Communispace is in the business of listening; it’s what we do. The answers we get, and consequently give our clients aren’t always the answers they hoped for – but they are answers. Here’s the tricky (and at times sticky) part: ensuring a question is asked for an answer, not just a confirmation of a pre-existing thought. True listening means being brave enough to listen to the last thing you wanted to hear; no small task.
The converse of this phenomenon was exemplified (and amplified) by the 2009 Miss USA pageant. The typically benign ball reached a raucous level when a single question, offered by celebrity blogger and pageant judge Perez Hilton, sparked a national controversy.
“Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”
The answer from San Diego Christian College student, Miss California Carrie Prejean, stayed true to her belief system as she suggested marriage is best between a man and a woman.
A public lynching, compliments of an enraged Perez ensued. The comment was the talk of Twitter, *bleeps* were introduced in national news interviews, covering colorful descriptors Perez lobbed at Prejean. As Perez has suggested (on repeat), “she should have been better prepared to answer that question.”
Was it lack of preparation – or did he just not like her answer?
Step outside the argument for a moment, there’s a lesson to be learned for brands bold enough to listen: don’t ask the question if you’re not prepared to accept the answer.
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On to the Friday fun. Today’s double dose of delightful digs is designed to deliver a desire to laugh, talk and of course, play. After all, it’s the weekend – what’s there to worry about?
I agree with your post, and all this attention surrounding Miss California is beyond ridiculous. It is hypocritical to attack someone for stating an opinion that you believe is closeminded, especially if they are simply answering a question. Perez Hilton is acting as though she committed a hate crime! His scathing remarks on his website toward celebrities for being overweight, unattractive, etc. are far worse! He should stick to drawing phallic symbols on celebrities instead of being a guest on Larry King Live! It is the differences in opinions that keep our political system running, and Mr. Hilton should recognize that!
Poor girl; I guess she just learned that it’s not ok to have an opinion. I’m sure Perez thought that being from California, it was the perfect question for her and he’d get the answer he wanted.
After all this madness, it’s just one big publicity stunt for him. The follow-up “I apologize,” “no wait, I should’ve called her worse” is total agony. I can’t wait for the news cycle to run its course with this one and move on already.
Brilliant marketing? What if we find out that The Donald was a force behind all of this and has been driving his people to make the pageant edgier? Could this be a situation where asking that question was a well-thought out scheme and will end up being the lead for next year’s pageant? (I can already see the commercials with Carrie vs Perez) From a brand standpoint, I’ve been wondering lately if more marketers are working to create controversy as a strategy to get our short attention. You wrote about Burger King just recently Rocky and I was thinking the same thing about their campaign.