Althouse: What level of celebrity does not merit a press release?

June 24, 2008

What level of celebrity does not merit a press release?

"Sugar Ray Leonard and Jennifer Beals are the latest boldfaced names expected on Tuesday afternoon for Barack Obama's fund-raiser at the Los Angeles Music Center."

13 comments:

George M. Spencer said...: Spinks.

A cautionary tale.; 6/24/08, 8:27 AM
paul a'barge said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/24/08, 8:39 AM
paul a'barge said...: Paul Rubens; 6/24/08, 8:41 AM
former law student said...: Kathy Griffin? (My Life on the D List)

[Jennifer Beals]

She's a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she's dancing like she's never danced before; 6/24/08, 8:56 AM
Padre Steve said...: I am sick of the celebrity endorsments already. However, it does seem to be the kiss of death when a lot of them get behind you!; 6/24/08, 8:57 AM
KCFleming said...: The press release is the taproot of celebrity. They are not separate, but arise from the same organism, the kudzu known as fame.

Celebrity must repeatedly display its flower, however small or unlovely, lest it risk being unfertilized by the press entirely.

Failing that, one must go to rehab or on a reality show, desparate as a drowning man.

After that, oblivion.
A regular job. Might-have-beens mock you at the end of the grocery checkout line as buy your sad little meal and hope no one recognizes you.; 6/24/08, 9:34 AM
Jeremy said...: I'm still waiting for the Billy Zabka endorsement.; 6/24/08, 11:35 AM
John Stodder said...: I have an RSS feed on my Google reader that picks up press releases in various categories from PR Newswire and Business Wire, the two main entities that PR people pay to distribute their stuff.

There is nothing too small, too trivial, too unimportant, too negligible, too irrelevant to anyone's lives but the person who's putting out the press release that someone won't put out a press release about it. You can't even make fun of them. It's just too lame.

As an ex-practitioner of that profession, I would advise stockholders to challenge the PR budgets of the companies you invest in. Some of it is highly effective marketing, some of it is legally required notifications, some of it you need to protect you from a crisis or political assault, but most of it is unimaginative nonsense that makes you think the person who okayed each pitch must have been drunk.; 6/24/08, 1:01 PM
Anonymous said...: I admit to struggling with the thought of all these wealthy people advertising the fact that they are giving money to help elect someone who will take (more) money from me and give it to someone else.; 6/24/08, 1:43 PM
Revenant said...: I wouldn't describe Jennifer Beals as a has-been. She has a successful show on Showtime, doesn't she?; 6/24/08, 1:52 PM
blake said...: She's a maniac, maniac, I sure know
And she's dancing like she's never danced before

If only she'd actually done the dancing in Flashdance.

Rev, Beals is (I think) on "The L Word" which is something a cult hit. (I think that's as high as anything on Showtime can get, though.); 6/24/08, 4:23 PM
Bissage said...: I’m not really sure, but I think I might have had sex with Jennifer Beals back in the 1980s.

All I can remember is she had dark curly hair and she tasted like lobster.

I might have been drunk.; 6/24/08, 5:25 PM
Fen said...: I'm actually looking forward to watching all these primadona "artists" submit to Sharia. A few of OBL's criticisms ring true.; 6/24/08, 7:03 PM