25
Jan
{Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna
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51812229 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Stevie Wonder

***
UPDATE: January 27, 2010 1:06 p.m.
Thanks to Kristina A. & Elizabeth R., for the New York Times article and NPR article that are exactly in line with what I wrote below, in case you also want to read similar articles.
***

Sometimes, I see things and I often wonder where the mindset of certain individuals are.

On Friday January 24, 2010 a multinetwork concert was aired called Hope for Haiti Now, in order to raise money for the victims of the earthquake that plagued the island nation two weeks prior.

Concerts like these are 50-50; you either support them or feel that they are major publicity stunts. But aside from that, it is my personal belief that there should be taste, respect and tact shown amongst those who choose to participate.

Not only is that something that should be considered, but it is also a major part of personal branding; it is reflection of who you are — or at least how people will perceive you.

When you attend a traditional funeral in western culture people wear black or dark coloured clothing, that is typically more conservative and simple in an attempt to be respectful, modest and not detract attention away from the dead. It’s not a rule, but a form of respect and tradition.

51807036 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Bono, Jay-Z and Rihanna

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Rihanna

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Beyonce

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Beyonce & Chris Martin from Coldplay AFTER

So when I watched the Hope for Haiti Now concert and saw Beyonce decked out in a uber-shiney Balmain, Michael Jackson-military inspired jacket ($11,410+ USD in Beyonce’s style, $5,075 USD+ in white and the more ’simple’ version) with extra-bling-bling earrings and Rihanna sporting an extra short skirt I thought it was inappropriate, disrespectful, tasteless and lacked a lot of tact on their ends.

Granted, these women are performers and this is their lifestyle, but I think there is a time and a place for everything.

If you see the images below, you’ll notice that Jay-Z was rather demur, Taylor Swift toned down the usual black eye makeup, Shakira was in jeans, Nicole Kidman looked rather conservative, Mary J. Blige was classy in all black and so was Jennifer Hudson. Heck, Christina Aguilera left the drag queen makeup at home and Madonna kept it relatively simple. For example, even look at Alicia Keys, who also wore some silver … it wasn’t over powering and sucking your eyes into go, “Oooh! Something sparkly!!!”

144f3580 2f4d 492e b0de 15ab1dd7a3b6 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Jay-Z

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Madonna

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Justin Timberlake

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Jennifer Hudson

51807086 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Wyclef Jean

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George Clooney

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Chris Martin from Coldplay DURING telethon

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Bruce Springsteen

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Shakira

51806434 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

John Legend

51806435 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Mary J. Blige

51806453 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Taylor Swift

51806456 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Christina Aguilera

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Sting

51806516 {Rules of PR no. 37} Taste and Tact: Being Fashionably Appropriate #Beyonce #Rihanna

Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Keith Urban

Are you sensing a pattern?

I would hope so…

Now, I understand that both Beyonce and Rihanna probably donated much more than double-the-worth of a Balmain jacket, and that is commendable. However, it doesn’t detract from the point that attention should have been focused on the plight at hand, rather than their fashion-sense.

Because believe me, if it was, I wouldn’ t be writing this, now would I?

Something else that should be mentioned, is that if everyone wore black and simple things to this event it wouldn’t be as interesting because let’s be honest: people would have been tuning it to “do their part” but also they want to be entertained and given eye candy.

My response to that notion, is that Shakira, Bono, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift and many of the names mentioned above, were very entertaining without drawing excessive attention to themselves.

I don’t mean to single this event out, because it happens all the time – like Mariah Carey at Michael Jackson’s funeral in her sparkly, uber low-cut black evening dress, for example. But just because it happens, doesn’t make it right and that’s the point.

Taste, tactfulness and a little respect need to be shown because its an obvious, outward form of sensitivity towards a dire situation.

Now, I understand that putting such a frivolous set of commentary alongside such a tragedy is to be considered mildly tasteless itself, but I feel that there needed to be some attention brought to the level of appropriateness, or lack thereof, at such an event such as this and that it needed to be addressed.

Therefore, I personally would encourage you to donate to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders, should you so choose.

** All images from The New York Post, The Examiner and the LA Times. **

Little Pink Book’s Rule of PR #37:
Be appropriate.
 As much as you hate to admit it,
how you are perceived is important.

–

Sasha Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida with a minor in Dance (’07) and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami(’08). She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her @SashaHalima or get a copy of the ‘Little Pink Book’ delivered to your Kindle.

Copyright © 2009-2010 Sasha H. Muradali. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Rihanna is a good singer and I like her stylish look also
  • sallysayso
    Here here, and well said. Those two tested my last nerve long ago, but they have both fully revealed themselves to me now as self centered attention whores.
  • sallysayso
    Oh RIGHT! They are performers. Well...still. I agree with Sasha 110%, and I think they were totally out of line. Even more than Mariah at Micheal's funeral, since he was somewhat flashy himself - she got away with it. But THIS was one of the most tasteless things I've seen from the entertainment industry in a long time. Cudos to MAdonna and Christina and the rest for keeping it real when it needed to be just that. REAL.
  • well said!
  • Sasha, I disagree with your claims.

    The average viewer would never assume a benefit concert is a publicity stunt. Those accusations are associated with award shows, pre-movie-release events and before album releases.

    This program was entitled “HOPE For Haiti,” which meant there is still a chance for the people of Haiti. The program’s mission was to include popular public figures to encourage people to keep “HOPE” alive and open-up their wallets/purses.

    Yes, I do agree that when you’re at a memorial service, you should wear black and shouldn’t be too “flashy” because someone has passed. We’ve lost a lot of people in Haiti and I’m sure there will be a memorial service. However, that wasn’t what “HOPE For Haiti” was about.

    Beyonce and Rihanna’s outfits didn’t take attention away from the event. How many articles have you read that focused on them and not the event? I would understand the relevance of this post and would support if you could support with proof that they took attention away from the cause. To be honest, this post is doing exactly what you’re complaining about … Taking away attention from Haiti and focusing on something frivolous.

    And from a PR perspective, this will not hurt their brands at all. We’re discussing Rihanna and Beyonce here.
  • Hi there Kion!

    First of all, I never said that the show was a publicity stunt. I said that you either believe that it is or that it isn't. And that specific reference, was due to the fact that in the past (ie. 911 concert) a lot of people speculate about events like that because not all the money goes to the cause it claims to.

    Whether that's the case for Hope for Haiti Now, I'm not judge or accountant.

    My main point of this article is about branding -- and not in terms of the brand that is "beyonce" or the brand that is "rihanna" the performers -- but Beyonce the person, and Rihanna the person.

    As you'll see in the images above, both women were out of place and they did in fact draw attention to themselves.

    Granted, the typical viewer may not have caught some of the details I did, or as another commenter pointed out, she saw Rihanna's legs before the rest of her -- but the fact that I did, and the other commenter did, means that there are some of us out there who did see what happened and viewed it as inappropriate.

    I never claimed that Beyonce's Balmain jacket and Rihanna's legs took away from the Hope for Haiti Now concert, or that it is what other newspapers/blogs were talking about.

    I did, however, state that it's inappropriate because of the time, place, venue and cause.

    The concert wasn't a celebration. It was anything but that, and out of respect -- from at least my point of view and those who agree with me -- those two women were dressed inappropriately.

    There is a time and a place for everything -- it doesn't matter who you are.

    And in this instance BOTH of those women could stand to take a pointer from Madonna or even Alicia Keys: Madonna who is known for outrageous clothing and Alicia who, as you see above, also wore silver ... but tastefully for the place in which she was.

    And you are absolutely right about this not hurting their professional brands. But for those of us who notice little details like that, the respect we have for some of those people declines.

    Thanks for your comment and insight, even though we have different POVs. I always appreciate hearing what someone else thinks who does not agree with me! :)
  • Guest
    You're a right. We have different point-of-views. I suggest you research what a publicity stunt is because what you're referring to is not. Publicity stunts aren't unethical but lying to your publics/viewers about money allocation is. This will be my last reply but I suggest you be careful when using PR terminology because professionals are always watching and reading. :D
  • allenkristina
    Speaking of publicity stunts (or whatever you want to call them) in regard to Haiti relief benefits, I heard an interesting piece on NPR (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123012607) this morning in which an actual victim had this to say: "People are scraping with the little that they have to sustain themselves. Nobody is helping. I think what you see on TV right now is just propaganda."

    From my understanding, a publicity stunt is a planned event that has the purpose of attracting attention to an organization/case and Princeton defines propaganda as, "information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause," so I can definitely see Sasha's point that the concert benefit might be seen by a variety of different people with different backgrounds as a publicity stunt.
  • Kion,

    While, I appreciate your comments, I would suggest that before you choose to attack me on my own blog you should consider a few things:

    1) It is a fact (and you are welcome to Google it) that money did go missing from the concert held after the 9-11 attacks. And some of it was never accounted for even as much as 2 months AFTER the concert was held.

    1a) Therefore, some people are under the impression that events such as this are publicity stunts. These people also tend to donate to organizations like the Red Cross, Hope for Haiti (which was NOT associated with the telethon and is an actual, long-time running organization), Doctors Without Borders etc.

    1b) I place certain things in my posts for people to read to make them think about more than one thing. I never once attacked Hope for Haiti Now and if you read the article properly you would have seen that. If you read the reply I left you above properly, that too, is further explained.

    2) You are not the average viewer.

    3) Professionals are always watching, and therefore, while I appreciate your urge to feel the need to give advice, I suggest that you heed your own words too because 2 out of 3 of your comments sound very arrogant and rude.

    I never attacked you and would appreciate it if you didn't try to 'school me' on something I never said and read my responses and article properly.

    This is the last I have to say on the matter in reference to your comments.

    Best Wishes,

    Sasha
  • After this coming to my attention from another PR student, I'd have to agree with Sasha. The outfits Beyonce and Rihanna wore were a distraction to the cause of the event.

    Why would someone wear a $11k+ article of clothing to a charity event that is trying to raise money for a country that was poverty stricken even before a natural disaster?

    Even though I'm still fairly fresh in the fashion industry, and I'm no expert. But from what I've learned thus far that for events such as these, it's often a common place for celebrities to be dressed by PR companies that represent "said" clients.

    So in fact it could have easily been a branding/publicity stunt. Not for Rihanna or Beyonce or any other artist, but for the labels, designers and clothing brands.

    To keep things in perspective, I think it is fair to say that if that is the case of a celebrity fitting, any celebrity who was dressed by a PR company during an event of this stature was in the wrong.

    These events aren't created to make buzz or press clips for the fashion industry or for the artist. But rather, to produce money for the cause at hand.

    Sasha, I agree with you 100%. They did take Haiti out of the lime light to some extent. It seems like a lot of artists "do their part" when big disasters happen. Realistically I think people who are better off, such as these artists could find other ways to exploit or be apart of the cause. I.E. give tons of money to the countries.

    Rihanna could probably buy a small island with her yearly earnings. Needless to say how much Beyonce makes. Or even so, they could have produced tracks and sold them on iTunes as other artists have done.

    Great post! It was a new and fresh way to look at a major event. I hope the people of Haiti will recover quickly.
  • Hi Patrick,

    Thank you for your comment.

    When you said:-

    "Why would someone wear a $11k+ article of clothing to a charity event that is trying to raise money for a country that was poverty stricken even before a natural disaster?"

    That's exactly my thinking.

    I understand that some of the other performers were probably wearing really expensive designer labels too -- so we can be fair in that assessment -- but they didn't look it.

    And that's the difference. I think most people who looked at the event and noticed the Balmain and furthermore knew how much a version similar to Beyonce's costs, would have had the same thoughts.

    I think it's great that performers and artists want to do their part when things like this happen, but like you, I think there are numerous other ways that could be more immediately beneficial per se.

    I mean look at Brad Pitt -- he's getting his hands dirty in New Orleans with the Jolie-Pitt Foundation still trying to rebuild the city. I think that that is so commendable.

    I hope that the people of Haiti will recover quickly too. It's so sad.

    Thanks again,
    Best wishes :)

    Sasha
  • abyrdjr (Alonzo)
    I didn't see the performances live, but I have since seen the Jay-Z, Bono and Rihanna video on I-tunes before downloading the album. Not once did I think of the attire worn by the artists. I was focused on the message. From your posted photos, I see both women are dressed consistently with their personas, in the appropriate colors. Therefore, I would have to disagree with your critique that there's something to critique here. But, of course, that's your perogative.
  • Hi there!

    I think that's the thing -- in retrospect, I think if you saw it live, the impact would have been there because it was viewing things that were "in sync" and flowing together, per se and then, the switch.

    I agree, that those outfits are consistent with their celebrity profiles, but let's face it -- Madonna could have pulled something like that and she didn't.

    That's the arena and POV I'm coming from. There is a time and a place for everything -- even Madonna gets it.

    Thanks for your insight! I appreciate your feedback even if it's not the same POV :)
  • Sasha, I watched it live and paid close attention. Your point will be proved when you can share the coverage that took the attention away from the cause.
  • I don't have a point to prove; just another POV to share. I saw the same telecast, live, that you did.
  • I really don't get people sometimes. You would think they would know better to have some tact especially for this sort of event. Especially since they were their for the benefit of a country struggling and on the brink of despair. SMH - I saw Rhianna's legs before I even saw her face. All that was not necessary. What ever happened to simplicity?
  • you said it! Especially, since it was more than obvious that OTHER
    performers had some tact!

    See, and you sharpened my point -- you saw her legs before her face -- that
    isn't something she should be proud of at an event a such!
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