as it is about ''actually being'' invicible. Much like the World Government, the Emperors rely on their reputation to keep their respective empires in the New World, but whereas the World Government presents itself as competent and just, the Emperors present themselves as powerful and feared. They do this by killing or (usually forcibly) recruiting any that challenge them. It's mentionned during the Paramount War that whitebeard ''will'' try to save Ace. Just as much [[AFatherToHisMen out of love for his crew]] as it is out of needing to send the clear message that he and his crew are untouchable by the Marines. [[spoiler:It is because of this that the Big Mom Pirates so desperately chase after the Straw Hats in the latter half of the arc instead of just cutting their losses after they managed to escape the castle. It was already bad enough that they publicly screwed up the Charlotte Family's plan to murder the Vinsmokes and then got closer to killing Big Mom than anyone had been in decades, but if they were to ''escape'' without facing suitable retribution, it would almost irreversibly damage the name of Big Mom and open up the crew and their territories to attacks from the other Emperors, the Marines (who notoriously refuse to challenge ''any'' Emperor seriously unless it's on their terms) or anyone with a bit of power. It's why they muster all the forces they can just to capture Luffy at Cacao Island and then actually barge onto Kaido' territory to pursue the Straw Hats in the next arc -- as embarrassing as it is to send so many against one man and his tiny crew, him escaping retribution would be ''worse''. And when they finally do escape almost unscathed after a lot of damage done, the main reason they don't take a giant hit to their reputation is that the whole mess was so outrageous (and the Emperor's reputation so carefully preserved up to that point) it instead massively improved Luffy's own, to the point he's thought to be in the same bracket as the Emperors now (much to Big Mom's displeasure)]].

* PlayedWith in ''Film/{{Hancock}}'': The eponymous superhero has a "devil-may-care" attitude when it comes to being a superhero, and often causes as much (if not more) damage than what he fixes while trying to help the citizens of Los Angeles, which has led to his terrible reputation. It takes an ordinary citizen (a PR executive who wants to help after Hancock saved his life) and an intensive "12-step program" (which includes admitting his past mistakes, voluntarily going to jail, and adopting a new {{Catchphrase}}) for Hancock to realize he can keep his good reputation if he plays by the rules and remains mindful of the environment he lives in.

* ''Fanfic/{{Greenfire}}'': Joked about when Spike admits to Rarity he's really a big softie. No knight or treasure hunter would fear a polite, pacifistic dragon, after all.