Viral videos have been the biggest distraction from the truth
Too many lies are hidden in truths; big media stories often times are mere propaganda,viral videos have been the biggest distraction from the truth.
What’s to be believed these days? even pictorial evidences can be misleading these days and it has never been wise to believe hearsays.
The Story.
We live in an age where people don’t just tell stories; these days people ‘sell’ their stories instead. By using the word ‘sell’, I mean people sweeten their narratives with exaggerations, half-truths and elements of fiction; presenting it to their audience in a form that is convincing enough to evoke reaction. It is a common case not only for individuals but brands, companies, celebrities and even government agencies use this trick to reach their targets.
Popular soft drink manufacturer, Pepsi pulled an award deserving with the ‘Tekno influences Pepsi to reduce the price of 50 cl pet drink’ narrative. It happened around July 2017 and the brand was looking to score an advantage over its rivals in a competitive market that had most 50cl pet drinks priced slightly above #100.
Following the law of demand, Pepsi decided to lower their price to increase sales, but the move needed to be presented as a people’s policy, so they came up with a plan – ‘The Tekno plan.’ Using one of their musician ambassadors to drive the campaign was the master stroke idea and Tekno had just enough buzz around him to perfect the plan.
The Campaign.
The musician kicked off a give-away campaign on social media and he got his fans to suggest means through which the manna could go round. One of his fans (or perhaps a staged-fan) suggested to him to influence Pepsi to drop the price of their product, the brand responded simultaneously and it was a win for everyone involved; the fans, Tekno & Pepsi, especially.
Fake Love Story.
Similarly, two clients of Temple Management Company tapped into the power of PR strategies by selling a fictitious story to the Nigerian public in a bid to drive attention to an album due for release. The sold story is a story of love involving Bisola and project fame winner, Jeff Akoh. Bisola took to social media to announce that she is in a relationship with the budding singer and the story quickly spread like loose gas.
Top blogs picked it up; social media was agog as fans searched for more links between the ‘lovers.’ This inquest led multitude to pick up interest in Jeff Akoh’s Lokoja album, which was released just about the same time the announcement was made. Bisola’s announcement laid the groundwork for the success of the album by putting the two ‘lovers’ in public eye and this ultimately tied into a boost for Lokoja. Once the goal was reached, Bisola took to social media to admit that the whole story was created and served to boost her colleague’s album sales.
More Fake News.
More publicity stunts have been recorded in recent years, especially in the business and entertainment world where it has become rampant. It is difficult to trust the stories in the news, that’s why the topical reconciliation of Wizkid & Davido is believed to be the perfect conclusion to a well executed PR script.
It is a known fact that celebrities and socialites work themselves to bones in a bid to stay in the public glare. It is known that companies are constantly in the hunt for their products to ‘go viral’ on the Internet and in the traditional market. The rush for mass attention seems to have become the new trend but this trend has been taken to another level by ‘fame-thirsty’ individuals, some socialites and celebrities who stage odd publicity stunts to feed their obsession for the spotlight.
More Publicity Tricks.
A good example of what a bizzare publicity stunt looks like is the death hoax of then 5Star artiste, Skiibii Manyana. Sometime in 2015, the singer was said to have collapsed and died after struggling with a health issue. The story was well circulated before evidences contradicting the story surfaced on the internet. Skiibii’s label at the time, 5Star music, reacted to the story by blaming the stunt on the singer’s manager, but till date, observers continue to see Skiibii as the singer who tried to fake his death for PR point and a mass of fans still refer to the incident as one PR stunt they did not fall for.
However, while we all saw through Skiibii’s PR stunt, hordes of other publicity strategies are hitting their mark, enhancing the sales of several products and boosting the fame of individuals. A PR expert once mentioned “Bobrisky” as the most successful PR stunt product in Nigeria in recent times. The socialite clearly has an appetite for controversy, which he has successfully channelled into a source of amusement for his growing followership on social media and ultimately, a source of wealth for himself.
Just like Pepsi did with her price-reduction campaign and Temple Management Company did for Jeff Akoh’s album; more and more creatives are starting to consider PR strategies as a means to grow public acceptance for their products, artworks especially. Creatives now put in intense promotional effort in putting out their musicals, movies, books; and in some cases the promotion is made to substitute for the original content of the artwork. In such case, unsuspecting consumers, caught in the rave, would end up getting less value for their money. This is why it is important to know that effective PR stunts are meant to work to the advantage of the creator, while consumers are advised to shine their eyes while selecting from the pool of options.
Written by Lagbaja
Ogbeni Lagbaja is a character created by a man who used to be an atheist; a man who was once in love, a man who once doubted himself. He can be reached via writelagbaja@gmail.com