In this decade of the spin doctor, cynics will not be surprised to learn that the man some people describe as the 'father of modern public relations' started his career in the propaganda arm of the United States Army.
Daniel Edelman, 77, spent World War II in Europe, analysing Nazi propaganda and information collected by German-speakers who had fled Hitler's regime.
A private soldier in the US Army's psychological warfare and information control division, his summaries, written overnight, were used as the basis for counter propaganda.
'The Germans told outright lies. The Allies did not. We may have dramatised things, but we told the truth. It is the same principle that I still work by to this day,' Mr Edelman recalled on a visit to Hong Kong this week.
'As a PR company, you cannot give out something that is basically wrong and hope it is going to be good, because it is going to boomerang back on you.' He remains chairman of Edelman Worldwide, the company he founded in 1951. His son Richard, 43, is president and chief executive officer.
'It may look like nepotism, but he is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, a better businessman than me and he has a good conceptual approach,' Mr Edelman said in what sounded a well-practised explanation.
