The Use of Public Relations during the Ashlee Simpson - Essay Example

The Use of Public Relations During the Ashlee Simpson Crisis: A Critical Review The Use of Public Relations During the Ashlee Simpson Crisis: A Critical Review The episode of Ashlee Simpson getting caught lip-synching on Saturday Night Live is one event which is sure to never be forgotten. Not only was the event one of a sort of irony; 'lip-synching' on 'Saturday Night Live, but it was also one of the events most attacked and brutalized by the media for quite some time. Ashlee Simpson is still a rather young entertainer now, but was even younger then, and an incidence such as this could very easily have destroyed her career forever. Yet she continues to be a significantly popular and respected performer. There are many important and critical reasons for this. The aim of this paper is to thoroughly discuss all of these reasons, especially in regards to how the use of public relations was used in this case to keep her career alive; her PR team not only got her out of the crisis but helped to put her back in the spotlight. This is what will be dissertated in the following. Ashlee Nicole Simpson, born October 3, 1984, is an American pop rock singer and actress. "Originally known for being the younger sister of pop singer Jessica Simpson, Simpson eventually rose to prominence in her own right in mid-2004 through her chart topping album debut Autobiography and the accompanying MTV reality series The Ashlee Simpson Show." (Famous QT, 2006). Quoting herself as a "simple girl in a complex world" (Contact Music, 2006), it was only recently that Ashlee Simpson was on the rise to stardom. It was on the October 23/24, 2004 episode of Saturday Night Live that Ashlee Simpson was scheduled to perform as that night's featured musical guest. The first song she performed was 'Pieces of Me', which went through without any problems. However, when she began her second song of the night, 'Autobiography', the song 'Pieces of Me' was heard again - including her vocals - before she had raised the microphone to her mouth. It was after this brutal turn of events that Simpson called in to the music video show Total Request Live and "explained that due to complications arising from a 'severe' variation of acid reflux (which had previously been seen in The Ashlee Simpson Show) she had completely lost her voice and her doctor had advised her not to sing." (Wikipedia, 2006). This incident caused a tremendous amount of trouble for the young singer, as the public began doubting her singing talents at all and labeling her as nothing but a 'lip-syncher'. As well, "Visitors have flooded her site and bashed Simpson on her official web site's forum, the media continues to write articles and industry pros are speaking out about the use of vocal tracks during performances." (Duncan, 2004). There have been many arguments made which have stemmed from this that base around the fact that Simpson is a 'manufactured' artist with little singing talent. "It has also been argued that Simpson's image (instead of her music) is the reason for her continued success." (Wikipedia, 2006). A public relations team is responsible for Public relations specialists (who are also referred to as 'communications specialists' and 'media specialists', among other titles) serve as advocates for persons. Public relations is the art and science of building relationships between an organization and its key publics; in this case Ashlee Simpson and the public (more specifically, her younger, more targeted audience). Celebrities tend to be fans of the saying that 'any publicity is good publicity', meaning that regardless of whether it is 'good' or 'bad' publicity, it is still good for their reputation, in that it is still a means of getting their name talked about among the public. "If a celebrity says or does something embarrassing, he or she will often turn it into a strength and make it part of his or her 'image'." (Wikipedia, 2006). However, in this situation, Ashlee Simpson's PR team did have to fix some immediate damage in order to fix the arising theory that she was nothing more than a 'manufactured' artist. They managed to help get her out of her crisis and put her back in the spotlight by doing several different things. One of the most simple and yet perhaps most impacting things that they did was to allow her to be seen singing live again - only this time she was actually singing live. This was their way of showing the public that she was much more than just a manufactured artist, and that she really could sing. Some critics continued to dump her off after this, claiming that she had a horrible voice and that quite frankly it would almost be better if she would continue lip-synching. On January 4, 2005, Ashlee Simpson performed her song 'LaLa' at the halftime show for the Orange Bowl in Miami. Once she was finished, however, the audience loudly booed her. Most people have speculated that the reason for this was in fact due to the fact that the crowd was still disappointed from the SNL incident; others say that it may have been because the audience of the Orange Bowl was outside of Simpson's target age bracket. Regardless, through some of her fans did return to her, which concludes that the PR team's decision to immediately get her back out there performing was overall a good idea, and certainly beneficial to Simpson's career. Another step Simpson's PR team took in attempting to get her back in a positive spotlight was by getting back on SNL. This was actually the incident after her lip-synching tryst where it was considered that "Ashlee Simpson may have finally redeemed herself in the eyes of the public." (Jessica, 2005). It was almost a year after her first appearance on SNL that Ashlee returned, and this was considered to be by itself a fairly admirable feat. Going back to SNL, especially after such a disastrous first experience, certainly helped her credibility in the eyes of many, and many people respected her for making things right with her fans. The public respected her because "Whether she delivers the goods during her songs will be irrelevant; she'll look like a good sport just for showing up and risking mockery, even though there won't actually be any." (Popwatch, 2005). This was certainly one of the most positive steps Simpson's PR team took in helping to rebuild not only her career, but her reputation. Ashlee's manager is actually her own father, Joe Simpson, which perhaps also assists in the comeback of her career. It was he, after all, who has helped with many of the strategies - with or without her PR team - in order to help a suddenly struggling Ashlee's career. Yet another step Simpson's PR team took was by getting her to 'have fun' with her lip-synching incident. Ashlee mocked herself in several interviews, and even pretended to get caught lip-synching again during the October 25 Radio Music Awards broadcast where, as a joke, she pretended to make the same mistake as she had in the SNL incident. She then laughed, to prove that it was only a joke, and began to perform 'Autobiography' without using a pre-recorded vocal track as she had done during the previous SNL experience. It was also Simpson's PR who (most likely) got her to dye her hair (which was previously dyed black in order to promote her first album) back to her natural blonde color, for several reasons. The primary reason being that this new image would undoubtedly ease the public a little, giving them a sort of 'new' Ashlee along with the new look. Of course there are other reasons behind the new look, such as for promoting her second album, titled I Am Me. Rather than taking her out of the media spotlight and keeping her profile under wraps until things cooled off, Ashlee Simpson's PR team was gutsy and determined. They decided to instead push her as far back into the spotlight as they possibly could. Some might have thought this was too risky a move, and perhaps even the wrong one altogether, but in this case it was actually probably the smartest move they could ever have made. This action allowed her previous fans to not lose sight of her, and for the public as a whole to see that at least, if anything, she had the guts and the willpower and determination to continue on rather than back out and shy away like a coward. Simpson's PR team also decided to go the route of using several different explanations in order to try to tone things down for the singer after the SNL fiasco. The first explanation used, which was in fact given immediately after the incident, at the ending of SNL; guest host Jude Law appeared at the very end of the show with Ashlee while she apologized and blamed it on the band saying that they had "started playing the wrong song". After this, her PR team announced that the actual reason for the event was due to the fact that Ashlee had been experiencing severe acid reflux disease and that it was only mere hours before the live taping of SNL, she had completely lost her voice. It has been said that it was her father, Joe Simpson, who told her backstage at SNL that the only thing she could do was lip-synch and use back-up vocals. With this came the explanation that apparently the drummer of Ashlee's band pressed the wrong button at the beginning of her second song, causing the mix-up. All of this drama surrounding Ashlee, and undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons why her PR team felt it was best to get her immediately back out into the spotlight - doing shows, giving interviews, etc. - was because of the surprisingly extra attention she was suddenly getting. Everyone was watching her every move - even those who hadn't paid her any attention before - to see her mess up, but regardless of whether what they were waiting for was positive or not, they were still giving her attention nonetheless, and that was the important thing. On the other hand, if her PR team had have done the opposite, and advised her to just stay out of the spotlight for a while, she would have surely been forgotten about in less than a week. The moves that Ashlee Simpson's PR team took in maintaining an image for her - and a relatively positive one at that - did her nothing but good. There have been arguments that Simpson is a 'manufactured' artist with little singing talent, and her critics cite the incidents such as the SNL episode and the Orange Bowl performance as evidence for their claims. Some even speculate that it was Simpson's father who pushed her to fame through an aggressive management style, and that the only reason she ever even actually got a record deal was because of her father, and because of the fact that her older sister is Jessica Simpson. Ashlee Simpson's PR team constantly does a good job in maintaining - or at least trying to maintain - the focus on her and her singing career, rather than anything else. Especially throughout and after the SNL incident, they have shown what a good PR team can really do. Regardless of the reason for the so-called 'Ashlee Simpson crisis', and no matter who's fault it may have been, or whether this incident 'proves she's a manufactured artist'; one thing is for certain, and that is that her PR team worked effectively and efficiently, and they truly did save her career. A PR team is there to promote, popularize, and accent their clients, and yet as we can see clearly from this particular case, they can also make or break an artist's entire career. Although some might say that this entire episode perhaps was somehow managed to help Ashlee's career, there is still no doubt that her PR team pulled through at the time they were needed the most. References Ashlee Simpson Unofficial Fan Site. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://www.ashleesimpson.com/ Ashlee.us. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://ashlee.us/ Contact Music. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://www.contactmusic.com/new/artist.nsf/0/9811D0542D8E7B6580256EE000580707!opendocument&bio=full Duncan, A. (2004). Ashlee Simpson's People Go Into Damage Control Mode. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://advertising.about.com/b/a/121797.htm Famous QT. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://famousqt.com/profile.aspceleb=29 Jessica. (2005). Ashlee Simpson Returns to SNL. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://jessica.prblogs.org/2005/10/11/ashlee-simpson-returns-to-snl/ IMDb. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1249883/ Popwatch. (2005). Ashlee Simpson: The carefully staged comeback. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2005/10/ashlee_simpson_.html Wikipedia. (2006). Ashlee Simpson. Retrieved April 12, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashlee_simpson#Saturday_Night_Live_incident Read More