All-Time Vilest Villans in Pop Culture ... Honorable Mention: MTV

Really? Well, seeing as it is pop culture I've got a few honorable mentions after the jump ...


"Honorable" Mention(s):

Ringtones:


Now anyone can be an artist -- I'm looking at you Soulja Boy


Obviously no culture there, but I think I can hear the Pop -- wait, no ... no, that's just what's left of his career -- thought I had something there, alas

Tweens:



they dictate the next big thing in pop culture -- and are every marketer's dream demographic ...

Tweens. They're a hot market, they're complicated, and there are two in the White House: Sasha and Malia Obama. What do tweens consider cool? Music was at the top of the list, followed by going to the movies. "Being smart" ranked third tied with video games followed by electronics, sports, fashion and protecting the environment, according to a report.

so, i guess be on the lookout for vampires that protect humans, are really cool, and are immune to garlic, wooden stakes to the heart, and sunlight


MTV:


case rested. Reality TV -- my bad "Reality Drama," thanks MTV! Just what I wanted ... like the gift, that keeps on ... keeps on giving ... and taking

Case not rested, MTV deserves more than that. MTV is the baddest most vilest villain on the Pop Culture block; it owns the block, it's bigger on the block than Jenny -- and that's big. That said, the state of pop culture reflects on MTV; the state of pop culture now is about bank statements, not making statements. Thanks MTV.

Watch this space: someone call Andy quick, and better call Edie for backup; Pop is only a few weak fads away from life-support -- well, that or a permanent conservatorship a la the one and only ...

Twitter, you're a lifesaver! -- Literally.

So now it saves lives too ...


and that's why Google and the Times are paranoid

Don't discount the power of people who follow stars on Twitter.

A woman who used the micro-blogging network to announce her plans to commit suicide by tweeting actress Demi Moore was later found by authorities and taken in for evaluation after followers of the actress reported the incident to police, who said this is an unprecedented use of the network.

Watch this space: especially if you are a paramedic -- and as if you're not already

Rolling Stone: Bringing you the hottest artist -- of 2008 ... finally

Rolling Stone finally managed to get arguably the most fascinating figure -- of last year -- on their latest cover ...

it only took Lil' Wayne 3 Grammys, 1 million copies of Tha Carter III sold -- in a week ... in 2008's music industry, and 10 years in the game to get the cover. It is difficult to live up to the Jonas "Clean Teen Machine" Brothers and Taylor "Very Pink, Very Perfect" Swift though -- which is why they got their first covers months ago?

I must admit, the most disappointing part of the long-overdue cover is the lack of originality -- per usual Rolling Stone-as-of-late. Print media is suffering, but it doesn't take millions of dollars to portray an artist's persona ...



Watch this space: Rolling Stone: still gathering moss

Call me Casper the Friendly Ghost-Tweeter

I could say it better myself -- but not just yet

What's the solution? These people all need professional help. But since they're unlikely to spend the time they need on the psychiatrist's couch, they'll doubtless end up hiring assistants adept in social media. Ghostwritten Twitters are the hot new Hollywood must-have.

Every tweet will be media-coached. Every blog will be relentlessly edited — and then have typos inserted for authenticity. (Is that why someone pretending to be Rachael Ray consistently misspelled the cooking-show personality's name on a Yahoo blog?) The kids who are pretending to be celebrities on Twitter today will no doubt get paid to do it in the future.

Watch this space: never underestimate the substance beneath the stylish smoke and mirrors, there's jobs to be saved -- and plenty more to be made -- in this digital age ...

Distriction: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

... and the flurry of finger pointing a la British investigative journalism puts a possible smudge on the as-of-yet snow white reputation of the second daughter, Ashley Biden -- but more so on her father, "Can-I-call-you-Joe" Biden


Biden -- Mr. that is -- is an adamant supporter of the anti-drug campaign, specifically -- you guessed it -- the trafficking of cocaine from Columbia

Since becoming a senator for Delaware in 1973, Mr Biden has pushed for harder penalties for cocaine possession and trafficking and last year sponsored a new bill aimed at curbing the smuggling of Colombian cocaine into the US in submarines.

Say it ain't so Joe! even if it is so joe, there's worse things she could do ... her last name could be Dupre

In related news: sports

British print media: 2; Young American public figures: 0
Disabled list: Michael Phelps, Ashley Biden

American print media: we lost count; British public figures: 0
Disabled list: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Kate Moss, Pete Doherty, Russell Brand, etc.

Distriction: Springing back from cy-bernating slumber

This weekend welcomed the Cherry Blossom Festival, DC's cultural introduction to Spring -- and the perfect way to wake from a late winter hibernation from the digital domain.


A brief greeting after my semi-extended stint away from the blogosphere. I took some time to rest and refuel my creative reserves -- similar to a bear's hibernation for the digital age, more tech and less time.


So, I'm back now: like Bipartisanship a la Britney ...



black ...



babies ...


Bush (W.) -- a la Barack ...


the sound of dot-com bubbles bursting ...


and dot-com bubbles broadening ...



Scientology -- a la Palin's people ...


bracketology ...


and those beautiful cherry blossoms.


A week (end) in review -- in case you missed it

Oh those pesky boys and girls ... always begging to seek amy

At long last -- for those who cared, namely: troubled persons named amy, angry radio producers, myself -- Britney Spears' new video for "If U Seek Amy" dropped today ...


American Beauty + Britney Spears + Pies + Kate Trask + Funhouse/Madhouse + Mad Men + Justify My Love + June Cleaver = "If U Seek Amy"



And, yes, after watching the video ... "All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek amy"

Oh and for the record: double points for pop culture and puns -- because "begging to if you seek amy" is grammatically incorrect, but quite clever ... triple points if you include the politics behind radio censorship ...

watch this space: apb/amber alert on last name: amy-dammit, first name: seek me, middle initials: i.m.

The British Sublet: Stem Cell Bans and Bands Selling Stems

Again with the British-American tandem ... Spring theme-du-jour: stems. While an American politician lifts the federal funding ban on stem cell research -- to build a legion of South Park-esque Supermen no doubt -- a British pop powerhouse builds a legion of super-producers. Thanks to stems you can be a superhero and a super producer ... all in one!

On our coast this weekend, Barack Obama planned a much needed lift on the stem-cell research federal funding ban -- per Peter Griffin's inquiry of "Why aren't we funding this?!" no doubt.


On the other side of the pond, lil' Miss Lily Rose lifted the Oz/ProTools curtain and tucked an 80-track surprise in each hard copy and iTunes version of her album "It's Not Me It's You." Anyone who uploads their legal copy of the album gets each track stem from the release.

I finally mustered up the civility to get my hands on a hard copy of INMIY -- solely because of the stems -- and it was worth every penny. Now, I'm finding it hard to break away from remixing Everyone's At It, revamping the drums on Chinese, or seeing how Back to the Start would sound if I dropped the vocoder. But the fun doesn't end with vanity listening sessions amongst you and your closest pal, remixers are encouraged to upload their exclusives for peer and label review ... so get on the 1s & 2s, start scratching away, and you'll be a Hollywood Kid in no time!

Stems are this girl's new best friend.

Oh, and it's not a British Invasion this time ... it's more of a sublet until things get back to normal

Watch this space

Kathie Lee: Because Oklahoma is spelled A-F-R-I-C-A ... the silent A threw me off

Pretense: Keep in mind it's March, Kathie Lee can't be expected to know about Africa matters beyond February -- it's called being fair. As far as Hoda's birthplace, just be happy Kathie Lee pronounced Kotb's name right. That said ...



Hoda and Kathie Lee: From the Sphinx to the Champs-Élysées. It's like Oprah and Gayle tripping across the country -- but more Kesey, less cornrows, more GPS, less coherence, more lost in translation, and much more kevlar -- or not at all like Oprah and Gayle's roadtrip...

Mr. Pitt Goes to Washington

Another day, another Brit -- BRad pITt, that is. From Anglophilia to Branglophilia -- yeah that was a reach ... Either way, more pop, more politics, more PR, more Brits ...



Nancy Pelosi might be having the Best Year Ev-- oh, wait ... this just in ... Nancy Pelosi just gave another standing ovation: this time, Barack said "I believe the children are our future" at the Sidwell Friends PTA Meeting

Watch this space

If only all tweets were this therapeutic ...

Problem solved: people tweet for the free therapy

Took less than an hour -- and 140 characters

Watch this space: it's. free. therapy.

Think They'll Wear That Lil' Dress from Top Shop ...

Fashion flows through the veins ... Mom might have the cover of Vogue now, but hand delivered duds from Top Shop put Sasha and Malia well on the fast track. Not a moment too soon after London Fashion Week either.


It's like enjoying the perks of Sienna Miller styling, but without the guilt ...

The Brits are Back in Town -- Finally

Britney Spears -- as much a modern 'pulse of America' as GM was traditionally -- is back in town with The Circus Tour .... and liveblogging every step of the way.



Talk about a synchronized stimulus package ...

In related news -- kind of -- Gordon Brown and President Obama talked lion-taming, or tackling the global financial crisis.



It's no Spice Girls, but the Brits are definitely back ... nothing like a bit of Anglophilia to bring the sparkle and shine back to pop and politics


Watch this space

Twitter's Got Me Tweakin'!

Oh New York Times ... Twitter is the new gateway drug (Sorry Marijuana, your shot at love has ended). The 'War on Drugs' is so 20th century. Everything went cyber with the new millenium -- now it's the "War on Social Medi-cin-a" (but you can call it the 'If print parallels digital media to narcotics while we're still 'legitimate' will you start buying newspapers again?' War)


It's not Twitter that's the problem, nor is it Facebook, or MySpace -- well, I'll let Chris Hansen field that -- and the problem isn't Twitterers, or celebrities -- per se. The problem is that the Fourth Estate is back in the hands of the 'everyman.'

PR Sidenote: I do love, though, how the Times focused the 'drug problem' solely on TV anchors -- because it's not the Twittering Times readers that are addicted -- it's only those Tweeting pompous celebrities and pretty people, always about 'me, me, me' that need to be muted. It's not like David Gregory or Demi Moore can be narcissistic without Twitter -- what? It's not like they're on tv for a living or anything. Common people have the luxury of millions of non-digital avenues to get their word out, like "Letters to the Editor," that celebrities/journalists just don't enjoy. Twitter is yet another way the liberal elite is holding the little guy down ... (Lesson: Never fault the constituency, even when you are faulting the constituency.)

The media has more mileage on its laurels than Forrest Gump had on his tennis shoes -- and the biggest threat to the role of traditional media as the apex of 'legitimate communication' is the uninhibited digital domain playing soapbox for 'common nobodies.'

The Times tweets. The Times tweets more than birds do. I get device updates sending NYT headlines to my cell phone ... every. ten. minutes. Just now. Just now I get a text "nytimes: Bits: U.N. Says U.S. Internet and Telecoms Lags" So the Times isn't opposed to Twitter and social media, the Times is opposed to having to share the Marketplace again -- with you; the same you who didn't get their op-ed published in the New York Times can now Tweet the link to their Open Salon page and have the same -- if not greater -- effect.

Watch this space. Ten years from now we'll have a VH1 RocDoc tracing the history of America through the impact of modern media -- no, not The Drug Years -- rather The Mediated Millenium.

I can see it now: The New York Times in a fold out chair, situated to the right, reminiscing about the "Good Ol' Days" when print media "meant something."When everything was peaches and cream. Then the kids woke up.

"It started with the Tweets. Sally would only go on in the mornings ... she said it 'helped start the day.' Then it was before bed, before I knew it her teachers were calling saying she was in the bathroom Tweeting about god-knows-what. She thinks it makes her cool, she said everyone's doing it, she said it makes her feel good -- and that when she Tweets she can say things she can't say otherwise. Now I wish it was just Twitter. Her crowd has changed -- now she hangs out with those 'bloggers,' tapping away on their Blueberries or Blackberries or whatever ... In my day we didn't have this 'social media.' We learned early on that you speak when spoken to, and if you wanted to be heard -- raise your hand and ask an authority for permission. Nowadays I just don't know -- it's everywhere. Everyone feels liberated, like they can say anything and anyone will listen ... And the worst part is that now Sally is an 'opinion leader.' Yeah, people look to her for her two cents -- like it's a dime bag -- and I can't help but think if it wasn't for Twitter none of this would've happened."

Twitter would be a "Times-approved" gateway drug if that digital gateway led people to pursue print journalism; however, the digital domain has become a journalistic entity in and of itself. Why go there, why go to the Times, when everything you need is one click away? There's just no there, there, anymore.

It's the media's job to shift and mold public opinion. Now it's the eleventh hour when the public holds the power of opinion in their own hands, and the last-ditch effort to save a dying medium is to tell the public that their voice is illegitimate. If I was the public I'd be getting a bit nostalgic right about now.

"Y'know the Times is just like my parents, man. Always on my back, 'do this, do that, say this, don't say that. Because I said so.' I'm so stressed, I just need a little something to relax me and get my mind off of things. Hey man -- is that your laptop? Yeah, no, I've never Tweeted before -- how's it feel? Really? Yeah, close the door, I wanna try."

That's how peer pressure goes down everyday -- frightening, really. Now that the youth is empowered again, this whole 'sense of entitlement' trip has anyone thinking they have something important to say -- like their voice is worth something -- bollocks.

When the youth was sitting at home engaging in other 'recreational' activities, everyone told them to get up and make a difference; now that kids are engaged and active again, people are telling them to tone it down -- and cycling them back into that 'recreational realm.'

It isn't about the Times -- which I love -- or Twitter, it's about communication in a changing age.There's enough room in this pasture for everyone -- print, digital, and broadcast -- the key is integration.

A drug is anything used to alter your current state of being. In a time when everyone wants to get elevated to a better place, Twitter might just be the gateway to that Golden Age.

So, scribe away! If you see something, say something -- because now you can! Take that liberal, elite media with all your tree-hugging, earth-saving, people-loving, rights-protecting, sharing-and-caring and some such ... wait a minute ... if the fourth estate is back in the hands of the people -- and *gulp* bloggers -- does that mean ... I'm the liberal elite?

yes ... we ... can? oh no -- it's starting.

There. I said it. Now I'm going to Tweet this link. If it feels good enough I might do it again -- I'll put Betty Ford on speed dial.

Watch this space

So, how old does that make Snoopy?

So, we're going to try this one more time. Woodstock: it could happen, right?


So after 40 years of wandering across the socio-political desert -- polyester, Reaganomics, iLife -- we end up in an oddly familiar stretch of promised land: Woodstock.

I'll avoid -- for now -- the litany of parallels dawning America's cultural re-renaissance. And let the theoretical minds explode with thematic narratives of young America's recent treks and time travels.

In 1969 the youth faced war, injustice, and it's own grim reflection for the first time; at Woodstock Jimi's guitar gently weeped on behalf of a generation. 40 years later the youth face war, poverty, and another reunion with a falsified sense of self; I hope this Woodstock sees more than just a trail of tween tears at the base of a Jonas guitar.

We've been through so much as a country and as a generation, but at the end of the day have we learned anything? Music is the pulse and soul of a culture. I'm hoping some artists come out from behind the AutoTune and ProTools, because from the looks of it we're running on a pacemaker -- yeah it gets the job done, but it's still no heart.

Lily on Twitter

Watch this space ... effortless stakeholder engagement via the digital domain

I'm a PC and I study PC

I've always been a proud PC -- HP to be exact. I love Starbuck's. I love my iPod. There's something about going full-fledged Apple that I can't seem to overcome though. So, I'm proud of the Windows Vista "Life Without Walls" campaign.



Apple's "I'm a Mac," campaign uncooled the PC. Period. It presented the PC as an out of touch Dwight-Shrute-but-not-as-funny-when-it's-your-PC-and-your-virus type of person. The commerical was simple and so effective. The Mac was "so Mac." The Mac was the "student." The student that is in all my classes with a white Starbuck's cup to match the white MacBook and white iPod. They are in my lecture class, but when not they raise their hand in a discussion to say something vague, overreaching, but ponderable -- in an unaffected tone, surely perfected during hours in front of the mirror practicing their extreme apathy look, no less. The Mac was cool. Like "those" pop stars though, it might have been what I wanted to be -- but it wasn't me.

Life Without Walls didn't uncool "the Mac," it reinfored it. The Mac put the "i" in isolation -- splednid isolation -- but isolation no less. The PC breaks down the walls and emphasizes the connectivity available with technology. Macs are clean, and sterile. PCs are colorful and real. Macs are students. PCs are doctors, school children, moms, graphic designers, athletes, marine biologists, actresses, and students.

Life Without Walls heard "I'm a Mac," and responded, "Yes, you are. I'm a PC, but so is she, and he, and so are they; we are PCs."

The Prototype

Chris Abraham's sage advice on PR in the digital age prompted one key question: What is the prototype/blueprint for Digital PR? Essentially, who is doing it right and how are they getting it done? As a Public Comm/Sociology student and a twenty-something "Millennial" I would say Lily Allen, hands down. As the Wordsworth of the MySpace Generation, Lily is the very voice of the tomorrow's Power 150 -- today!


Lily Allen is a digital phenomenon. She propelled herself into a full-fledged entertainment career simply by utilizing the low risk/high reward method of uploading rough demo tracks on MySpace. After millions of listens, Allen was signed to Parlophone Records and so began the modern pop tale. Her original investment was digital, but the eventual outcome was very real. After selling 2.5 million copies of her album, getting a Grammy nomination, starting a clothing line, having David Cameron hand deliver her first album to President Obama, and hosting her own BBC3 talk show, among other endeavors, Allen returns to the music scene with a sophomore album, It’s Not Me, It’s You.

This career that began in the depths of cyberspace, that has seen such successes both on and offline serves as an ideal case study for the future of digital branding and audience analysis/targeting. Lily in and of herself is a blueprint for digital strategy.

Lily is a demographic. She is a self-proclaimed non-careerist. Lily treats music as a hobby, she spends more time and effort on connecting with her fanbase than she does in the studio – more time in ‘the sphere’ than ‘on stage.’ That is digital PR. Allen created a career around communication and connection: music is the front, it is a mask funding the machine. Lily Allen is the new face of an entity in a digital realm. She is fully integrated. As an individual Allen has moved from following technology trends to setting them. From MySpace she created a digital empire. Her genius lies in her steady constant progress. When MySpace lost stake in the mainstream, Lily moved to Twitter – where she now has well over 45,000 followers after two weeks. The hype is simple: she tweets regularly and responds to her fans. Her new album set the record for single-week digital sales – probably due to the fact she had free YouTube “Official Listening Posts” for each track. In the midst of a failing 'traditional' music industry, Lily is moving forward on the 'progressive' front. She worked with Amazon.com to sell her album for $3.99 during the opening week. Hard albums don't sell anymore. She cut her losses and focused on the digital domain, which is how she set the digital sales record in her first week no less.

While Lily may be a blueprint, she is also a demographic. Furthermore, she represents most individuals within the young digital demographic. So it is important to scope outwards and look at two examples of how to best relate with the increasingly influential Lily and Co.

Rolling Stone knows Lily, “Lily Allen is not just a pop star. She’s a genre.” Allen is young, urban, unaffected, hip, socially-engaged, tech-savvy, and pseudo-political. Lily Allen is the Obama ilk of young culture. With RS' introduction to her album review they no longer reviewed Allen’s album, they reviewed her – and her demographic. They go on to sneer at she who “decides that she is a ‘social critic,’ a job she lacks the insight and the maturity to pull off,” and conclude that Allen is best when she ‘drops the state-of-the-nation pretensions.’ But, why? Obviously, they aimed to cement themselves as the apex of a dying medium -- print publication -- which is becoming increasingly outdated. RS 1.) voluntarily identifies a modern iconography –- of a key demographic no less –- before 2.) taking the McCain stance on inexperience and immaturity. The target readers of this review are socially and politically engaged, and likely within the same age range as Lily. When RS introduces Lily as ‘not just a pop star, but a genre,’ everything on from that point reflects 'the genre.' RS didn’t downplay a pop star's social voice, they downplayed her demographic's social significance. No wonder RS' pages are shrinking -- almost as fast as their young readership. While Rolling Stone gathered moss dwelling on Allen's shortcomings, MTV made moves. Where Rolling Stone saw flaws, MTV saw a future.

MTV wrote on Allen as the most interesting pop star ever created. They call Allen’s new album “the most human pop album ever created.” Here MTV sees Allen as the closest link between celebrity and follower. MTV praises Allen for not being a pop star. This is brilliant because it is MTV saying “You like Lily Allen because she is like you. We like Lily Allen because she is like you. We like you.” MTV illustrates Allen as any other human being. She blogs about her problems. She deals in the gray area – all the time. Allen is insecure, but cocky. She is vulnerable, but unaffected. She just wants to settle down, but hates clingers. She’s political, but slags politicians. Everything is subjective. She is this generation, very, "I'm around enough to get around. I care enough to be cynical but not apathetic. It's my life, take it or leave it -- please?" Like she said in “Everyone’s At It,” "I get involved but I’m not advocating. You’ve got an opinion, yeah, you’re well up for slating.” MTV builds a pop star like the readers, and wins across the board: Lily gets fans. MTV viewers get someone ‘just like them’ in the public sphere. MTV gets cool points and a ride on Lily’s digital coattails.

Lily Allen is like a new Edie Sedgwick. She's got undeniable hype, but it's hard for many to look past the style to the zeitgeist's core substance. However, just like Edie, Lily holds more than a generation's attention -- she embodies their essence. There are world citizens like Bono and Barack. There are young role models like the Simmons daughters. There are celebutantes like Olivia Palermo and Kim Kardashian. There are the pop figures the masses want to be like, and then there are the pop figures who the masses actually are -- and when the latter comes to fruition it makes targeting and messaging that much easier and effective. Edie to most is nothing more than a cautionary tale of modern celebrity, assumed hedonism, style over substance, and pop over purpose; however, this is the same girl who launched the legging revolution -- and a nation no less -- just by being the extraordinary ordinary one. The biggest trends aren't always earth-shatteringly innovative -- they are often just earth-shatteringly accessible and common. Lily is the new extraordinary ordinary one, and the savvy PR professional will note her trivialities -- because those are the future trends; where Bob the businessman saw "leggings?" Betsey Johnson saw "leggings!"

Lily Allen is the prototype for digital PR because she is not a musician utilizing the online industry; she is the prototype because she is a member of the digital demographic who happens to make music people like, but more so because she is a person people like. Lily embodies the fundamental feat of the digital sphere – one that Rolling Stone assumed a flaw – to be human, to authentically reflect – and connect with – the audience you want to target. The more things change the more they stay the same. Even in the digital age, people like communicating with people, not products, or personas.

Lily Allen. Watch this space. She's the 'Girl on Fire' -- wire.