Confession time: I’m a total pop culture junkie. As anyone who works in the PR industry can attest to, we spend our days at work using our brains incessantly, so I have no shame in admitting that outside of the office, I like to immerse myself in mindless reality TV and celebrity gossip. Scandals like the Brangelina divorce (#TeamJen always, for the record) and Beyonce’s “Becky with the good hair” accusations are kind of like my Superbowl. Yes, it’s silly and vapid and shallow, but it’s fun and isn’t that what life is all about? No judgment, guys.
As someone who follows the comings and goings of today’s most famous celebrities and is simultaneously obsessed with all things PR-related, I often look at celebrity scandals with a dual perspective: that of a regular consumer, and that of a publicist. Which means that many times, I’m left wondering how the heck someone with unlimited resources and millions in the bank could have hired such an incompetent PR team. When it comes to celebrities, it’s crucial for their publicists to shape their media strategies as a reflection of public opinion, and oftentimes they totally seem to drop the ball. That said, here are 5 examples of celebrities who, in my opinion, desperately need to hire a new PR team ASAP.
- Taylor Swift: I have a major love-hate relationship with Taylor Swift. Her music is my guilty pleasure (honestly, not even that guilty about it – she makes good stuff). Every time she puts out an album, I fall into a full-blown love affair with her for a solid 3 months. Then, without fail, she will be on every channel, on the cover of every magazine, and at every red carpet, showcasing her undeniably annoying personality. Basically, she’s overexposed and her music isn’t incredible enough to negate the turn-off power of fame-whoring. Last summer, her and Tom Hiddleston embarked on a PR relationship that can only be described as incredibly embarrassing, and since then I just can’t take her seriously. It’s time she hires a publicist who can rein her obnoxiousness in and stop her boyfriend from parading around in front of cameras in an “I Love Taylor Swift” tank top.
- Chris Brown: Admittedly, Chris Brown is a terrible person who deserves to be shunned from the public eye indefinitely after what he did to Rihanna. That being said, if we’re going to be forced to endure his presence, he can at least hire a PR team who is capable of revamping his image – or at least attempting to. I’m convinced that all of his publicists secretly hate him, because any media coverage of Chris Brown is always negative. That’s what you get what you’re a major a**hole.
- Warren Beatty: Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of the Oscars Best Picture fiasco. However, following the disaster, it seemed that Warren Beatty’s name was plastered all over the media – yet Annette Bening, who actually read the inaccurate name out loud, got off unscathed. I’m not saying that Warren should’ve thrown Annette under the bus, but his PR team could have done a much better job at absolving Warren of any guilt.
- Britney Spears: Everyone who works at Fish knows that Britney Spears is my ultimate queen. I’ve loved her through the good times and the bad times, the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations. Britney went through one of the worst public mental breakdowns in pop culture history and came out on the other side better than ever. Not many celebrities can pull that off, but Britney can because she has an invaluable asset on her side – the public adores her. If we can root for her while she’s shaving her head and parading around gas stations barefoot, we’ll root for her through anything. That being said, Britney’s last album wasn’t the smash hit it should have been considering the music was A+ quality pop, and that’s in large part to due with the fact that her PR team has her holed up in Vegas not doing any promotion. This is only excusable by the fact that Britney Spears can basically walk on stage and shimmy for 3 seconds, and her fans will be satisfied. She’s earned our lifelong admiration, but her PR team could nonetheless do a better job of promoting her to the masses.
- Little Mix: Like most Americans, you’ve probably never heard of this British girl band, and boy – are you missing out. Little Mix is like a modern-day version of the Spice Girls, only 20 times more talented (and I say this as a lifelong Spice Girls fan). However, no one in America knows who the heck they are, despite the fact that they’re currently on tour with Ariana Grande. Their PR team seems to be incapable of promoting them outside of their home country, and the American public is suffering as a result. This has been a rough year for the USA, and there is nothing like fun, mindless, high-quality pop music to ease the pain of a never-ending parade of political drama. Little Mix, please take note and hire a PR team that’s capable of marketing your talents outside of the UK. Our sanity depends on it.
