Lexicography, or how to change history in one easy lesson

Does your PR company or department have a "lexicography team" ? Why on earth would I want one of those, I hear you say. Surely lexicography is the preserve of Oxford boffins who preside over the definitions of words and their semantic use. Why would this be of any use to the PR world, other than to settle arguments over the use of the phrase "public relations" ?

Well, ask that to an increasing number of companies - McDonalds and Apple to name but two - who are starting to challenge the words used within our English dictionaries because they do not present words that relate to them favourably enough. For example, McJob - according to Sir Digby Jones, former head of the CBI in the UK - should be “changed to reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding and offers genuine opportunities for career progression and skills that last a lifetime”. I'm sure those working in McDonalds would relish the opportunity to put their names to that definition.

Now, I'm the first to agree that PR, and reputations, can be won and lost on the clever use of words and that without a common understanding of the use of words, this becomes an impossible challenge. But surely this is a step too far ? The principle reason traditional marketing is suffering at the hands of everyman citizen journalism is because people want independence and objectivity in their engagement with corporations. Company spin has been displaced by peer group opinion, which people tend to trust far more. So, if it gets to the point where people can no longer trust the objectivity of dictionaries, what next ? Rewrite history books ? Or Wikipedia ? Ah, that one has already started....