Legendary Publicist Bobby Zarem: ‘I’m Basically An Artist’

Bobby Zarem, a legendary New York publicist that many PRNewser readers may not recognize by name, but who has represented such bold faced names as Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Dustin Hoffman, Sophia Loren and movies like Saturday Night Fever, is leaving town.

Zarem, who also likes to take credit for the famous “I Love New York” campaign, is headed back to his hometown of Savannah, GA. Many a power publicist have toiled under Zarem, including Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenberg, well-known event PR specialist Peggy Siegal and Publicity Club of New York president Peter Himler.

This comment in his “exit interview” with New York magazine is one to note:

You’re one of the most famous publicists of all time, even though you’ve said repeatedly that no one knows what you do.

They don’t and that’s because I’m not a bragger. If you’re a press agent and you’re smart, you don’t tell people what you do because if it doesn’t pan out you end up looking like an asshole. I never told my clients what I was doing in case it never materialized, and they never questioned it. They just knew I would get the job done and I always did, which is the difference between me and everyone else in my profession. I’m basically an artist.

Read the full interview here.

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