Valley PR Blog

Material moron

By Barry Kluger on August 25th, 2008 In Hype!

Back in July 2004, in the Arizona Republic, I chastised Madonna for bringing Kabbalah from a revered, centuries old practice to what I perceived as a publicity-seeking stunt meant to revive a stalled performing career. I still feel that way four years later.

At that time, the centuries old Jewish Forward newspaper did a list of the 50..uh..51.. most influential Jewish-Americans. And who was on the list? Madonna! Sammy Davis Jr., Rod Carew, John Kerry and even Madeline Albright would have been better choices.

Well, Madonna moved on to renting children from Malawi and just this weekend, took the political stage in Europe by comparing John McCain to Hitler and Mugabe. I guess her career needed a jolt, not financially but to feed a rather twisted ego. Not getting enough attention at home? Afraid people did not take you seriously, Madonna, as you flitted from one cause to another?

Maybe she thinks as she hones in to a half century old,she needs to stay relevant and maybe that is what has prompted her to take up yet another cause, the election of Barack Obama. The Obama campaign was wise enough to distance themselves from her comment as it is not only shameful but misguided and divisive.Doe she really need the pr? She sincerely believes any press is good press which is why she is loved by millions as a performer, and despised by an equal amount for her shallowness. She thrives on shocking people. Here’s an idea. Surprise us and keep your mouth shut.

For decades, the publicists around Madonna manipulated the media to boost her career and it worked. She is truly multi-talented (unless you saw “Shanghai Surprise” or “Swept Away”) and has been at the forefront of pushing the envelope and often, ripping it to shreds. Over the years, she has gone from shocking the church to making kissing women on stage, on live TV, in vogue (pun intended)

Silence might be a good pr tactic at this point.

In the next 9 weeks(yep..Election Day is that close), candidates will “try” and temper their attacks but for all their good intentions, they often fall short.Their pr people will massage the message, but I will leave it up to the experienced orators and politicians to make comparisons based on “some” measure of accuracy and not with hysterics and abusive comments meant to be just crowd pleasers at a concert.

The Material Moron has once again shown us she is indeed in a “A League of Her Own.” –The Minor Leagues.

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