I want to start by saying that I don’t have any clients in the entertainment industry, but if I did, I would have advice for some of them.
Shut up!
Sorry, but that’s about as succinctly as I can say it. What I’m talking about is actors, musicians, comedians and others who have decided that their stardom has somehow conferred great wisdom upon them and they now should be telling us how to live our lives, what causes are worthy, what’s right, what’s wrong, who’s right, who’s wrong, etc.
A little message to many of these folks: I don’t care what you think and I don’t care what side of the political divide you fall on … If I go to see your movie, listen to your music, watch your comedy routine, whatever – I’m paying to be entertained, not preached to.
I’m especially offended when I pay good money to watch your performance and then am subjected to a diatribe that is insulting to a life I choose to live, to a person or institution I admire or to the country I love. I paid my money to be entertained by the show you promised to put on and your political and social views are not part of that deal.
So please — shut up!
Whether you’re a staunch conservative or a bleeding heart liberal, you are entitled to your views. However, I don’t want to hear you pontificate on a subject that in most cases, I doubt you are a qualified expert. In fact, in many instances, I would bet your credentials are non-existent! Being a celebrity doesn’t mean that you are intelligent, but apparently there are those that think celebrities are endowed with cerebral abilities far beyond those of mortal man. Uh, well, I can tell you without the slightest doubt, most of you celebs aren’t.
I can tell you unequivocally, there are entertainers that, because of their insistence on “enlightening” the world with their view of how they think things should be, I have stopped buying their music, stopped going to their movies — stopped supporting them in any way.
I simply refuse to support their pompous and presumptuous ideas with my dollars. I’m sure there are others that do the same, and I am sure there are many who will support these entertainers because their views align. That’s fine. Have at it; but from a PR perspective, for broadest appeal, I would advise an entertainment client to keep his or her views private.
As senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman specializes in building and maintaining relationships with the media and has an excellent track record of landing significant placements in print and broadcast media including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Money Magazine.
As design director at Cookerly, Tim serves as the creative lead in the development of branding campaigns, print collateral and digital media for clients across a broad range of industries, including consumer, professional services, healthcare and technology.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.