2. If You're Going To Commit Atrocities, Make Sure Your PR People Are Up To Snuff (Electrocuting An Elephant)
Orchestrated by Thomas Edison in 1903, this short film depicting the real-life execution of Topsy the Elephant continues to provide businesspeople with one of the most important reminders of any in the world of business, which is that with the right public relations team, you can essentially do anything you want! If your brand becomes embedded within a culture, people will still buy your stuff even after time passes and values change! Thomas Edison used this film (and much worse) publicly in his marketing campaigns! When people think of Thomas Edison today, they don't say, "Hey, there's that guy who electrocuted animals!" They say, "Hey, there's that guy who invented that dance at weddings!" Edison was a model for us all, helping businesspeople sleep at night for well over a century. However, an even more crucial point ranks one notch above this oneit is the underlying philosophy for this whole list.