Friday 26 March 2010

Celebrities - Is image everything?

Is lying justified?
"Come and have a go at me – in person – and let's establish just how far removed I am from the real professionals working in the industry,"
Max Clifford, 2006.

Last day of class and we watched this amazing movie of the encounter of Louis Theroux and Max Clifford. This movie (a short 3-minute clip attached) shows how in control Max is about issues related to his clients, in this case Simon Cowell. It's a good show I must say...



It is not unusual that on his website, Max describes himself as being in the business of PR, 'protecting and promoting' a wide variety of clients. He claims to have broken more tabloid front page stories in the UK than any journalists. Protection from themselves is what celebrities need. From watching Starsuckers, it is obvious that a celebrity is a made up individual that should fit in with image and the public's expectations.

Lose this image, and there is the risk of losing your entire career, considering what happened to Tiger Woods and John Terry who should have considered hiring him as well . That is, before the latter's 'mistress' Vanessa gave him the job. He obviously had an opinion about Tiger Woods' apology! Scandals have been happening too many times to these celebrities in the recent past. Well, if this is the case, then Max Clifford or an incarnate of him is the guy or ooops chic to hire.

Is Max Clifford the contemporary "King of Spin
"

Well... 'Yes' if you are the client and 'no' if you are a critic. He may have crossed one too many boundaries in his effort to be successful, yet successful he is. But the guy has to be commended for making turnarounds with cases such as the late Jade Goody from the unpleasant personality in Britain's celebrity big brother to one of the most lovable people.

And as Pill(2009,p 623) observes, celebrity has become a global cultural industry with its own media and PRs to oil the wheels of fame and fortune. Skill would probably go hand in hand with this "shrewd" practitioner, and not everyone has the capability to stay in the business this long despite the negative perceptions and attitudes towards him. I wonder, would he be where he is if he wasn't controlling the show?


References
Pill, E. (2009). Celebrity and Public Relations in Tench & Yeomans, Exploring Public Relations, Pearson

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