Think who will it hurt. Is the topic something that people laugh at outside of your twist on it.    I am all for creativity but sometimes it crosses the line.   When it does, it usually isn’t just a little over the line, it’s pretty much so far over that you can’t jump back in one step.  Now I may be wrong on this one, because there is no large outcry about the Gregory Brothers attempt at humor from the alledged kidnapping and torture of three Cleveland teenagers.   They used the interview of Charles Ramsey talking about how he saved Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight as the basis for the Gregory Brothers popular Songifiations.  They have become popular because the group usually uses political speeches, debates and interviews as the raw ingredients which they spice up with cover music and lyrics.

One of my favorites is about Five Guys.  They are clearly creative in their use of music and lyrics.   In the case of using the news interviews from the Cleveland kidnapping case someone should have said, “no don’t go there, regardless of how colorful a character Ramsey may be”  There is nothing to gain.   I would much rather remember the Gregory Brothers creativity in the Five Guys songify, then for their #Deadgiveaway take on Ramsey’s interview which evokes images of horror, not comedy.   I don’t want to put a link to the Ramsey video from my site, you can search it on the Gregory Brothers YouTube channel where they go by the name schmoyoho.

Listen to a conversation about this topic on the Beyond Social Media podcast Tuesday, May 14 at 9:30PM  EDT on Blog Talk Radio.  Beyond Social Media is a conversation with B.L. Ochman, David Erickson, and Albert Maruggi.  Ochman is a marketing consultant, a frequent contributor to Ad Age, and author of What’s Next Blog.  David Erickson is a marketing consultant and author of The e-Strategy Blog.

 

 

Lordy Lordy, will wonders never cease in the world of public relations. Lance Armstrong will go down in history for the best PR comeback in a generation. (that’s my prediction) The last time this was done to such a huge extent in the PR world would be President Nixon. He left office in disgrace, ducking the issue of Watergate’s political gamesmanship and came back strong based on the success of opening China and American relations. Nixon’s legacy is not either or, but both. History left us with a picture of a complicated man who’s international vision was as grand as his myopic paranoia of domestic enemies.

Lance Armstrong’s public relations Tour de France is just as winding, as steep, and will be as fast as any cycling stage he his ridden. Only this time his passenger is Oprah Winfrey, a willing participant in the public doping confession as each gives the other benefit. It seemed odd that ESPN or CNN was not interviewing Armstrong, but in what is a carefully crafted, mutually benefit alliance, both Oprah and Armstrong now move on to page two of the story. Oprah is just a business and as such getting the Armstrong interview is a ratings game, which is why they made it a two part interview when it was originally conceived to be one show. In the best practices of PR in a social media age, Armstrong’s bet is this

• The public has a forgiving nature
• Armstrong’s #livestrong work on behalf of cancer research will trump his faults
• Oprah will have less to gain by putting Armstrong on a crucifix albeit, will not fail to ask the tough questions
• Hypocritical plurality (there is plenty of hypocrisy in the world, I chose to play the game)

On this last point there is a cynical theme in the last generation that runs through American society. It’s the compete at all cost or at the very least, let’s wink, nod, and laugh off the “do as I say and not as I do” behavior. Whether it’s Armstrong or Wall Street’s mortgage backed derivative crisis, baseball’s steroid filled asterisk records or the skirting of campaign finance rules in political elections, ironically society as come to accept a level of bad behavior in its search for a hero. This is less a comment about society as it is the description of the environment in which marketers operate and try to exploit.

For more on this topic and others, join BL Ochman author of What’s Next Blog and David Erickson, author of the E Strategy Blog and me Tuesday night at 9:30 Eastern for the Beyond Social Media podcast.