{"id":11045,"date":"2017-03-01T15:21:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T15:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=11045"},"modified":"2020-08-24T12:47:17","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T11:47:17","slug":"dont-believe-the-post-truth","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2017\/mar\/dont-believe-the-post-truth","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t believe the post-truth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-1tGEeb wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n                \r\n                <blockquote class=\"blockquote blockquote--md-right\">\r\n          In an age of unprecedented accountability, it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s self-interest to be open and honest.                  <\/blockquote>\r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t      <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<p>Oasis released an album back in 2005 that proved to be ahead of its time. It was called \u201cDon\u2019t Believe the Truth\u201d. Back in those days the truth was that diesel engines were preferable to petrol engines, our banking system was in good order and, as Gillian Duffy learned to her cost, if you raised the subject of immigration you were labelled a bigot.<br \/><br \/>Not anymore. The truth is very different. Diesel engines are hidden killers. Our banking system was on the point of collapse. And immigration has now been de-stigmatised across the political spectrum as a subject for debate. How the truth changes.<\/p>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z1vztwc wp-block-lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image\"><section class=\"fullwidth fullwidth--overflow \" data-aos=\"fade-up\">\r\n  <div class=\"container container--spaced-lg\">\r\n    \r\n    <div class=\"row\">\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n        <p>The reason I give these examples is to show how every era wrestles with the truth. It has become fashionable to see the post-Trump, post-Brexit era as the post-Truth era. But I wonder if this, in turn, is really just another distortion. Of course, there are plenty of things to be sceptical about at the moment; fake stories and alternative facts abound \u2013 especially in some over-combed quarters. But we shouldn\u2019t confuse the meaning of Trump with the meaning of Truth, and to suggest that overall standards of truthfulness have somehow plummeted seems like an overstatement even he would be proud of.<br \/><br \/>To start with, what would be our point of comparison as the high water mark for the era of Truth? Tony Blair\u2019s prosecution of the Iraq War? Florida\u2019s hanging chads? The coalition\u2019s promises on tuition fees?\u00a0 Pravda in the 70\u2019s or perhaps Nixon and Watergate? The fact is that nothing is above suspicion and every generation will have good cause for scepticism. But it seems tendentious to argue that overall standards of truthfulness and accountability are deteriorating. That we have entered a post-Truth world. The reverse seems more likely.<br \/><br \/>In our own narrow field of advertising, we can look back with some consternation at what was legal only 25 years ago. Alcohol advertising could trade on social success, and cigarettes could not only advertise, they could promote themselves as fashion accessories. This hardly represented the sunlit uplands of veracity. Ethical standards have undoubtedly improved. Employees are better protected and, over the last few years, there are a number of initiatives (including those of the IPA) which mean that the composition of our work force is far more closely scrutinised so that we can see where we are failing in terms of diversity and equality. The truth may be that we have a long way to go, but at least we are now bothered about establishing the facts, and this\u00a0puts us in a position to take action \u2013 or be judged for not doing so.<\/p>        \r\n                \r\n  \t\t\t      <\/div>\r\n      \r\n      <div class=\"col-md-6\">\r\n    \t\t<p>The level of information available to consumers now is unrecognisable to where it was 25 years ago.\u00a0 What once was opaque is now much more open to view, most notably in terms of a company\u2019s employment practices and supply chain. Yes, there is still much further to go, but there seems little evidence that the transparency agenda will suddenly wane. In fact, people\u2019s appetite for the truth seems keener with each passing year, and we are seeing this manifested in everything from the number of historical inquiries regarding past injustices, to our growing knowledge about health and income disparities, to consumer review and price comparison sites, to the recent surge in ACLU membership, to what political candidates such as Nuttall and Snell tweeted or posted when (bizarrely) they thought no-one was looking.<br \/><br \/>Despite some garish headlines, it is unlikely that standards of truth are falling. Instead, our expectations of transparency are rising. This has to be good news for brands and companies who are doing the right thing by their staff, their communities and their customers. These are the brands that are now setting the agenda, these are the brands that can hold their heads high when predators come knocking and tell them where to get off. These are the brands that tend to be launced out of our industry by our brightest and best (on which note, good luck to Halo, may you be another Innocent \u2013 interesting use of vocabulary in both cases).<br \/><br \/>The reason for my confidence isn\u2019t because I think the world\u2019s becoming more virtuous. It clearly isn\u2019t. The reason for my confidence is that, in an age of unprecedented accountability, it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s self-interest to be open and honest. This is the most competitive strategy. And, where openness coincides with self-interest, truth will flourish.<\/p>  \t\t<\/div>\r\n  \t\t\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    \r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":11,"template":"","categories":[193],"class_list":["post-11045","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-in-the-press"],"acf":{"author":{"ID":930,"post_author":"2","post_date":"2020-07-02 12:04:34","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-02 11:04:34","post_content":"","post_title":"Charles Vallance","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"charles-vallance","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2026-01-19 12:22:45","post_modified_gmt":"2026-01-19 12:22:45","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?post_type=people&#038;p=930","menu_order":0,"post_type":"people","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"client_id":"","hero_video":"","hero_image":{"ID":11054,"id":11054,"title":"Fake News","filename":"Fake-News.jpg","filesize":55812,"url":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/news\/2017\/mar\/dont-believe-the-post-truth\/attachment\/fake-news","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"fake-news","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":11045,"date":"2020-08-14 14:34:56","modified":"2020-08-14 14:34:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-300x113.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":113,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-768x288.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-1024x384.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-1536x576.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":576,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":720,"Header":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-1920x720.jpg","Header-width":1920,"Header-height":720,"Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News.jpg","Wide-width":1920,"Wide-height":720,"Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-1152x720.jpg","Square-width":768,"Square-height":480,"Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-768x720.jpg","Tall-width":307,"Tall-height":288,"Mobile":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-768x720.jpg","Mobile-width":768,"Mobile-height":720,"Facebook":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-1200x630.jpg","Facebook-width":1200,"Facebook-height":630,"Grid-Item-Square":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-768x720.jpg","Grid-Item-Square-width":768,"Grid-Item-Square-height":720,"Grid-Item-Wide":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-768x384.jpg","Grid-Item-Wide-width":768,"Grid-Item-Wide-height":384,"Grid-Item-Tall":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News-384x720.jpg","Grid-Item-Tall-width":307,"Grid-Item-Tall-height":576}},"meta-title":"Don't believe the post-truth","meta-description":"Oasis released an album back in 2005 that proved to be ahead of its time. It was called \u201cDon\u2019t Believe the Truth\u201d. Back in those days the truth was that diesel engines were preferable to petrol engines, our banking system was in good order and, as Gillian Duffy learned to her cost, if you raised the subject of immigration you were labelled a bigot.  Not anymore. The truth is very different. Diesel engines are hidden killers. Our banking system was on the point of collapse. And immigration has now been de-stigmatised across the political spectrum as a subject for debate. How the truth changes.  The reason I give these examples is to show how every era wrestles with the truth. It has become fashionable to see the post-Trump, post-Brexit era as the post-Truth era. But I wonder if this, in turn, is really just another distortion. Of course, there are plenty of things to be sceptical about at the moment; fake stories and alternative facts abound \u2013 especially in some over-combed quarters. But we shouldn\u2019t confuse the meaning of Trump with the meaning of Truth, and to suggest that overall standards of truthfulness have somehow plummeted seems like an overstatement even he would be proud of.","social-media-image":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Fake-News.jpg","news_id":"193","relateditems":[{"relateditem":{"ID":634,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2020-06-24 09:56:54","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-24 08:56:54","post_content":"<!-- wp:lazyblock\/page-title {\"title\":\"Our Capabilities\",\"blockId\":\"Z24KL4u\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-page-title-Z24KL4u\"} \/-->\n\n<!-- wp:lazyblock\/two-column-text-quote-image {\"text-right\":\"\\u003cp\\u003eWith advertising and communications, we believe it only works if it all works.\u00a0 From the first search right through to post-purchase management of data, we make everything compelling, coherent and cohesive.\u00a0 That\u2019s how we transform a client\u2019s business.\u00a0 We\u2019re a fully integrated creative agency offering the following skills and services:\\u003c\/p\\u003e\",\"quote\":\"We are the challenger agency for challenger brands.\",\"top-padding\":true,\"blockId\":\"Z1pypLu\",\"blockUniqueClass\":\"lazyblock-two-column-text-quote-image-Z1pypLu\"} \/-->","post_title":"Our Capabilities","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"capabilities","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-12-02 12:08:43","post_modified_gmt":"2025-12-02 12:08:43","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?page_id=634","menu_order":0,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":212,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2020-06-15 22:26:43","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-15 21:26:43","post_content":"","post_title":"Work","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"work","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-04-16 16:47:36","post_modified_gmt":"2024-04-16 15:47:36","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?page_id=212","menu_order":1,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"relateditem":{"ID":896,"post_author":"1","post_date":"2020-07-01 10:07:30","post_date_gmt":"2020-07-01 09:07:30","post_content":"","post_title":"Our News","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"news","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-03-12 12:14:50","post_modified_gmt":"2025-03-12 12:14:50","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/?page_id=896","menu_order":0,"post_type":"page","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}],"visible_on_home_page":[],"websites_to_publish":[],"related_content_title":"YOU MAY ALSO LIKE","capability_ids":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/11045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vccp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}