The Flack

This weblog attempts to shine a brighter light on the subtle role public relations plays in politics, culture, media, business and sports. Through greater transparency, the author hopes to make the profession better understood and perhaps more widely appreciated.

Since its opening late last week, “King Kong” has endured more than an oversized gorilla’s share of disappointing news from the box office. The presumed blockbuster movie took in $50 mill over the weekend — a respectable number nowadays, but much less than predicted. Could it be that the pre-release hype regarding box office potential actually hurt the film’s prospects by raising the bar so high that anything short of Titanic-sized receipts would be deemed a failure?

Of course in the days leading up to the release, potential moviegoers were subject to the usual TV appearances by the stars and the film’s celebrated director. Then there was the flash bulb-popping premiere/photo-op in midtown Manhattan, followed by a spate of national stories predicting a record take at the box office. It was this last messaging strategy that struck me as odd. Sure, network interviews and a star-studded opening event, followed by strong critical reviews, typically suffice for putting fannies in seats. (In fact, some believe that the last item is all that’s needed.)

But I can’t recall such a pervasive media campaign touting a film’s financial success prior to its actual release. Was this a mistake? Hindsight is 20/20, but my hunch is that this self-fulfilling prophetic approach to marketing ultimately had a deleterious impact in the all-important, 2nd week “legs” department. Kong’s rave reviews alone might have propelled it to the top of the Empire State Building and back.


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Glitches Exposed

Posted by Peter Himler on 5th December 2005

I’ve written about the dangers of excessive hyperbole over a condensed time period, and how a media wallpaper strategy can have negative reputational consequences. Consider the hit Tom Cruise took following his PR machine’s “work” for “War of the Worlds,” etc. Stay tuned for Jennifer Aniston being knocked off the media pedestal from over exposure.

The Newtonian pendulum of good news-bad news does not only affect bold-faced names. Business too is at risk of a fickle media (and public). I remember the media splash-in-the-can that accompanied the launch of the Segway HT, which truly is/was a remarkable piece of technology.
CNET today reports on a lawsuit filed by a Chicago man alleging software glitches in Microsoft’s much-ballyhooed XBOX 360. We had actually gotten wind of this during the game console’s mass launch hysteria last week, but it was quickly overshadowed by news of the console’s sold out status and some favorable critical reviews of its graphics.

PR people are typically paid to garner mass media exposure. Hyperbolic media events, like the one happening today in the city to bolster awareness for the re-make of “King Kong,” have been around since the earliest days of the profession. The challenge in this 24/7 fragmented media environment is to give the promotional object sufficient “legs” to sustain success.


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