There is perhaps no bigger myth than the one that states all publicity is good publicity.  PT Barnum is said to have made that statement along those lines.  But who knows.  If it wasn’t PT, whoever said it certainly made an impression, since it has now become a part of our lexicon.  If he did say it, I’m not sure you want to take branding and image advice from a guy who owned a circus and made a living out of promoting what he referred to as freaks.   If you own a circus, maybe your PR standards are a bit different, but even then, all PR is certainly not good PR.