I’m sometimes asked, “What, exactly, is PR?” Much more than the latest product release, public relations at its core is called on to put a public face on corporate behavior.

The latest, and best, example to date of seat-of-the-pants we don’t need no stinkin’ pr came when The Not So Big Three ambled their way to DC for some help from the public.

Forget the ordinary workers and businesses across the country who were depending on them. Ford, GM and Chrysler ceos landed clueless, cozy and comfortable just in time to be ridiculed from the cheap seats for their chutzpah.

For comparison, imagine if the airline chief execs showed up begging for help in Bentleys and Rolls Royces. Jeez, a blind man on a galloping horse could’ve seen this coming.

But no, Detroit’s elite decided to ignore what we surely can imagine were impassioned pleas from corporate public relations folk begging them to brown bag it to Washington.

So what happened? No money, honey, and probably less than they would have gotten when they finally do get their paws in the public coffers.

Perception counts, in any industry.