Town and country, but mainly just town…

I’ve just recently started watching reruns of the hit TV series “Gossip Girls” on cwtv.com. The show is full of teen drama, expensive clothes, and of course, a lot of gossip.

But the gossip that has been flowing through the blogs is more focused on the show’s resent promotional efforts.

“Gossip Girls” makes its return on April 21 after a hiatus due to the writers strike, and the CW is trying to amp up the come back with videos and stills.

Some of the ads feature the online slang term “OMFG” which in it’s tamer version translates to “Oh my God.” It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the “F” stands for.

The ads aslo feature provocative images of characters having sex from scenes earlier in the season. “We wanted to create a provocative campaign that stands out from the competition and reminds viewers of some of the ‘OMG’ moments that have made Gossip Girl one of the most buzzed-about new shows on television,” the CW said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the days since the ads hit the Web, there has been a lot of controversy about whether the ads are appropriate for teen viewers. Many sites, like Popsugar, ask readers if the ads are too racy. Other sites, like Entertainment Weekly, dismiss the ad as a simple ploy, claiming that the CW is just “trying to attract some new eyeballs with a little controversy.”

This may be true, but the PR question is, is it working?

From what I’ve seen, it is. Most of the entertainment blogs have mentioned the ads, discussing whether or not they are too provocative for the CW audience. Many of the articles include the video and print versions, or links where readers can view them. Even FOXNews.com reported on the ads and their “foul” language.

If I were in the PR department for CW, I would be jumping for joy. Not only are their ads being seen, but they have created a mild controversy that will do the show far more good than harm.

CW representatives claimed that “this sexy, sophisticated campaign speaks directly to our adult 18-34 viewers using expressions that are part of their lexicon,” according to Variety. You know what else “speaks directly” to this demographic? Celebrity gossip sites and entertainment news sites! Which is exactly where these ads are being talked about.

True, the ads are a little racy, featuring high school students engaging in sex acts. But as one writer from Entertainment Weekly pointed out, the CW isn’t doing anything that the hit show “90210″ didn’t do 18 years ago. Both shows featured teenagers having sex, but while “90210″ was cutting edge, “Gossip Girls” is pretty average for a current teen drama.

So why all the noise? I’m not sure. Perhaps this is an elaborate PR campaign. Perhaps the outrage is a reflection on the prudish nature of our current government. Perhaps the creators of the ad simply stumbled upon the gold mine that is online media.

Either way, it is undeniable that with all of this free publicity, the “Gossip Girl” comeback is sure to be a big hit.

For years, actors and musicians having been attempting the infamous crossover, where they momentarily leave their old profession behind, and dip their toes in the cool waters of another. Singers staring in bad movies, movie stars putting out bad albums: does it ever really work? Does the actress ever really gain more fame, fortune, and respect after releasing that one record? Does the musician ever live down that awful attempt at a romantic comedy?

Let’s review. In the recent past, we have witnessed crossovers from Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Hillary Duff, Paris Hilton, and many more. If I was the masochistic type, I could look back decades and find even better (or worse) crossovers. While some of these celebrities have attempted the crossover successfully, like Justin and J-Lo, most of these individuals have swept that mistake under the rug and moved on.

However, I would like to think that this sort of thing is possible. Those talented folks on Broadway can sing, dance and act. Why is it that we so rarely accept that other famous people have that same ability?

On May 20, we shall get another shot at figuring that out. On this fateful date, shining starlet Scarlett Johanson is due to release her first album, titled “Anywhere I Lay My Head.” The album is comprised of mostly Tom Waits covers, with one original song.

There has been a considerable amount of buzz about this record, most of which is positive, in a backwards sort of way. Many of the articles, like the ones at New York Magazine and Buzzsugar, have headlines like “Dammit, Scarlett Johanson’s album might be good.” This is just further proof that we are already hard wired to dismiss a celebrity crossover, assuming that it must be bad.

From the public relations perspective, the crossover is a double-edged sword. On one side, you have the die-hard fans that will buy anything their idol produces, regardless of quality. It’s an easy way to make some cash and further exploit mindless consumers, and possibly the innocent celebrity that believes it when her agent says, “of course you have a beautiful voice!”

On the other side, if the crossover fails, which it often does, the backlash can result in a PR crisis. The celebrity gets torn apart by the media, and usually loses some credibility in their original field. No one likes a show off with one too many hands in the cookie jar.

Fortunately, the Johanson crossover may be able to break away from the rest. The bar is set considerably higher for her, but I think she’s going to be able to reach it. If she does, she will become an even more credible and respectable celebrity than she already is.

Scarlett, I wish you well in your upcoming release. May your songs be heard by all, and your honor preserved. May your example start a new era of crossover success, and be remembered for years to come. The entertainment world will forever be changed!

Oops, I think I got a little carried away. But really, we should give her a shot. And if she fails, we will join the angry mob and rip her apart. Either way, bloggers win!

I do not have cable television, which fortunately protects me from shows like “The Hills,” which is a semi-reality show based on rich, skinny, blonde girls and their rich, snotty, pretentious love interests. However, my lack of cable doesn’t mean I don’t hear about “The Hills” all of the time. On the radio, at school, on blogs; it truly cannot be escaped.

One of the main reasons I know about this show is that one of the characters, Heidi Montag, is taking as much advantage of her 15 minutes as humanly possible. Perhaps taking advantage is not the right term. She is sucking every last bit of publicity she can out of her role in the show.

Since becoming a TV star, Heidi has created publicity stunts out of nothing. When she got breast implants, she talked about it, and posed for the paparazzi. When she got engaged, dumped, and engaged again, she talked about it, and again convinced the paparazzi to take even more pictures of her. When she made a music video for her single “Higher,” the utter ridiculousness of the video enabled it to get into every blog on the Web.

Montag and her fiance Spencer Pratt seem to create PR situations out of nothing every week. There are “candid” pictures of them out shopping, at the beach, even celebrating holidays. For Easter, they somehow found a cute little kid to swing between them as they walked through a park, all in matching pastels.

Although these stunts are completely transparent and obviously posed, they seem to be working. Montag and Pratt have successfully weaseled themselves into the limelight. The ridiculous Kodak moments and fake relationship drama have paid off, and these two love birds seem to be benefiting. Montag is even starting a clothing line, called “Heidiwood.”

I guess the old phrase “any publicity is good publicity” still rings true.

In early February of this year, 25-year-old starlet Kirsten Dunst checked herself into a rehabilitation center. Star Magazine had the story first. Most of the media claimed that she was at the famed Cirque Lodge in Utah. Many sources attributed this to Dunst’s recent week at the Sundance Film Festival, where the actress reportedly partied too much and was acting quite erratic. People reported that a source said “the Health Ledger thing” could have pushed Dunst into treatment, while a source of Eonline said that an “old romantic wound might be part of the problem,” referring to the breakup between Dunst and long-time boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal.        While most of the media placed Dunst at Cirque Lodge, Eonline and Fox reported that the starlet was not there, according to Gary Fisher, director of operations for Cirque Lodge. However, Cirque Lodge has a history of keeping the privacy of their patients.      Most of the mainstream media covered this story. Of my six sources, four of them gave Dunst favorable coverage,  three of which mentioned her recent partying and instability while still respecting her and applauding her decision to get treatment. Two of the sources remained neutral, and neither gave favorable or unfavorable coverage, but simply stated the facts.   Most of my sources emphasized Dunst’s recent history of instability and excessive partying. A few talked about Dunst’s career, with MTV going into a bit of depth about it.  Eonline and Fox emphasized that Dunst was not at Cirque Lodge, according to Fisher. Almost all of the sources mentioned other high-profile patients of the facility, such as Lindsay Lohan, Eva Mendez, and Mary-Kate Olsen.   All of the headlines were similar, with varying combinations of the name Kirsten Dunst and the word “rehab.” Eonline was the only source that brought any originality into the headline, “Kirsten Dunst Brings on Rehab,” referring the the movie “Bring it On”, starring Dunst.     Four of the stories featured flattering pictures of Dunst, mostly from red carpet events. Two of the sources featured her out in public wearing dark Ray-Ban Wayfarers and a neutral expression.    Five of the sources had quotes, but the only specific names were Dunst and Gary Fisher of Cirque Lodge. Eonline used quotes from a recent interview she did with Jane Magazine, and all other quotes were from unnamed sources.  MSNBC used no quotes at all.    From the coverage I have read, Dunst checking into a rehabilitation facility is being portrayed in a very understanding and supportive way. Most of the coverage mentioned her recent partying, but none seemed to blame the star for bad behavior. Perhaps it is because going to rehab has become such a common thing for celebrities. Dunst is being portrayed as a talented actress that has lost her way, but had the good sense to check herself in before things got out of control.      As far as blog coverage, three out of four showed Dunst in an unfavorable light. Popsugar was the only blog to seem sympathetic towards her, saying that “hopefully Kirsten’s already doing better and we wish her well on the road to recovery.” The Superficial joked about the star’s apparent intoxication when checking in, and made a crack about her “vampire skin.” Perez Hilton referred to her as “Drunkst.”   Three blogs emphasized her erratic behavior when checking in, and only Popsugar mentioned that neither the story nor location had been confirmed.   The headlines for the blog posts were similar to the headlines for the mainstream media stories in that they all included her name and “Rehab.” Predictably, Perez used the name Drunkst instead of Dunst.    Popsugar was the only blog to show a flattering photo of Dunst. The Superficial and The Hollywood Gossip used photos of her in her dark glasses. Perez Hilton used the most unflattering picture of them all.    While the mainstream media tend to hold back on the insults, blogs let them fly. I was not surprised to see that three of the four blogs I read poked fun of Dunst in some way, some being more insulting than others. But compared to how blogs talk about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, I think she got off light.    The mainstream media and the blogs approached this issue very differently. Mainstream media approached the story as journalists, stating relevant facts and leaving out opinions. Blogs, on the other hand, are not held to the same journalistic standards. People read blogs because they  want opinions. Celebrity gossip blogs are less about informing and more about entertaining, so it is fitting that they include jokes about their subjects and personal opinions.    From what I’ve read, the strategy that Dunst and her publicist followed was based upon a lack of disclosure. All of the stories mentioned that there had been no comments from the representatives of Dunst. She didn’t go on any talk shows or give any exclusives to magazines about her partying problem.   I think this approach is perfectly fitting.  The public doesn’t need to know all of the details about a celebrities personal issues. I’m sure they realized that people would find out, and that that was fine. They didn’t try to deny the truth, or hide the facts. But they also didn’t fan the fire by giving away all the details.    As a publicist, I think I would have acted in a similar manner. I may have released a statement about the situation, but I don’t think it would have made a huge difference. The media were going to find out anyway, regardless of the actions of Dunst or her publicist. Overall, this crisis was pretty minor compared to most. I don’t think the collective public has lost their interest in Dunst because of this, and I think she will come out of this crisis and continue her impressive career unharmed.    Mainstream media sources for this post include Star Magazine, People, Eonline, MTV, MSNBC, and Fox. Blog sources include The Superficial, The Hollywood Gissip, Popsugar, and Perez Hilton.   

Next week is the finale of Bravo’s hit series Project Runway season four. This past Wednesday, judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia kicked off the beloved Chris March, narrowing the competition down to the last three designers.    All season, contestants whine about wanting to be in the top three so they can have the opportunity to do a show at Bryant Park in New York City for Fashion Week. These lucky top three get to design a full collection and put on a runway show to compete for some fierce prizes, including an editorial feature in ELLE Magazine, $100,000 from TRESemme, the opportunity to sell their line on Bluefly.com, and a brand new 2008 Saturn Astra! Horray!    Like most reality shows, Project Runway does not occur in real time. Taping begins weeks before the show airs. Because of the nature of the show, with a designer getting kicked off every episode, one would hope that Bravo would try it’s best to keep results of future shows under wraps in order to maintain some form of suspense.    Unfortunately, Bravo doesn’t do very well in this endeavor. It’s pretty easy to find out who won a challenge and who got kicked off before the episode airs. As a result, blogs publish spoilers thinking that this is what their audience wants. However, it seems that this is exactly the opposite of what avid watchers desire, because a portion of the public is getting a little bit upset, myself included.  I view this as a PR problem for Bravo and Project Runway because they haven’t correctly gauged their audience. Isn’t the purpose of the show to slowly narrow the group down until one designer remains? Shouldn’t some illusion of mystery, excitement and anticipation be maintained? For me personally, and many of my friends, the best part of Project Runway is the suspense of not knowing, and the failure of Bravo to adequately shield results is disappointing.    Another issue I have a problem with is the purposeful deception of viewers when it comes to the illusion of the final three. Throughout the whole show, the designers talk about how great it would be to be in the final three, to get to go to Bryant Park and have a show during Fashion Week.    But little do the unsuspecting viewers know that not three but five designers have full shows at Bryant Park.  This is Bravo’s sad attempt to shield the public from finding out who the last three designers are. For you see, Fashion Week occurs at a point in the show’s season when there are five contestants left. Therefore, all five of these designers work on lines and get to show at Bryant Park. And yet they still act disappointed and upset when they aren’t in the top three because they supposedly don’t get to go to Bryant Park. What gives, Bravo?    These Bravo folks need to make up their minds, and pick as side of the fence. They need to either maintain full secrecy about every episodes’ results, or be straight with the watchers and don’t try to fool us with this “only the top three get to show in Fashion Week” bull. Their publicity team needs to silence the spoilers and not try and spin what happens at fashion week.    We Project Runway fanatics aren’t stupid. Don’t treat us that way.  

Weeks ago on Feb. 7, Demi Moore threw a 30th birthday bash for her husband Ashton Kutcher at hot New York City club Socialista. Many celebrities attended, including Bruce Willis, Madonna, and Gwyneth Paltrow. But weeks later, it’s been discovered that one of the bartenders serving up drinks that night may have been serving a little more than the guests asked for, namely the infectious hepatitis A. It is possible that the bartender passed along the infection to guests through contact with food, water and ice.  City officials are now recommending that all those who visited the club on Kutcher’s birthday, as well as the few days following, should get a vaccination immediately as a precautionary measure.   As far as Hollywood PR crises go, this is a new one. I’d grown accustomed to the regular rehab visits and the occasional sex tapes. Seeing raggedy Britney on a gossip blog in the morning had become as normal as checking the weather.  But an infectious disease? That’s a new one.  The PR crisis for Ashton and Demi, though small, is something that needs to be dealt with. I think they should both get the vaccine, and make a public statement encouraging anyone else who could have been infected to do the same. Perhaps they could also release a statement on Hepatitis A, prevention, and how to protect yourself from becoming infected.  The bigger PR problem in this situation is that of the club Socialista. Through regular reading of the gossip sites, it seems that there is a new “hot spot” every five minutes! The big clubs in New York City and Los Angeles stake their future on the celebrity patrons who attend their establishment, and the gossip columnists who write about it. I usually agree with the old PR motto that “any publicity is good publicity,” but in this situation, I would have to disagree. If this club has a fighting chance, they are going to have to do something big to get back their credibility. As a fledgeling PR student, I cannot fathom what kind of stunt would do the trick, but I do know that it needs to be fast and truthful. They need to take responsibility for the situation and apologize to those that could have been hurt. They too should release a statement about what people should do to prevent contracting this disease, and what they will do to rectify the situation. So it’s not rehab, an overdose, or another celebrity divorce, but this fresh PR crisis is happening, and if Socialista doesn’t act soon, you better believe that a new hot spot will replace it in New York minute.  

Is it just me, or have the presidential races become a major sporting event? Even those of us who aren’t particularly interested in politics are getting swept up in the drama that is Election Extravaganza 2008!

The Democratic candidates could fill up and entire gossip blog on their own, without Britney! The two candidates seeking the Democratic  nomination are both firsts. The first woman. The first black man. Both senators, preaching change. Both not white men!

While Mrs. Hillary is doing a hell of a job on the campaign trail, it is Mr. Obama who is truly capturing the spirit of American youth and pop culture.

A music video was recently produced by Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas based on Obama’s speech in New Hampshire. The video, which can be found at www.dipdive.com, features many famous and talented individuals from the entertainment industry, including Will.i.am, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Taryn Manning, and Scarlett Johansson.

Although it would be quite impressive if this came from Obama’s PR people, the truth is far more inspirational. Will.i.am simply loved the speech. He loved the message, and how Obama, in that moment, reminded him of all the great leaders of our past. So, Will.i.am called his friends, who called their friends, and within 48 hours, the video was up on the Internet for all the world to see. Pretty cool, right?

This music video is a great example of how much this presidential race means to a demographic previously oblivious to politics. Young Hollywood is taking it upon themselves to promote their candidate, and to use their vast influence to show the young generations of America that a real change is possible.

Obviously, this is great PR for Obama. Such great PR couldn’t have fallen from heaven. Hillary is probably throwing a fit in her campaign trailer, trying to get Bill to break out his saxophone.

Third party endorsement is key to good PR, and this particular piece of PR gold seems even more credible due to the large amount of stars involved.

This will work for Obama. He is charismatic enough, spirited enough, and youthful enough to benefit from this sort of PR approach. Imagine the insanity that would ensue if a music video broke featuring McCain? Or Hillary? We’ve already seen one sad attempt by the Clinton camp to use pop culture to their advantage. Remember that pathetic Soprano’s rip-off ? I think that hurt Hillary far more than it helped her.

And the song isn’t just an impressive PR feat, it’s good. It’s really good. It’s genuine, heartfelt, inspiring, emotional. It really makes me like Obama! How fickle is that! But that’s the point. This song has the power to inspire young, impressionable, emotional people, like me. And that is who Obama needs to win this race.

This is just a tester post. Don’t read this, there’s no pertinent information here. Really, you shouldn’t be wasting your time…