Do Celebrities Use Controversy to Make Them More Popular?
As all of us probably know by now controversy does sell, but is this actually a tactic that many celebrities are now using in order to sell themselves? Just think about it every time a celebrity does something that becomes controversial they get more publicity than they have every gotten in their lives. This goes for several professions including the field of writing. If you write an article that is very controversial you will become one of the most talked about people, even if it is for a short period of time.
Take for example singer songwriter Beyonce Knowles of Destiny’s Child. She had a lot of controversy going on in the beginning of her career, when they choose to get rid of two of their band members. But this actually ended up working to their benefit. This is not to say that Beyonce voice alone would not have sent her right to the top anyway, but the publicity really gave them the attention they needed to get their name known. It also helped to pave the way for the song Survivor that was a number one hit. This is just one example of how a little bit of drama in a celebrities life can turn into a good thing. But in the case of Destiny’s Child they did not really want that kind of drama. But it really makes you wonder if for other celebrities the drama is in fact created. Take Paris Hilton and the very famous video tape that she made. She had to have known that there was a possibility of the tape getting out. Especially since she stated that she knew about the video camera. It really makes you wonder if it was to create more of a buzz about her. If that was the intention than I must say that it really did work to her benefit.
Even the Janet Jackson incident at the super bowl when she showed just a little more than we all wanted to see. That was definitely a stunt that helped to promote her new album that came out shortly afterward. Of course there were a lot more negative comments than positive ones. But it was the media that drew the most attention to it. They love those kinds of stories, which in turn create more free publicity for the star. Just think about it for a minute, everyone is talking about what the star said or did and everyone now wants to get that one on one interview with them. They are on the front page of every newspaper and on just about every news channel. Of course it might not be positive publicity, but from a publicists point of view your name is getting circulated.
Whether or not celebrities really do things to get the publicity they may never admit, but many publicist have. The sad thing is that in some cases they do this with or without the star’s knowledge. But you can’t really blame them, their job is to create a buzz and when it comes to controversy that is exactly what it does.
