Before you pull that publicity stunt

It is no denying that the country’s space has grown in multiple aspects over the years with technology being a key factor in that renaissance.

The advancement of technology has made the globe to be more of a single village than fragmented cells whereby each stands for what they believe in. But technology, through the online spaces, has allowed people to peep through the windows of what is happening next door.

This has meant that everything is shared. Good or bad. The breakthroughs, interventions and new approaches to doing things.

If there is one industry that has benefitted so much from this oneness then our showbiz industry should rank among those on top. If you do an inspection on how the local creatives are going about their business, you will appreciate that they are trying hard to keep up with the trends elsewhere.

The dressing, the way they have mordenised the genres they are playing, productions and almost every sphere of their art is reflecting a progressive and futuristic hunger. To a larger extent, this has been possible because they are able to tap from their colleagues elsewhere.

There is one element that they have embraced religiously as well. That is stunting. It is not uncommon to see our local celebrities parading romantic relationships, sharing lewd pictures, fake fights and arguments with their counterparts which have in the end turned out to be all false.

These are well-calculated moves which, according to the executors, are tailored to earn them increased publicity so they can command followership whenever they are about to release a new song or hosting an event.

As crazy as the idea sounds, this is a trick that has worked for some of them and has been used by artists across the world. That goes to underline how far people go when it comes to earn publicity. They can literally do anything just to make themselves the talk of town.

When we are doing the basics of journalism, we are told that when a dog bites a person that is not news. But the day a person will bite a dog that will be a piece of news to swoop for. What it simply means is that what attracts people’s attention should be something which very peculiar.

In the same vein, these publicity stunts that people throw mostly border on the ridiculous. You have to pull off something very outrageous to earn people’s attention and become the talk of the town as per your wish.

Now that’s where the problem begins. When you pull off the stunt you enjoy all the glory that comes in that moment. But the moments in the sun do not last forever. Your followers soon realise that it was all an act and nothing real.

It is in that second where they start judging you now. Some feel being taken for granted and some can judge you for being immature. So what follows immediately after those glory moments is a serious examination of the person that you are.

When one does a stunt to promote an event or song, does that mean they don’t have belief in the product that they want to bring on the market? Are the stunts some sort of bush tactics to deceive people by selling them something which is not worth it?

As trendy and fashionable as it may appear on the surface, a stunt will always come to haunt you one way of the other. That is why it is advisable to weigh the pros and cons of pulling one. You may intend to win extra followership without knowing that you are risking the little that you have already.