Fashion publicists love it when a talent agent or stylist calls and asks to pull clothing for a fitting of one of their “celebrity clients” and has agreed to tout the brand in the media. I know we do! But, at times there are those public personalities that I would rather send a lump of coal over to then actually lend or gift apparel or jewelry to. And last week that request came across my desk to wardrobe Carrie Prejean and for some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way. My first response was, "why on Earth would we even send her a lipstick let alone an outfit?"
I asked a few of my fellow PR Agency owners friends what they would do if this situation and some of them said they would send her clothing for her book tour to promote; Still Standing and others said that their clients wouldn’t be caught dead sharing garments with a former beauty queen who goes nude for photos but then comes out against gay marriage only to soapbox herself in some movement to gain a new career.
To me this brings up another round of issues! Do we as PR firm owners in this economy stick to our values and not rep or story tell things we don’t believe in on our own personal conviction though the popular vote may deem otherwise? To me anyone that does not support gay marriage is a faux, but I am sure there will be those who see otherwise. And that is OK, but I don't have to gift them. It's not why I went into business for myself.
Don’t get me wrong I am not a PR whore who is so liberated that I will rep anything. A few months back we were asked to PR a video game <title shall remain nameless> and we turned the RFP down simply because when we played the games they were so violent that it made us uncomfortable, especially when we learned the games were linked to teen violence.
There was also the time that VH1 called and asked me to be a judge on “I Love New York” and after I watched a few clips of the show I confirmed that I would never go on a show of such taste.
I would love your thoughts on this. If you had a talent agent call and ask you for some fashion items and you weren’t keen on that talent, would you still send them the items on behalf of your client or would you let your own compass of what you deem right get in the way?
Posted by Pierce Mattie on November 4, 2009 10:39 AM
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Comments (5)
Remember: PR is a values-driven business. Go with your moral compass on this one. Carrie Prejean needs you--you do not need Carrie Prejean!
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Rachel |
November 5, 2009 6:59 AM
Posted on November 5, 2009 06:59
I think it totally depends on what your business is about. If part of your company's culture dictates that you put integrity first, then certainly, you're going to be more selective about your clients. If the main goal is to get any business/get exposure of any kind/quantity not quality, then maybe not so selective.
The unfortunate part is that no matter how scrupulous your company may be, you can never count on others...you may have a client who seems perfectly reputable one day and the next, has skeletons rattling their way out of that celeb's closet...
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k |
November 5, 2009 10:38 AM
Posted on November 5, 2009 10:38
That you admit to not liking someone (Ms. Prejean) because of her political stance (the crazy notion that a marriage should be between a man and a woman) that is held by the majority of the nation and has been voted upon time after time in agreement with her stance, tells me a lot more about you than it does her. I'm for civil unions, personally, but for someone to NOT LIKE ME because of that political stance, which is far from radical or fringe, is the problem of that person, not me.
I bet you consider yourself to be the tolerant one & Ms. Prejean, the person you admit to not liking, to be closed minded, don't you?
Poor form, sir. Try living up to the standard that you're holding Ms. Prejean to.
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Cam Winston |
November 5, 2009 6:01 PM
Posted on November 5, 2009 18:01
In advertising, budgets are spent on ads that hit target demographics; PR should be the same way or else you'll have mixed brand messages.
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Jet |
November 6, 2009 10:15 AM
Posted on November 6, 2009 10:15
I just read your nov 4 comment on prejean. if there were a way to know
that you were repping something, it would certainly gain esteem in my eyes. A star will wear anything sent to them. but if it's sent by you, it gains a certification the star is supposed to give it. but there's the real test: would
you send seinfeld a puffy shirt? Unfortunately, there's no way to know where the fashion comes from--it supposedly comes from the designer and is worn by the star. This arrangement makes you a sort of conduit, nameles, faceless.
I admire your values but I don't know what to do with this knowledge.
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Robert Bixby |
November 9, 2009 7:10 AM
Posted on November 9, 2009 07:10