When House Dresses are More Convincing than PR Suits
The phenomenon of the house dress defeating the PR suit is not the anticlimiment of the public relations profession.
Open TikTok now and you will find two types of PR practitioners. First, the PR professional in a neat suit reading a press release. Second, a ‘pentol’ (meatball) business owner in Rungkut, Surabaya, livestreaming in casual attire, with a raspy voice and a tired face because their goods have not yet sold.
Which one captures your attention more? Almost certainly the second.
This is a symptom of a shift in the meaning of public relations: the deinstitutionalisation of PR. Previously, PR was an institution marked by official positions. There had to be a division, a press release, and a spokesperson who spoke with extreme caution. Now, on Instagram and TikTok, PR is the influencer or the business owner themselves. There is no division, and there is no script.
The difference is that currently, business owners are simultaneously performing the PR function. They use their devices to communicate with their followers. In this context, displaying honesty is vital.
Observing dozens of culinary MSMEs in Surabaya, not a single one possesses a dedicated PR staff. However, they are the most sophisticated PR practitioners I have ever encountered.
Why? Because they understand one thing that is not taught in old PR textbooks: in the era of algorithms, what is being sold is no longer just a product, but empathy. This is the second concept that binds the first phenomenon: the concept of ‘algorithmic empathy’.
The TikTok and Instagram algorithms of 2026 are no longer unintelligent. They do not just read the hashtag #kulinerSurabaya. They read sincerity. They track how long people watch a business owner crying; they read comments like ‘keep your spirits up, sis’; they read shares and tears. They deem sincere content as authentic and then push it to thousands of ‘For You Pages’ (FYP).
A few months ago on Reels, I purchased ‘seblak’ online in Surabaya. It was not because the advertisement was good. Rather, it was because the owner appeared on Reels in a house dress, looking exhausted, saying, ‘Guys, today’s stock hasn’t sold, please help me out.’
That video was watched 200,000 times. The comments were full of prayers. Their stock sold out.
At the same time, I observed the official Instagram account of an institution. Its content design was perfect. The suits were neat. The captions were normative: ‘We are committed.’ Yet, it only received 12 likes.
A major shift is underway.