Now Infamous
Publicity stunts are nothing new to the game of public relations, but has anyone noticed the random meanness of the Internet gradually influencing the way PR is done these days? More specifically, are things like Christian Bale’s supernova of a tirade on the Terminator set, or Joaquin Phoenix’s confused, bearded appearance on David Letterman signs of change? So far in 2009, it seems like there’s been a rash of these “is it real” moments. I guess it makes sense. What’s the easiest way to get a person’s attention with all the distractions out there on the Internets? How about slamming a woman’s head into a table.
Though in fairness to the PR people behind Royal Kill, the movie that our headslammed actress was promoting, they seem to be thinking outside the box with the highlighting of a negative Washington Post review. But should we be concerned about the increasing level of meanness in these stunts? Not to mention their inherent duplicitous nature? I don’t know.
In the case of the Royal Kill headslam, for what it’s worth, my money is on “stunt”. After you watch it again, it looks pretty silly. But at first you can’t help but wonder if it actually happened. And I think the more sophisticated these stunts get, the better they will be able to blur the line between reality and disaster.
Another recent example was Billy Bob Thorton’s disastrous interview on QTV. Again, real or calculated? It’s hard to tell. While Billy and The Boxmasters had to cancel their remaining shows in Canada due to “the flu”… I’m gonna guess that the rest are sold out.
