Attraction Rather Than Promotion

The Eleventh Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous

Certainly we can all agree that there is no controversy surrounding this Tradition just like there is no controversy about “Conference Approved Literature” right?

Well, I thought it would be interesting to hear what the moderator at the AA History Lovers Group at Yahoo! has to say regarding “Attraction Rather Than Promotion;”

‘Might I say that Tradition Eleven, which says that “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion,” is talking about maintaining PERSONAL ANONYMITY in ads and posters and so on.

It’s not saying you can’t do it, just that you should not put up a poster with a photo showing the face of a living AA member, and that person’s full name, as an advertisement for AA.

It is the same issue that shows up in the Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, pp. 147-149, in the story of Rule No. 62. Alcoholics tend sometimes to be “promoter” types who want to start grandiose projects with the alcoholic appearing in public as a “famous person” and having tons of money to spend, and with all sorts of other people running around doing all the work (while the alcoholic takes all the public credit).

The phrase about “attraction rather than promotion” is targeted at that same kind of egomaniacal, arrogant, bullying, power-mad alcoholic. We have enough problem with them already in AA committees, intergroup offices, and Area Assemblies, without letting them go public! Please spare us all from that!

But in old time AA, it certainly never meant that you could not put up notices, posters, ads, and so on. They even held public meetings (which were advertised in their local newspapers) where speakers (including clergy and judges and other people who were neither alcoholics themselves nor AA members) would talk about the AA program and how it could save people’s lives.’