Succès de Scandale

Succès de Scandale : French , Success of Scandal.

The idea that there is no such thing as bad press is something that people have pondered over for years. Is there no such thing as bad press? Surely most people want to be seen in a positive light? Brendan Behan, an Irish Writer known for his more boisterous lifestyle, stated that there is "No such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary".

For some people and organisations this quote may be right, for some people being in the limelight is all that matters regardless of the reasons why. Alternatively for other organisations and people their whole brand is based on them being trustworthy. For public figures such as Paris Hilton or Miley Cyrus their more negative press has made them even more well known and into household names. Although no longer as controversial figures, after Miley Cyrus hasn't been seen lighting up a joint on stage or inappropriately suggestive dance moves at the MTV Music Awards with Robin Thicke, a huge amount of publicity was focused on them during their darkest times and again focused on them when they seemed to be over their rebellious phase.

Take yourself back to your school days. You brought your ruler in every week for your equipment check. Were you ever rewarded for it? No. The boy who sat behind you, who had detention every lunchtime and never had a ruler, gets praised to the moon and back the one day he brings his ruler. It's the same principal, he was known for being naughty and then known for getting over his naughty stage. He is still known, the same way we've watched Justin Bieber through his good and bad stages.

However that being said, not everyone wants to be seen as negative. Shareholders of fallen companies such as BP or Toyota may not be as happy at the negative press. In 2014 Toyota had to recall 6.4 million vehicles all related to an ignition switch problem, which has been linked to multiple deaths. This huge recall damaged the reputation of this brand, people aren't as likely to trust them as they used to be. Not only was their reputation burnt but their company sales fell.

As a general rule I think that single public figures, who aren't in positions of power, are more likely to gain from negative press. Figures in positions of power however are more strict to staying in positive light. Ed Milliband suffered from negative press during the 2015 General Election that made him seem incapable of being a good Prime Minister. In a poll run by YouGov only 24% of Britons said they thought he would make a good Prime Minister compared to David Cameron's 40%. Bigger companies who build their brands by gaining trust from their customers and audience. Broken trust is a broken bond. And that broken bond weakens the relations between consumer and producer.