So just what effect will Amy Winehouse being caught on camera allegedly taking crack cocaine have on her personal brand? Apart from a general consensus that her lifestyle may well be her undoing, I don't see that it will have any effect on whether we buy her music or not. Afterall, she has only confirmed and reinforced her brand or what we perceive about her... 'creative genius with self destructive lifestyle'.
And fascinating to see those in creatively led industries get away with so much infamy. We may not agree with their lifestyles, and yet social trends seem to indicate that we are happy to watch their movies, buy their music, art, and the aspirational products that they endorse as in the case of Kate Moss. We certainly wouldn't be so forgiving if we discovered that the Governor of the Bank of England had a nasty habit.
23 January 2008
Amy Winehouse
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2 comments:
Amy is a very interesting topic. I hadn't heard her music long before I had already frequently read about her extra-ordinary lifestyle. It is interesting to see how media now focus so much on everything besides her talent. If I'm correct this is absolute proof of the importance of her personal brand. Creative geniuses have battled nasty addictions throughout history but this was never so much the main topic of discussion. As an example I thought of Edith Piaff (the French Amy Winehouse avant la lettre). She was a drug addict and people in France at the time might have known of her problems but surely in other countries she was just known for her voice. With Winehouse it's almost the opposite. Her brand is known but her talent doesn't play the (deserved) main role in it. Is it possible to balance the ingredients of your personal brand? I'm sure you could help her. And then again maybe she is happy with her personal brand as it is. Now it's entertainment seeing her getting high (instead of seeing her perform) and maybe this is for some people a lifestyle to aspire. People want to be talented, rich, admired and not having anybody telling them what to do. The ultimate naughties personal brand, I'd say.
I feel very sorry for Amy - she is clearly not well and her illness is used to sell papers and fill airtime and I am very uncomfortable with that.
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