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Have I missed something? Probably. Get this - the Spice Girls have five consecutive number one singles (a previously unheard of feat); their debut album hits the roof and is still selling. They star in Pepsi ads with a special single which can only be obtained by collecting tabs from Pepsi cans. Now they're in a Walker's crisps adverts. And there's a movie on the way!?! These girls are really being cashed in on and the greedy people doing so are going to get their just deserts. By saturating the media with Spice people will sicken of them. They would be better served by the more occasional tease in the media than the constant hype. My prediction is that the hype will peak around the movie and then die when people realise how shit it really is. The girls are doing adverts, concerts, shows, books, a film and a new album (the last two due November). Either they are the most prodigious talents ever or they're being milked to death and that death is close by. Well, we'll certainly be seeing soon. Another musical press hype wonder must be that of U2. Their Pop album is average and their performance on the PopMart tour is certainly in the average class. In fact without the giant video screen and huge lemon there wouldn't be much worth mentioning, I'd think. But, no, somehow the press seem to manufacture stories for this little fish on a regular basis. Stop! Who wants to see a group of middle aged men dressed in the most ugly manner - there's no taste, method or message in the madness of their clothing. At least Kiss can explain why they dress like they do (whether you believe it or not is another question!). Finally Oasis....where the hell did they come from? I know, I know, they've got some good songs but as people they are just so unlikable. People like Ocean Colour Scene make better music more consistently and are infinitely more likeable but gain little if any media attention (which they're probably thankful for!). It all comes down to the PR execs and press managers. They manipulate everything, there's nothing wrong with it, they're doing a good job of it. But the press might like to remain a bit more wary of people's ulterior motives when doing stories. On a completely different note: The reporting of Gil Amelio's departure in the UK press was diabolical, The Guardian managed to squeeze it in a day or two late and with very little analysis all in one small article. And as for MacOS 8? That was reserved for a paragraph in the weekly Online section of The Guardian. Windows95 garnered a lot more attention that this. The Apple spin doctors are not doing their jobs. Any new CEO must act on this as a serious number one priority. Nobody buys something if they don't know it exists. |
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by Jason P. Kitcat [e-mail him] |
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