There were books about it. Celebrities talking about it. Doctors talking about it. Podcasts devoted to it. Instagram accounts explaining symptoms I had never heard associated with menopause before (itchy ears – are you kidding me?!). There were supplements and skincare lines and telehealth companies. Therapists with specialties in it. There were stories about brain fog and sleep problems and frozen shoulder and rage. Halle Berry talked about it on Capitol Hill, Naomi Watts built a brand around it and Drew Barrymore discussed it on daytime television.

And because my brain is fueled by PR gas (is that gross?), I had the thought I tend to have whenever something suddenly seems to be everywhere:

Who is doing the PR for perimenopause? Because they are doing an incredible job.

Perimenopause, of course, is not new. Women did not suddenly begin experiencing the hormonal transition leading up to menopause sometime around 2021. Our mothers experienced it. Our grandmothers experienced it. Their grandmothers experienced it. They just didn’t necessarily have the language, medical attention or cultural permission to talk about it.

But now… well, here we are. And when you look, as I now have, at how the industry and all that attention developed, the whole thing starts to resemble one of the most successful publicity campaigns in recent memory.

There was a rebrand. Like I referenced earlier: A-list-level celebrity spokespeople and prominent medical experts, earned media, memes for days and social media amplification. Relatable personal testimonials, political advocacy, fiction, non-fiction, and so on and so on and so on….

There just isn’t, as far as I can tell, a single publicist or marketer behind any of it. 😜

Step One: Give the Problem a Name

The feeling that menopause suddenly became culturally ubiquitous isn’t entirely anecdotal. Researchers who examined two decades of British newspaper coverage found that menopause visibility began climbing substantially around 2015 and accelerated dramatically in 2021. That year alone, coverage increased 67% from the year before and reached roughly seven times its 2001 level.

That is quite the PR spike. I think everyone in my field would kill for that.

Then, something interesting followed -- the conversation shifted from menopause to perimenopause. Google searches for “perimenopause” began climbing in late 2022 and surged again in 2024.

Why? Menopause has a branding problem. For generations, the word itself has been associated with getting older, hot flashes and the vague notion that at some point your period stops. Menopause meant OLD. My first exposure to it was actually “The Golden Girls,” in fact -- a show clearly about women of a certain age.

Cut to: Perimenopause. Which has seemingly changed the target demographic. And, suddenly, women in their late 30s and 40s were part of the conversation. These are women who grew up more digitally savvy and aging in an environment where talking about taboo subjects is far less passé. These women are mid-career, raising children, dating, exercising, buying beauty products, listening to podcasts, scrolling TikTok and Instagram… and wondering why TF they are waking up every night at three in the morning.

Perimenopause gave us a fresh, more powerful and relatable context. And, eventually, it gave thousands of retailers, entrepreneurs, etc., an opportunity to cash in.

Step Two: Find Some Excellent Spokespeople

Every great publicity campaign needs recognizable ambassadors, and perimenopause assembled the most extraordinary roster since Chris Evans told the Avengers to assemble.

In 2023, Drew Barrymore openly discussed realizing she was in perimenopause during a conversation with Gayle King. It was precisely the kind of moment publicists dream about: a famous, relatable person saying something millions of women could immediately recognize in themselves. (And, I’m assuming, no one had to sponsor it.)

Enter Halle Berry. Berry has spoken publicly about going to her doctor with symptoms that were initially diagnosed as herpes, only to eventually discover that what she was experiencing was related to perimenopause. Can you imagine?! And she didn’t simply tell the story on a podcast and move on. In 2024, she took the issue to Capitol Hill, advocating for legislation that included hundreds of millions of dollars for menopause research, education and training.

Naomi Watts has entered the chat. Watts has talked about experiencing menopause unusually early and feeling terrified that acknowledging it could affect her career. Eventually, she began talking publicly about the experience. Then she did what celebrities increasingly do when they identify an underserved consumer category: she built a company. Watts launched Stripes in 2022, a wellness brand focused on menopause. Its mission includes breaking what she described as the “code of silence” around the subject.

Then came her book.

In January 2025, Watts published Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause, with a foreword by physician and menopause expert Dr. Mary Claire Haver. The book became a New York Times bestseller and gave Watts another reason to do something particularly useful to any awareness campaign: go on a publicity tour and talk about menopause over and over again.

You could not build a better thought-leadership campaign if you tried.

Step Three: Earned Media Did Its Thing

Now, the campaign starts feeding itself.

Celebrities talk about perimenopause → Journalists cover it.

Journalists cover it → Women encounter stories about symptoms they may already be experiencing.

Women take to Google and search bars → Search interest tells editors and producers that audiences care about the subject, so they commission more stories.

More stories → Expert commentators come into play. Dr. Mary Claire Haver is perhaps the best present-day example of a menopause authority. She is a physician, author, social media educator and media personality rolled into one.

Medical information that once required an appointment with a doctor can now arrive in your Instagram feed between a restaurant recommendation and someone’s vacation pictures.

And there it is. BAM! Every part of this ecosystem amplifies every other part. Nobody designed it, but it behaves remarkably like a campaign that someone did.

Step Four: Follow the Money

I think most of us (though it should be all of us!) can agree that increased awareness of perimenopause is, by almost any reasonable measure, a good thing. Women have spent generations experiencing significant physical and emotional changes without adequate information about what was happening to them. Symptoms were dismissed and treatments were misunderstood. Women were told it was simply part of getting older and expected to get on with their lives.

And this increased awareness has also revealed something else: an enormous, underserved consumer market. So, naturally, the market responded.

There are now menopause supplements, skincare lines, cooling products, hormone services, sexual wellness products, apps, telehealth platforms, workplace programs, podcasts, books and entire companies devoted to helping women navigate this stage of life. This commercialization isn’t imaginary. A 2026 study published in JAMA Network Open examining Google search behavior over a 20-year period found a significant increase in commercial interest surrounding menopause. By 2025, roughly one-third of menopause-related searches were commercial.

And I clocked that researchers and commentators have even begun using a phrase for what followed: “The menopause gold rush.”

If you tell millions of women that the insomnia, brain fog, anxiety, weight changes, hot flashes and other symptoms they have been experiencing may all belong to a recognizable biological transition, those women are going to look for solutions. Some of those solutions are evidence-based medical care and some are probably very expensive moisturizer.

Welcome to capitalism. 👀

Reducing the entire phenomenon to opportunistic marketing would miss what makes this particular cultural shift so fascinating. Because the products did not create the conversation by themselves. Neither did celebrities. Neither did doctors, journalists, social media creators or women swapping stories with their friends.

They all did. And THAT is what makes perimenopause such an interesting PR case study.

Thousands of individual conversations began reinforcing one another until something women had quietly experienced forever became a mainstream cultural subject.

There is plenty about the menopause economy worth scrutinizing. Whenever an underserved population suddenly becomes a desirable consumer demographic, opportunists inevitably arrive alongside the people genuinely trying to help. Not every supplement needs to exist. Not every symptom requires a subscription. And not every Instagram Reel constitutes medical advice. But I’m reluctant to be cynical about the larger transformation.

Underneath the celebrity interviews and venture funding and pretty supplement packaging is something much more consequential: women have vocabulary that previous generations often didn’t.

Perimenopause didn’t need a publicist because it was new. It needed one because it had spent generations with terrible representation.

Somewhere along the way, perimenopause went from something many women barely knew existed to something seemingly everyone was talking about.

And, I say, THANK GOD FOR THAT.

THINGS TO FOLLOW:

• The Vajenda with Dr. Jen Gunter Substack

• I Choose Me with Jennie Garth and this episode: “Destigmatizing Menopause with Dr. Mary Claire Haver”

• The Pause Life from Dr. Mary Claire Haver and her podcast, unPaused

• Hello Menopause! podcast from Stacy London

WHAT NETFLIX DID

For the August 7 release of The Last House, Netflix transformed a billboard roughly 30 feet above Sunset Boulevard and Selma Avenue into a glass-fronted, fully furnished living room. Actor/producer Nathan Shoop occupied it from August 6–8, appearing to eat, read, drink coffee, look through binoculars and communicate with people below using a whiteboard.

The premise of the movie? A family mysteriously finds themselves sealed inside their home.

Just FYI: Shoop wasn’t totally imprisoned there for 72 hours. The set was about three feet deep and 25 feet wide, was air-conditioned, and he reportedly came down for scheduled bathroom, eating and sleeping breaks. But a production setup behind the billboard helped maintain the illusion.

So what was this REALLY? You could say It was actually a three-day theatrical production disguised as outdoor advertising.

It was giving Marina Abramović in “Sex & the City” vibes.

WHAT’S IT WORTH?

About 20 friends and colleagues sent me Instagram posts about this activation. Some who hated it, some who loved it. But that doesn’t matter because regardless of their sentiment, we were talking about it. And that’s the point. About seven b’zillion outlets covered the activation. People shared those articles ad nauseam. And so on, and so on, and so on.

A conventional Sunset Strip billboard can run anywhere from $4,000–$24,000 for four weeks, depending on the location, format and size. But there’s really no way to know how much Netflix spent here. Their “billboard” required careful construction and engineering, permitting, unique and custom design, a small on-site production crew, lift equipment, insurance, HVAC, talent compensation (rumor has it Shoop was paid $75K for this) and then some. Six figures were easily spent here.

Keep in mind, Sunset isn’t just another high-traffic street in Los Angeles; it’s where entertainment reporters, executives, agents, producers, talent and tourists all circulate every day.

Truly, this stunt generated worldwide attention and earned-media reach that would have been far more expensive to purchase directly than what they spent. Netflix bought the billboard, but what they really wanted was everything that happened after people saw it.

WINKIE WALKED SO NETFLIX COULD RUN

And like I said, Netflix is not the first company to orchestrate something like this.

In December 1984, 12 aspiring actors climbed onto a billboard on Sunset Boulevard and vowed to stay there until everyone else gave up. The billboard was at Sunset and Sweetzer and promoted a product called Winkie, described by the Los Angeles Times as technology’s answer to the pet rock, from San Francisco company Xtronx. The contestants lived in makeshift cubicles on the billboard platform. The prize included a sports car (a “Jaguar, Ferrari or Camaro”) and a Hollywood screen test. (How very LA of them. 😂)

They were subjected to winter rains and the stares of thousands of motorists and pedestrians.

But they didn’t last three days. They lasted months. They had food and water sent their way, they had shower and bathroom breaks, and they had access to four phones. (Not cell phones, though – remember, this was the mid-80s!)

By May 1985, four people were still living up there.

And you couldn’t have asked for better PR because one of the contestants, Jeffrey Stuart, answered a phone installed on the billboard. A woman named Penny Floyd was calling. She asked whether he needed anything.

He said “fresh fruit.”

She brought him fruit on Valentine’s Day.

They fell in love.

He proposed on St. Patrick’s Day. (I’m not making this up, I swear.)

And they got married on the billboard.

Hundreds of people showed up. Photographers covered it. Drivers honked. A Rabbi performed the ceremony.

Xtronx got exactly what Netflix got four decades later: a paid advertising placement that became an ongoing news story. And it lives forever -- artists Chip Lord, Branda Miller and Antoni Muntadas documented the spectacle in an artwork/video project called Media Hostages.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL

There are a few more similar activations – some you may easily recall, such as:

• David Blaine living for 44 days in a transparent box above London

• Tilda Swinton sleeping inside a glass box at MoMA

• John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-Ins

And, one of my favorite stunts ever, Hands on a Hard Body. (Do yourself a favor and watch the 1997 documentary about this.)

Because the mechanism hasn’t changed much. It just got an upgrade.

In 1984, you needed radio DJs, newspapers, TV crews and motorists telling their friends about the lunatics living above Sunset. In 2026, everyone standing underneath the billboard is carrying a broadcast network in their pocket.

SO HOW DID IT GO?

The Last House reached No. 1 on Netflix in dozens of countries within days, despite some pretty negative reviews (It’s at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes).

Can we directly credit the billboard for this? No. I wouldn’t attribute its success solely to the billboard, but a correlation is hard to deny. Put a person somewhere a person clearly should not be, and people will stop to look.

42 years separate Winkie and Netflix. The media landscape separating them is a chasm as big as the Grand Canyon, but the strategy isn’t. In 1984, they called the newspaper; in 2026, they pulled out their phones.

You know, renting in LA is expensive. I wonder what the billboard is going for now?

1. She and her loyal stylist, Law Roach, will give us an iconic fashion show on a global scale.

2. The press will be just as much about her lewks as it is about the movie.

Before Dune: Part Two reached theaters, millions of people were talking about a Mugler chrome bodysuit. Before Challengers opened, social media became obsessed with tennis-inspired tailoring, pleated skirts, and whether anyone had ever looked cooler carrying a racquet. When she was appearing on carpets for The Drama, every fashion expert on social media was blown away by her and Law’s “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” fashion strategy.

Every Zendaya premiere generates another round of headlines. Every appearance is a a viral moment. Every outfit has a story.

Did you know, for example, that one of her Odyssey dresses walked right off the Paris Couture Week runway, into Law Roach’s garment bag, onto a plane and onto Zendaya’s body. This was unprecedented.

And, I realized something as I watched Jack Savoie and Nicky Campbell lose their minds over it, I wasn’t following the movie’s PR and marketing anymore, I was following the fashion.

That’s when I started wondering whether Hollywood’s smartest marketer wasn’t sitting inside a studio marketing department at all. He was at Schiaparelli’s Fall 2026 Couture Show, waiting to take the closing look off the model who debuted it.

Most people know Law Roach as Zendaya’s stylist. It’s an accurate description, but I think it’s an incomplete one. On “Project Runway,” where he is a judge, host Heidi Kulm always adds “image architect” to his title.

If Law’s only responsibility was making Zendaya the best-dressed person on the red carpet, he’d be crushing the game, but more than that, he has made her outfits news. Each time his clients step out, you can bet they are in a look he engineered to create another news cycle as he extends every campaign he touches one outfit at a time.

Within hours of Zendaya stepping onto the red carpet in Thierry Mugler’s archival chrome robot suit for the Dune: Part Two premiere, the look had escaped entertainment media entirely. However, Vogue analyzed its fashion history. Harper’s Bazaar broke down its significance. TikTok creators produced millions of views explaining the references. Instagram filled with side-by-side comparisons. YouTube channels devoted entire videos to the outfit. People who had no intention of reading about Denis Villeneuve’s latest science-fiction epic suddenly found themselves consuming content connected to Dune.

Not because they were interested in Arrakis (her character) -- because they were interested in Zendaya!

Hollywood has always understood the importance of a press tour. Actors appear on “Hot Ones” and Fallon, sit for magazine interviews, record podcasts, and answer the same questions dozens of times in hopes of reminding audiences that the movie exists. It’s a formula that’s been refined for decades, and for the most part, still works. But what Law Roach seems to understand is that attention doesn’t work the way it used to.

People don’t wake up hoping to consume more advertising. They don’t eagerly seek out another trailer or another thirty-second television spot. What they do seek out are things that feel culturally significant. And they seek it out on social media. They want moments worth sharing, debating, reposting, and sending to their friends.

A spectacular outfit accomplishes that in a way a billboard never could.

The brilliance of the Challengers press tour wasn’t simply that Zendaya looked incredible—which she did—but that every appearance extended the world of the film. Rather than treating each premiere as an isolated fashion event, Roach built a visual language around tennis itself. Crisp whites, pleated skirts, varsity-inspired tailoring, vintage athletic references, even accessories that subtly echoed the sport. Without saying a word about the plot, the wardrobe reinforced the movie’s identity.

The clothing wasn’t separate from the campaign, the clothing was the campaign.

That’s a fascinating shift because, for most of Hollywood history, wardrobes were considered accessories to publicity. I have been asked many times to provide money for an actor’s appearance on television to cover “grooming” and a stylist. The clothes just made the interviews look nice, and the interviews sold the movie. Now that relationship has flipped. The outfit becomes the headline, and the movie benefits from everything that follows.

We’re constantly chasing earned media. We pitch for exclusive interviews, brainstorm clever partnerships, pray for viral moments, offer behind-the-scenes access, and strategize fresh angles that give journalists and audiences a reason to care. Every campaign begins with the same question: How do we get people talking?

Law Roach answered that question without ever writing a press release. He’s turned clothing into earned media and audience expansion. And unlike traditional advertising, it never feels like advertising. It feels Haute Couture.

No one opens Instagram thinking, “I’d love to see another studio marketing campaign today,” but they’ll absolutely stop scrolling for Zendaya. Law Roach understands that instinctively.

It’s an extraordinary achievement.

And Zendaya is not the only example. You might recall the world tour for Wicked with Ariana Grande (also a Law Roach client) and Cynthia Erivo putting pink and green in front of us for weeks. Or the Devil Wears Prada II red carpets with its cast in coordinating looks that worked photographers into a frenzy for photos. The fashion we were privileged to see from the “All’s Fair” cast was far better than the show itself.

Of course, these films are not the first to go on “tour.” Tom Cruise has done it with the Mission movies and Marvel stars have been dragged all over the globe for promotion, but what some stylists - such as Jessica Paster, Erin Walsh, Kara Welch and Wayman + Micha - have been doing now, very successfully, is creating an unprecedented fervor by way of Mugler, Christian Siriano and Thom Browne. Studios spend millions trying to expand the audience for a film. Law Roach does it with a dress.

A Few Places Serving Iconic Fashion:

• Check the Tag (Instagram)

• Dressed, the History of Fashion (Podcast)

• The Who What Wear Podcast

• And, as previously mentioned, Jack Savoie and Nicky Campbell (Instagram)

• I also follow a myriad of Hollywood stylists, designers, MUAs (make-up artists) and so on.

Let’s Discuss!

Are fashion tours the new normal to promote blockbusters?

Which celebs come to mind when you think of about height of fashion?

“For that price, the smoothie should cure my anxiety.”

“That water better have been blessed by The Pope.”

“Imagine taking out a loan to buy groceries.”

This was especially true, and endlessly entertaining, when foreigners came here for the World Cup and found themselves confronted by Erewhon prices.

We laugh at Erewhon because it’s expensive, because it’s unapologetically Los Angeles, and because it feels like a caricature of wellness culture. Every few months, another product goes viral and the cycle begins again.`

By the way, someone got me one of those strawberries. It was delicious, but….

So I was giving all of this some thought after my very first visit to an Erewhon – the one in Calabasas. And WOW. It really is what everyone says it is and probably more so in that Kardashian-occupied suburb. And then I started to wonder if we’re all asking the wrong question.

The conversation is almost always about whether Erewhon’s prices are justified. Personally, I don’t find that particularly interesting anymore. It is what it is, and we know what it is. Luxury brands have been charging extraordinary prices for ordinary and UNordinary objects for decades (Just ask Balenciaga, who’s been trolling us for ages). No one expects Hermès to explain why a handbag costs five figures or Rolex to justify why a watch costs more than a used car. Luxury brands understand that price is part of the positioning. It communicates exclusivity long before anyone experiences the product itself.

What fascinates me about Erewhon at this point is something else entirely.

It’s More Than a Grocery Store

As someone who has spent 20+ years working in public relations, I can’t help but notice that Erewhon has accomplished something most brands spend millions of dollars trying to achieve: people simply can’t stop talking about it.

I think one of the reasons Erewhon is so misunderstood is because we insist on evaluating it like a grocery store. It isn’t. Well, not anymore.

Sure, they sell produce, milk, eggs, and cereal. But that is almost beside the point. Somewhere along the way, Erewhon stopped being in the grocery business and started being in the lifestyle business. That’s an important distinction.

Traditional grocery stores compete on convenience, selection, and price. They want you to believe you’re getting the best value for your money. They advertise weekly specials, loyalty programs, and discounts because that’s how supermarkets have always competed. But our hipster buddies at Erewhon have rejected almost every one of those rules.

Erewhon doesn’t try to convince you that its products are affordable. They don’t seem particularly interested in explaining its prices at all, in fact, and I would argue that the prices themselves have become part of the brand’s identity. They’re not simply a reflection of what’s on the shelf; they’re a signal about the kind of company Erewhon wants to be.

Remember: Luxury hotels don’t compete with budget chains. Michelin-starred restaurants don’t compete with fast food. Hermès doesn’t compete with Target (I mean, could you imagine?!). The point isn’t to be accessible to everyone. The point is to create something that feels aspirational, distinctive, and worth talking about.

Erewhon has applied that philosophy to an industry where almost nobody expected to see it.

Selling an Experience, Not a Shopping Trip

The first time you see photos of an Erewhon, something feels different. Their stores do not look like supermarkets. Warm lighting replaces harsh fluorescents. The prepared foods resemble something you’d expect to find in a boutique café. The displays are immaculate, the signage is understated, and every corner of the store seems designed with the understanding that someone is probably going to take a picture of it. (And during my visit, by the way, I absolutely photographed the smoothie line, which was wrapped around the store.)

This isn’t accidental.

Retail has changed dramatically over the past decade. Stores are no longer just places where transactions happen; they’re places where content is created. They’re painting giant angel wings on the side of the building. Restaurants design dishes that people want to photograph. Hotels build lobbies that become Instagram backdrops. Coffee shops obsess over aesthetics because they know a beautiful cappuccino is more likely to appear in someone’s social feed than an average one.

Erewhon understands this instinct better than most retailers -- the store itself has become part of the product.

People don’t simply leave with groceries. They leave with photos, videos, and stories. A shopping trip becomes content, and that content reaches audiences far beyond the people who walk through the front door.

That’s incredibly valuable. Marketing departments spend enormous sums trying to create authentic user-generated content. Erewhon has built it into an environment where customers create it voluntarily because documenting the experience has become part of the experience.

In other words, the store isn’t just designed for shoppers. It’s designed for spectators.

For Example, the “Celebrity Smoothie”

So I mentioned the smoothie line wrapped around the store, right?

If there is one decision that perfectly captures Erewhon’s understanding of modern publicity, it’s the celebrity smoothie.

On paper, the idea sounds almost absurd. Partner with a celebrity to create a smoothie that costs significantly more than anything most people would ever consider buying (Hailey Bieber’s infamous smoothie is about $22.00). Give it a limited run. Let social media do the rest.

It’s just like celebrity meals at McDonald’s, isn’t it? Just pricier. And that’s precisely why it works.

Most celebrity endorsements are forgettable. An actor appears in a commercial, smiles at the camera, and tells us they love a particular product. The campaign runs for a few weeks before disappearing into the endless stream of advertising we’re exposed to every day.

Erewhon’s collaborations function differently. They are eventized.

When a celebrity smoothie launches, entertainment reporters cover it. Lifestyle publications explain the ingredients. Food writers review it. Influencers line up to film themselves trying it for the first time. Thousands of people recreate the recipes at home. Countless others complain about the price without ever tasting it. And thus, the publicity extends far beyond the customers who actually buy one.

The irony is that every sarcastic tweet, every viral TikTok mocking Erewhon prices, every “who would pay for this?” comment is helping Erewhon achieve exactly what most brands dream about. The ridicule isn’t undermining the business model; it’s reinforcing it. In an era when attention is the most valuable currency a company can earn (SKIMS can confirm), outrage has become free advertising. Whether people visit to buy a celebrity smoothie, to see what all the fuss is about, or simply to post a photo proving they were there, they’re participating in the same marketing machine.

People keep judging Erewhon as though it’s competing with Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, when it has quietly moved into an entirely different category. Its product isn’t kale, collagen, or organic strawberries. Those are just the props. The real product is conversation. And judging by how often we’re all still talking about it – and, obviously, Substacking about it - business has never been better.

No stranger to performing in his skivvies, Ferrell is fully confidents playing golf in the briefs and posing for photos. Here’s the catch: The promo actually has Ferrell playing Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins, his new, eccentric character on an upcoming Netflix series of the same name, debuting July 16.

It’s a great example of using paid media to generate news around a project rather than merely asking the media to cover the project itself. Now, the campaign, like so many Skims stunts before it, becomes part of culture instead of interrupting it.

On its face, the campaign is exactly what we’ve come to expect from Skims, creators of the Skims Bush Underwear and Skims Nipple Bra (not to mention the nipple piercing bra). But this collaboration is doing something far more sophisticated than selling boxer briefs. It’s selling a television show without feeling like a trailer or traditional advertisement.

I think this is a remarkably smart piece of public relations.

One of the biggest challenges facing publicists today is that audiences have become incredibly good at tuning out promotion. A trailer drops. A commercial premieres. Sponsored content goes up. Actors making the late-night rounds. Thought leaders turn up on business podcasts. Outlets dutifully publish interviews, and then, within a few days - sometimes hours, the news cycle moves on to the next project.

Publicists know this and now, some of the smartest campaigns out there no longer ask journalists to cover a straight story. Instead, they create something adjacent to the project that is interesting enough to become news in its own right.

That’s exactly what has happened here. This is SPIN at its finest.

Other brands have done this well recently:

Columbia Sportswear’s “Expedition Impossible” has CEO Tim Boyle challenging “flat earthers” to find the edge of Earth and offered the company to them if they proved it. Columbia then joined their online debates, replied to trolls and made the product plug simple. If you are going to the edge, wear Columbia. They spent money on some print ads, trucks dressed in the brand and their dare, and a couple boosted social media posts. The result? A viral piece of smart humor that got press coverage easily. (Swipe through this one guys. 👇🏻 It’s really cute.)

Levi’s leaned right into FIFA’s requirement that any sponsor that appears in any of the game venues that is NOT a FIFA sponsor be removed or covered. So, Levi’s obliged by covering their logo on Levi’s stadium in San Francisco in crisp, bright white fabric, while maintaining the well-known shape of the logo. They went on to change their social media profile photos to that image. Next, other brands got in on the joke. Beats turned German player Jamal Musiala’s taped-over headphones into a product launch teaser. Heinz released a limited-edition logo-free ketchup bottle.

FIFA tried to hide the logos of these banned brands at the world cup and put them in the spotlight instead. (JOKE’S ON YOU, FIFA! 😂)

If Netflix had simply announced that “The Hawk” premieres next month, entertainment reporters would have covered it, but they’d also be covering more than 25 other series premiering in July. In partnering with Skims, they didn’t just generate publicity, they set themselves apart with a brilliant “misfit partnership” – a clever, creative way to partner with someone or something that might be deemed ill matched at the first pass (like when dancers are tapped to promote a car brand). The campaign suddenly became relevant to fashion editors, business writers following the meteoric rise of Skims, marketing publications analyzing partnerships, sports outlets covering the golf angle, and countless influencers looking for something trending to share on their channels.

A press release announcing a premiere date isn’t particularly exciting to publish. Not anymore. A gallery of Will Ferrell confidently modeling tighty-whities while staying completely committed to his absurd on-screen persona is. Editors know those images will attract clicks. Readers will stop scrolling long enough to laugh. Social media users will share them because they’re entertaining, not because they feel obligated to promote a television series. (I mean, I am writing a Substack piece about it, right?)

This campaign succeeds because people aren’t engaging with it as advertising; they’re engaging with it because it’s funny. The fact that it also reminds them a new Netflix comedy is on the horizon is almost secondary. Ferrell’s character is being allowed to exist outside the boundaries of the show itself, almost as though he’s a real athlete making the promotional rounds before a major comeback. Few could pull this off better than Ferrell, by the way. Few would have the…. balls.

The campaign also reinforces something I’ve written about before: publicity is most effective when it serves the story rather than distracting from it. It’s easy to create a stunt that generates headlines. It’s much harder to create one that feels so connected to the project that the publicity actually enhances the audience’s understanding of it.

It’s really the kind of publicity every communicator should aspire to create. Not because it’s loud, or outrageous, or impossible to ignore, but because it earns attention by becoming something people genuinely enjoy talking about.

P.S. My entire algorithm is Skims and other underwear now because I forgot to do all of this research in incognito mode. 😂😂😂

Whereas a younger and pettier AJ may have chimed in with something snarky, present-day AJ tries not to comment on such things. “My body, my choice” should be applicable to more than just our reproductive organs.

After appearing at a series of high-profile events, social media lit up with speculation about Hathaway’s appearance. TikTok creators zoomed in on photographs and Threads users compared old photos to new ones. Plastic surgeons weighed in from afar. The armchair sleuths were on the case, examining every angle of her face as though they were investigating a crime.

The discussion reminded me of another actress who found herself in a similar position more than a decade ago: Renée Zellweger.

When Zellweger appeared on a red carpet in 2014, headlines exploded. Commentators debated her appearance. Entertainment reporters published think pieces. People who had never met her confidently discussed what procedures she may or may not have had. Owen Gleiberman wrote a piece for Variety that was filled with insulting, backhanded “compliments.”

Eventually, Zellweger responded, questioning why the public felt entitled to speculate about intensely personal decisions in the first place.

There is one thing I’d like to make abundantly clear: I don’t care whether Anne Hathaway has had plastic surgery. I don’t care whether Renée Zellweger has had plastic surgery.

And frankly, neither should anyone else. And also, I must say that the older I get, the less I care and the stranger this conversation feels.

We are talking about women working in an industry that has spent decades telling them that youth is currency. Hollywood rewards beauty. It rewards youth. It rewards looking camera-ready at all times. Entire careers can be impacted by appearance. Magazine covers celebrate celebrities who “don’t age” (and that is not limited to women, by the way. See: Paul Rudd). Social media applauds women who somehow appear untouched by time.

Yet the moment someone appears younger than expected, the speculation begins.

In short: If a woman visibly ages, people talk about it. If she doesn’t visibly age, people talk about it. If she gains weight, people notice. If she loses weight, people notice. If she changes her hair, her makeup, her skincare routine, or simply shows up looking different than she did five years ago, the internet convenes a veritable symposium.

It’s an impossible standard.

Women are expected to remain forever young while simultaneously being criticized for any effort that might help them do so. How exhausting. How unfair. And, I suspect, none of these couch-critics would want to live their lives under the same microscope.

Imagine if every photograph from a wedding, family gathering, work conference, vacation, or birthday party was scrutinized by thousands of strangers. Imagine people zooming in on your face and comparing/analyzing photos taken ten years apart. Imagine complete strangers debating what you’ve done, what you haven’t done, and what they believe you’re hiding.

I would find that absolutely horrifying, wouldn’t you?

The Ozempic era is part of this as well.

For years, Meghan Trainor was associated with body positivity, thanks in large part to her breakout hit “All About That Bass.” Yet after losing a significant amount of weight and speaking publicly about focusing on her health, she found herself facing a wave of criticism from people who felt she had somehow betrayed the message that made her famous. Some accused her of hypocrisy. Others claimed they no longer recognized her. Social media users debated her appearance, speculated about medications, and questioned her personal choices. Trainor later admitted that many of the comments left her in tears. She even released a song, “Still Don’t Care,” inspired by the criticism she received.

I have to admit something here. As a “curvy” woman, I was quite put off by her weight loss. I felt let down. She was emblematic for me. She was saying LOUDLY that “if I were you, I’d want to be me, too” …and then changed who she was. But I have since given this some thought. And what struck me wasn’t whether the criticism was fair. It was that impossible standard behind it. When Meghan Trainor was heavier, people commented on her body. When she lost weight, people commented on her body. The message seemed to be that there was no version of herself that would satisfy everyone. That’s the trap so many people - in the public eye or not - face. They are judged for how they look, judged for changing how they look, and judged if they refuse to discuss either.

Kelly Clarkson found herself in a similar position. When discussing Ozempic with guest Whoopi Goldberg, Clarkson clarified: “Everybody thinks it’s Ozempic, but it’s not. It’s something else”. She explained that she takes a medication that helps break down sugar because her body doesn’t do it correctly on its own and that her doctors had been recommending medical intervention for about two years because of her pre-diabetic status and existing thyroid problems, but she was initially afraid. She finally agreed to take the medication after receiving concerning blood work results.

Sure, I am happy she is healthier. I am happy when anyone I care about is happy and healthy. As a fan, though, I have been a huge fan since “American Idol” and that never changed when her appearance did.

I love what Oprah says in that video, by the way: “Whatever I look like, I feel a hundred times better.”

Part of the problem is that social media has changed the way celebrity narratives are created. When Zellweger became a topic of conversation in 2014, traditional media largely drove the story. Today, the process works in reverse.

1. A photo gets posted.

2. TikTok, Threads, Instagram, etc. reacts

3. Then journalists write stories about the reaction.

4. The crowd creates the narrative, and the media follows.

What begins as speculation quickly becomes accepted as fact, regardless of whether there is any evidence to support it.

Why are we so invested in the faces and bodies of people whose work we admire?

I understand appreciating beauty. I understand being curious about celebrity culture. I work in public relations; I understand that image has always been part of the equation. But somewhere along the line, we’ve started confusing public interest with public ownership.

Just because someone is famous doesn’t mean every aspect of their life belongs to us. A celebrity’s face, nor their body or medical history, is not public property. What does belong to the public is the work they choose to share.

Renée Zellweger doesn’t owe us an explanation for how she looks. Anne Hathaway doesn’t either.

I don’t want celebrities to be frozen in time. I don’t want them to remain exactly as they appeared when I first encountered them. I want them to be human beings who get older, evolve, change, experiment, and live their lives because that’s what all of us do. If we’re going to admire someone, we should admire them for what they’ve given us rather than obsessing over what may or may not have changed about their face.

In a world increasingly obsessed with appearances, that feels like a much healthier use of our attention.

Of course, there are exceptions. I can’t talk about plastic surgery without including a couple of legends…

Cher has long been candid about the work she has had done, famously quipping, “If I want to put my tits on my back, it’s nobody’s business but my own.” Dolly Parton has similarly built an entire brand around being unapologetically Dolly, often joking that “It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap, honey.”

What makes Cher and Dolly different is not that they’ve had work done. It’s that they’ve chosen to make the conversation part of their public narrative. They’ve addressed it on their own terms, with humor and confidence, and in doing so removed much of the mystery. Their openness, however, shouldn’t create an expectation that every celebrity owes the public the same disclosure.

That’s the key distinction.

Cher and Dolly chose transparency, Anne Hathaway and Renée Zellweger chose privacy.

It makes me wonder – if Meghan Trainor, who has 527M followers on TikTok, had taken us on the journey with her, would we embrace her efforts and be less critical? I don’t know the answer, and she doesn’t owe us that at all — but it’s worth pondering.

In the meantime, until we get everyone on board with universal standards regarding youth and beauty, do these celebrities have to accept and tolerate the consequences of their choices?

It’s a really interesting question, and I think the answer depends on whether we’re talking about reality or fairness.

From a practical standpoint, yes—women in the public eye probably have to expect that their appearance will be discussed. Fairly or unfairly, appearance is part of the celebrity ecosystem. Actors, musicians, television personalities, influencers, and public figures all operate in a marketplace where image has commercial value. Audiences notice changes. Media outlets know audiences notice changes. That creates a cycle that is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

But “people will talk” is not the same thing as “people are entitled to know.”

One thing I know for certain is that, like it or not, the PR reps behind these women have to have a plan in place for this contingency.

What do you think it should be?

Subscribe now

We pitch reporters and pursue interviews. We secure podcast appearances. We seek out editorial opportunities and niche publications. We create campaigns designed to “break through the noise” and “meet KPIs” and put our clients in front of as many people as possible. Give us that sweet, sweet drug called attention!

But here’s a question I haven’t been able to stop thinking about (and I’ll tell you why in a bit): When does publicity become too much publicity?

At first glance, it may seem ridiculous. After all, isn’t more visibility the goal?

“This is a great question,” says Amy Prenner, CEO & Founder of The Prenner Group, “and one I genuinely wrestle with, because my instinct as a publicist is always MORE. More coverage, more placements, more visibility. That’s what we do. But the honest answer is yes, there absolutely is such a thing as too much publicity.”

Here is what I’ve arrived at: Is more visibility the goal? Not always. In fact, history is full of examples where the challenge wasn’t just getting attention; it was, also, managing it. Strategy is key. “When PR is used strategically, it can be invaluable helping to bring attention to a product, an initiative or a cause,” Rachel Falikoff, Principal at Let’s Make News PR, adds. She continues, “Another question to ask is ‘What’s the objective and how can you best achieve it and/or best resonate with your audience?’”

Indeed.

Which brings us to the “why” of it all. The other day, scrolling through TikTok, I came upon a Savannah Bananas video. The team was recreating an iconic Pitch Perfect performance on the field. I rolled my eyes. Do they even play baseball anymore? They’ve had Derek Hough out with “Dancing with the Stars” cast members, rapper/singer Travie McCoy, Tony winner Ben Platt, and even signed Tony-nominated actor Derek Klena to a contract.

@thesavbananasThe Banana Bellas putting on the performance of a lifetime😌 @Jackson Olson @Kyle “KJ” Jackson #savannahbananas #bananaball #pitchperfect #acapella

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

The baseball-meets-entertainment phenomenon has become one of the hottest tickets in America. Their games sell out stadiums. Their social media content generates millions of views. People who couldn’t name five Major League Baseball players can instantly recognize the Bananas. Having been to a game myself, I can tell you that it’s an overwhelming experience. The gimmicks are plentiful, the merch is affordable, and parents absolutely love bringing their kids of all ages to games.

It’s a remarkable success story.

But it also raises an interesting long-term question – the one I haven’t been able to get out of my brain, nor answer succinctly: HOW DO YOU REMAIN SPECIAL ONCE YOU’RE EVERYWHERE?

It’s a discussion worth having.

Prenner also shares: “When you oversaturate the market, when your talent is on every platform, every podcast, every morning show in the same two-week window you’ve essentially given the audience nothing left to discover. You’ve answered every question before they even thought to ask it.”

Part of the Bananas’ appeal is surprise. Fans don’t attend solely for the baseball, if at all. They attend because they know something unexpected is going to happen. A dancing umpire. A choreographed routine. A trick play unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. But, I think, the challenge for any brand like theirs, built on novelty, is that today’s surprise becomes tomorrow’s expectation. Once an audience becomes accustomed to the spectacle, the pressure grows to make each experience bigger, louder, and more outrageous than the last.

I can only speak to my own experience, but to be blunt, I’m over it. And it’s fair to assume if I feel that way, so do other people. It’s lost its shine and I think they could do with a nice, long off-season. That said, there is no evidence their ticket sales are suffering (they just sold out Yankee Stadium for Pete’s sake); they have broadcast deals in place with ESPN, Disney+, TruTV and TheCW; and while their TikTok views are no longer eight-figures, they still get six and seven-figure counts.

Now, let’s take Taylor Swift. No modern celebrity may understand publicity management better.

Swift has spent nearly two decades as one of the most visible people on the planet, yet she consistently demonstrates a willingness to disappear when necessary. Following periods of intense media attention, she often retreats from public view, only to return with a new project that immediately commands attention (or to sit courtside with friends at a Knicks game). During the pandemic, while many celebrities were desperately trying to remain visible, Swift surfaced from a hibernation to quietly release Folklore and then Evermore, two albums that felt like monolithic cultural moments.

I believe everything Swift does is intentional – even the little things. Here, it wasn’t simply that the music was good, it was that audiences had room to miss her. Scarcity matters.

Susan Engel, Founder of Susan Engel PR, concurs: “When a subject is overexposed the public not only grows tired of them but their brand loyalty and reputation can suffer… A hibernation period is important to regain control and focus on a narrative surrounding what the talent wants to prioritize and focus on.”

The same principle applies to brands.

Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte isn’t just a beverage, it’s an event! Consumers fervently anticipate its return. Media outlets cover its arrival. Social media explodes with reactions. Throw in a seasonal cup and you’ve got yourself major DEMAND. But then, pumpkin spice became everything. Coffee. Cookies. Cereal. Candles. Protein bars. Dog treats. What was once special became ubiquitous.

Groupon offers us a cautionary tale. In the early 2010s, Groupon was impossible to avoid. The company dominated headlines. Consumers received daily deal emails. Businesses rushed to participate and, for a time, it felt unstoppable. Then consumers became overwhelmed. The constant stream of promotions stopped feeling exciting and started feeling routine. The quality of the products listed deteriorated. Competitors like Living Social threw themselves into the race. Today, some of these sites, including Groupon and Living Social, still exist, but they don’t permeate anyone’s day-to-day like they used to.

And don’t even get me started on Marvel and Star Wars fatigue… (Captain America: Brave New World is among the MCU’s lowest-grossing movies and The Mandalorian and Grogu is the lowest-grossing live-action installment in the franchise).

Publicity doesn’t disappear, the impact does. Or — and this is a gem of a takeaway — Prenner says, “Publicity should serve the story, not suffocate it.”

How do you scale without becoming ordinary? Not just by generating attention, but by preserving value. Sometimes that means creating scarcity. Sometimes it means saying no to opportunities. Sometimes it means stepping out of the spotlight long enough for audiences to remember why they cared in the first place.

The irony of publicity is that success can create its own challenge. The very visibility that fuels growth can, if left unchecked, become the thing that dulls excitement.

Which is why the question every publicist should occasionally ask isn’t, “How do we get more attention?” Rather, it’s: “Have we given people a reason to miss us?”

Share

Brian has been dabbling (😉) in PR for more than 33 years, having previously worked at companies such as Def American Recordings, Warner Brothers Records, Reprise Records, Elektra Entertainment Group, Vivid Entertainment Group, and such organizations as The Lollapalooza Tour.

Clients of BSG PR, past and present, include Maitland Ward, Gene Simmons, Sasha Grey, Adam & Eve, PlusOne, AdultTime, Penthouse, Phoenix Books, The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, The Vixen Media Group, Nina Hartley, Lupe Fuentes, LA Pop Art, Ecko TV, Kaiju Big Battel, Lucky 13 Clothing, Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival, Chuck Zito, Omarosa, Tony Clifton, and so many more!

I’ve been in a couple PR networking groups with Mr. Gross and have always enjoyed our back-and-forth, so I am excited for all of you to learn more about him!

Q: Hi there! Please introduce yourself and tell us how you first got your foot in the PR/Comms door!

A: Hello! My name is Brian Gross. My foot found itself inside the incredible hall of Def American Recordings in the winter of 1993 when the person who answered the phone when I called looking for an internship was from the PR department of the record label. I went in for an interview, and that Spring and Summer, I would drive from Newbury Park High School to Burbank to be an intern (Editor’s note: That is 50+ miles! In LA, that is a ridiculous commute so KUDOS, man). I met musicians I admired, record label executives who would become my mentors, and all types of people in between. It was a great way to spend my senior year in high school before leaving for college.

Q: Did you initially set out to practice in a particular space? Why did you pick it?

A: It picked me! I wanted to work in the music industry. It was by chance that I wound up in public relations, and I have been grateful ever since.

Q: Do you practice in the same space now? Tell us a little about what you’re doing now!

A: I have my own PR firm, and I handle a wide assortment of entertainment clientele. I love what I do, I love the clients I work with, I love the daily challenges in the world of public and media relations.

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge about being a publicist in 2026?

A: The speed of which the media moves, and the constant technological and communicative changes we must adapt, learn and move with.

Q: What advice would you give to someone trying to jumpstart their PR career?

A: Get in, get started, get your hustle on. Don’t get discouraged. Work hard. Sacrifice. The fruits of your labor will bloom in time.

Thank you, Brian! That is some really great advice — short and sweet, and totally to the point (Seriously. I highlighted it for a reason). Brian’s story is a great reminder that there’s no single path into public relations. Sometimes a career is built through careful planning; other times, it starts with a phone call, a lucky break, and the willingness to drive more than an hour each way for an opportunity. More than three decades later, Brian is still doing what he loves, adapting to an ever-changing media landscape while staying true to the hustle that got him started.

To find Brian on the internet, you can check out his agency’s website and follow him on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Take the Stanley brand. Founded in 1913 and long associated with construction workers, campers, and rugged outdoor enthusiasts, the brand spent most of its life as a practical piece of gear. Its transformation began with the introduction of the Quencher tumbler, a large-capacity cup with a handle and straw that solved a surprisingly common problem: it held plenty of water, kept it cold for a long time, and magically fit into a car cup holder.

Their real breakthrough came in 2017 when they were featured on “The Buy Guide,” a popular Utah-based shopping blog and Instagram account launched by three former BYU students. The Buy Guide ultimately worked out a deal directly with Stanley to buy inventory at cost and sell them, themselves. They made a small fortune.

Next, enter the Utah mom-fluencers. The brand soared. You may know the rest… Stanley seized an opportunity to capitalize on a major viral moment: a TikTok showing a woman’s car after a fire — with her Stanley intact and ice still inside. Stanley responded by amplifying her story AND BY REPLACING HER CAR.

The PR math is mathing: Product durability → emotional storytelling → brand generosity → massive earned media.

Stanley additionally leaned into limited-edition colors, retailer-exclusive drops, and collaborations that created a sense of scarcity and collectability. Consumers no longer bought a Stanley because they needed a water bottle; they bought one because everyone else seemed to have one, and often bought several to match different moods, outfits, or seasons. LONG LIVE FOMO!

What followed was a masterclass in modern brand building thermos-industry-wide. These guys have successfully shifted their identity from utility to culture. You know the saying: “Success is when preparation meets opportunity.” Well, here, success is/was when influencer marketing, community advocacy, and social proof coincided to elevate an everyday object into something people proudly display, collect, and talk about online.

Digital Marketing Consultant Chris Lam and I discussed the Stanley craze two years ago for my UCLA social media marketing students. It still applies:

What about the other guys?

YETI: Turning a Cooler Into a Lifestyle

Before Stanley made water bottles fashionable, YETI turned coolers into status symbols. YETI advertising long focused on fishermen, ranchers, hunters, surfers, and outdoor adventurers, making ownership feel like membership in a rugged, aspirational community. The lesson isn’t “our cooler keeps ice longer,” it was “this is who you are if you use our brand.” In showcasing the vertcial where YETI has value, they are giving their products credibility and higher value. By telling stories about the people using it, rather than the literal products, YETI transformed a commodity into a premium niche lifestyle brand.

Hydro Flask: The Original Social Media Water Bottle

Before Stanley, there was Hydro Flask. In the late 2010s, Hydro Flask became synonymous with teenagers, college students, and wellness culture. The bottle’s colorful appearance made it instantly recognizable in Instagram photos and YouTube videos, while the rise of “VSCO Girl” culture effectively turned Hydro Flask into a cultural icon of sorts. Mind you, this was still a time when many people would mock those who’d pop $40+ for a water bottle. But the company benefited from organic user-generated content and community adoption that made carrying the bottle feel like participation in a trend rather than a purchase. (I would also argue that due to its shape and smooth surface, Hydro Flask spawned a massive rise in sticker industry!)

Owala: Winning Through Product Innovation

More recently, Owala has shown that innovation can become a PR story. Its FreeSip lid, which allows users to either sip through a straw or drink traditionally, gave media outlets, influencers, and customers something concrete to talk about. Combined with playful color combinations and strong social media engagement, Owala created distinction in an increasingly crowded market. The lesson: a genuinely different feature can become its own publicity engine.

S’well: Making Sustainability Fashionable

S’well was early to the game and approached — if not invented — the category from an entirely different angle that was a fit for the time. Rather than emphasizing outdoor adventure or wellness, S’well positioned reusable bottles as fashionable accessories while tapping into growing concerns about single-use plastics. At their peak they popularized a triple-walled, vacuum-insulated stainless steel, often photographed in the hands of celebrities. While newer oversized tumbler trends have emerged, S’well remains highly popular for its sleek, leak-proof designs and vibrant aesthetics. Partnerships with designers, retailers, and nonprofit causes helped elevate the brand beyond hydration and into the broader conversation around sustainability and conscious consumerism.

What about you, AJ?

I actually have a long-standing obsession with bottled water and thermoses — I even did a grad school project that included collecting field data on marketing bottled water. I get them at events, from friends, from the store (I mean, even Nordstrom sells them now)… I have so many thermoses that there’s a dedicated cabinet in my kitchen with special shelving for them, and I even designate certain ones for certain beverages.

I personally found the Stanley overrated, though its convenience for a car cupholder was nice — but that problem is now solved. I didn’t love my original Owala. It got dirty quickly, and the plastic straw fell off easily and gave me the icks. I don’t need two ways to drink water from one vessel. Despite that, when someone gifted me a Glinda special edition Wicked Owala, it became my mainstay because it gets the job done well enough and purple is my favorite color. I like the Yeti for hot liquids, and I like a particular Starbucks thermos for my iced tea. On the rare occasions I drink Coke, I default to a Simple Modern thermos. (I recognize this is rather loony behavior but there are worse things to be obsessed with.)

As to keeping my beverage coldest the longest, I actually find a Lululemon thermos someone gave me to be the best at this, so suck it, all other thermoses.

The Common Thread

What’s striking is that, with the exception of S’well when it was first on the scene, none of these brands became successful by talking endlessly about insulation technology. Consumers easily assume a premium bottle will keep drinks cold or hot for long periods of time. The winning brands found something larger to own.

That’s perhaps the biggest PR lesson of all in this tale. Consumers rarely become emotionally attached to a product’s function. They become attached to what ownership says about them. The most successful thermos brands didn’t convince people to carry water. They convinced people to carry an identity.

The story centered around the launch of a collab between Swatch and Audemars Piguet, a release that caused massive crowds, overnight lines, police intervention, store closures, and resale chaos at malls around the world. And while the watches themselves were certainly part of the story, they also kinda weren’t.

In fact, here, for me, the real story isn’t about watches; it’s about participation. In a way, it’s even about FOMO. People want to be “in the room where it happens,” to borrow from Hamilton.

I remember in my twenties how my friends and I used to sort of eventize the mall. There would be a party coming up, or a birthday dinner, or some kind of social event, and a few of us would meet up to head to the mall for our outfits, shoes, accessories, etc. We’d sometimes split up to check out the stores we preferred and reconvene. Someone would try on something terrible. Someone would spend too much money at Sephora. We’d inevitably end up at the food court. It was social. It was communal. It was fun. It made going to the eventual event more exciting, too!

Then somewhere along the way, malls became shorthand for cultural irrelevance. Online shopping accelerated. Streaming replaced movie theaters. Social media replaced physical gathering spaces. Why wander a mall parking lot when you could have socks, candles, toothpaste, and a new air fryer delivered to your door by tomorrow morning?

For years, the mall seemed destined to become either a ghost town or a Spirit Halloween. (I suspect many of us have seen those articles about abandoned malls with the sad photos of their dilapidated interiors.)

Yet here we are! THE MALL HAS QUIETLY RE-ENTERED THE CHAT.

But I don’t believe its return has anything to do with retail in the traditional sense. This isn’t about rushing to Macy’s for a sports bra, or to Mac for a lip liner you’re out of. It’s about experience, identity, nostalgia, exclusivity, atmosphere, and maybe most importantly: collective cultural experiences.

In other words, this is a PR story. (You had to know this is where I was headed, right?)

Because malls are succeeding again for the same reason many brands succeed today: they’ve stopped selling products and started selling proximity to culture. Experiences. Connection. That’s a massive strategic shift.

The biggest challenge malls face right now is not convincing people to shop. Amazon solved convenience years ago. Malls cannot win on convenience. They have to win on emotion (so do a lot of dying businesses, but let’s put a pin in that for another Substack).

Here is what I’ve arrived at: MALLS ARE NOT COMPETING WITH OTHER MALLS.

They’re competing with TikTok.

They’re competing with Netflix.

They’re competing with iPhones and laptops.

They’re competing with staying home.

And the smartest malls are starting to understand this.

The stores and activations driving attention today are rarely just stores anymore. They’re immersive environments engineered for both physical and digital visibility. Glossier perfected the showroom-as-selfie-set. Apple stores evolved into community hubs. Lululemon hosts classes and wellness events. Pop-ups, branded cafés, creator meetups, “drops,” installations, and limited-run activations have become the new anchors of retail culture.

Perhaps most fascinatingly, malls themselves have become content backdrops. Modern retail spaces are increasingly designed to be photographed: oversized staircases, ambient lighting, food halls and popular restaurants (RIP food courts?), mural walls, luxury lounges, curated cafés, dramatic architecture. The mall is now part shopping center, part film set.

Luxury retail figured this out years ago. Physical retail still signals legitimacy in a way digital-only commerce often cannot. A crowded storefront outside a luxury boutique becomes aspiration content online. Scarcity creates spectacle. Spectacle creates social sharing. Social sharing creates demand. The product almost becomes secondary. And BAM! The PR train has left the station.

This is why people line up for the new iPhone or a hot sneaker drop. That’s why the Swatch/Audemars frenzy mattered. People weren’t just buying watches. They were buying proximity to the moment. They wanted the photos. The lines. The excitement. The social proof. The feeling of participating in something culturally alive. After years of increasingly isolated, screen-based living, I don’t think people realized how much they missed that.

Chris Baccus, former Digital Marketing Lead for Westfield and Caruso, now a Partner at Chameleon Collective shared: “Successful shopping centers have moved away from being malls. They want to be seen as mixed-use town centers. Places that blend shopping, eating, and entertainment in an open, community space. It’s no surprise that they are making a comeback post COVID as people seek outside places to gather and spend an afternoon or evening at. Just look next time you are at a shopping center and see how many shopping bags you see. Few, I bet. A lot of people are there to eat and just to get out and walk around. Shopping has become secondary in what used to be the malls.”

@katarinaremovicToday at The Grove Los Angeles people are waiting in line 🌹❤️💌 happy Valentines #thegrovela #losangeles #la #lapeople #lines

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

There’s also a nostalgia factor at play here, particularly for late-Gen Xers and Millennials who essentially grew up at malls. Sam Goody for CDs. Flipping through the magazines at Waldenbooks. Sbarro and Hot Dog on a Stick. The awkward flirting. The aimless wandering. The pretending to shop while actually just hanging out for three hours. Entire generations learned social behavior inside malls. So now brands are monetizing that emotional memory.

Meanwhile, Gen Z — initially engaging with malls almost ironically — seems to be rediscovering them sincerely. As third spaces disappear and public gathering places become increasingly scarce, malls are quietly reemerging as climate-controlled community hubs. Not necessarily because they’re perfect, but because there are fewer and fewer places left to simply exist socially without an agenda.

Which presents an enormous opportunity for marketers and publicists. The future of malls will not be built on inventory; it will be built on programming.

The malls that survive will be the ones that continually reinvent themselves culturally: rotating experiences, creator collaborations, immersive installations, food concepts, live events, limited-time activations, wellness spaces, luxury partnerships, nostalgia plays, and community-driven experiences that give people a reason to physically show up.

There’s also risk in that strategy because if every space becomes optimized for Instagram, something human gets lost. There’s a fine line between creating atmosphere and creating a physical algorithm; a space so engineered for content that it stops feeling authentic altogether.

Ultimately, the internet didn’t kill malls; it transformed them into content arenas.

Maybe the real reason malls are making a comeback isn’t because people suddenly missed shopping. Maybe in this post-Covid-lockdown-world, people have come to more deeply appreciate being around other people. Maybe malls are resurging for the same reason live concerts, movie theaters, and experiential events still matter: people are hungry for collective experiences that can’t be replicated through a screen.

I spent about 13 months in the music industry, managing social content and influencer programs for a major touring company and, ultimately, it was not for me. More than the misogyny women often find in the entertainment industry, I found a lot of ageism there — though there were definitely some great people in the midst.

All that’s to say I have a lot of respect for individuals like Cary who not only found longevity in the business, but work hard and maintain an honorable reputation. He’s a gem and it was exciting to speak with him about his journey!

Q: Cary, please introduce yourself and tell us how you first got your foot in the PR/Comms door!

A: Pertinent to this feature, I spent 42 years in music publicity — 1980 to 2022. But I began in music journalism — and in my so-called retirement from publicity, I am writing once again…this time books as well as the occasional article.

I was born in Chicago and got bitten by both the blues and rock ’n’ roll as a child. In my teens in Chicago’s suburbs, I was publishing a scrappy blues fanzine (with a global subscriber base), serving as music director and public relations director of my high school FM radio station, and working as features editor of the school newspaper. Naturally, I was maintaining a B-/C+ average, as my world was more extracurricular than curricular.

Then came the day that changed my life. My father took me to an area of Chicago called Maxwell Street Market. There, I heard a blind street blues singer with a slide guitar and a tin cup. My world changed. I got his phone number, called him up, and sent the interview feature on spec to the newly launched Chicago Reader. They published it. Soon, I was writing for dozens of music and regional publications — Billboard, Creem, Trouser Press, Mix, Record and the Illinois Entertainer, to name a few.

I studied journalism at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill., moved back to Chicago, and was soon offered the job of National Publicity Director at Ovation Records, an independent Chicago label that had put itself on the map with its country releases. I hadn’t paid much attention to country prior to that, and rock ’n’ roll — by now just after the punk/new wave revolution — remained my thing. But I found a real community in Nashville. I remained a freelance writer in my off hours. At 25, I apparently didn’t require much sleep.

One day, while living in a 400-square-foot coach house in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood, I received word that my favorite label — I.R.S. Records, home of R.E.M., the Go-Go’s, the English Beat and more — was seeking a head of publicity. I mailed off a résumé and cover letter. So did 60 others.

It so happened that I already had plans to visit sunny Los Angeles during Chicago’s midwinter. I found myself interviewing with four label executives. And lo and behold, I got the job. I helped catapult artists like R.E.M., the Alarm, Concrete Blonde, the dB’s and Fine Young Cannibals into the press, helping develop them into cover-story acts.

From I.R.S., I went to Capitol Records as head of publicity — a big job, with a staff of ten and artists including Bonnie Raitt, Paul McCartney, Beastie Boys, the Smithereens and Crowded House. Some artists had independent publicists, others didn’t. My job was to strategize media presence.

My fondest memory was campaigning to get the Smithereens onto Saturday Night Live with a coordinated team of staffers and indies, and ultimately (my idea) a personal call from the label president as well. An artist dropped out, and the Smithereens got the call.

Following an eventful two years at Capitol, I worked for a few other labels — Morgan Creek and the Warner Music imprint Discovery Records — before heading out on my own, first with a partner and later by myself. My second and final PR firm, Conqueroo, represented a number of Grammy winners and nominees largely in the blues and Americana space: Bobby Rush, Rodney Crowell, the Mavericks, and reissues on the Omnivore label, to name a few.

In 2022, then in my late 60s, I made the very tough decision to leave both music PR and my beloved home of 38 years, Los Angeles. My wife and I relocated to the California desert, long one of our favorite getaway spots, and magical in so many ways. It was an adjustment. But I soon realized I could have lunch with a different music industry or journalist/author friend every day of the week.

I found community both in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley, and in the Hi-Desert: Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms. I never thought I’d be as busy in the desert as I was in L.A. The area boasts music venues ranging from Pappy & Harriet’s to Acrisure Arena. And I organize an annual music/media industry mixer in Palm Desert.

Most of all, living in the desert has given me the freedom to reinvent myself. In late 2024, I published my first book: Down on the Corner: Adventures in Busking & Street Music (Jawbone Press). My life had come full circle, back to that blind street blues singer I saw at age 16 when my dad took me to Chicago’s Maxwell Street. Closing that circle proved therapeutic.

I hired a music publicist — a friend who is also a former associate — to launch the PR on the book. But ultimately, I got in there and pitched along with her. The book became an NPR “Book of the Day,” and I did interviews, podcasts and book signings in many major cities for more than a year. And make no mistake: when my literary agent pitched publishers, my publicity background was definitely not a minus.

Q: Tell us a little about what you’re doing today.

A: Book #2 is a biography of a respected Grammy Award-winning musician and is about four-fifths complete. That’s all I can say.

I use the rest of my days on desert time, which is a lot like reggae time — writing for publications like American Blues Scene, Best Classic Bands and The Tonearm, as well as contributing a feature to SPIN last year. When I first got to town, I became fascinated by the surprisingly vibrant music scene in Joshua Tree and environs and wrote a feature about it for No Depression.

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge about being a publicist in 2026?

Gosh, you know, I haven’t been a publicist in three years, and much has changed. Conqueroo still sent out physical CDs to reviewers who demanded them. But physical newspapers were slightly meatier and fully staffed, and alt-weeklies were still a thing. That has changed in a lot of locations. I’m not sure where — or if — you’d pick up an L.A. Weekly. But Palm Springs still reliably has a print alt-monthly and an online weekly.

A lot of my job involved setting up online premieres for singles in whatever online publications would accept them. That was tough for new and developing artists, but there were always some great online editors who obliged us.

But clearly, the world had shifted from print to online, and then heavily toward podcasts. Don’t get me wrong: I very much appreciate podcasts, and they did me a world of good when I was doing book publicity. But in my heart, I’m a newspaper man. So I stepped away during a transitional time.

No doubt, being a music journalist won me credibility on journalism circles. I was proudly the anti-Bobbi Fleckman.

Time brings on a change. And change is good. But I might not recommend semi-retiring and moving in the same season! Anyway, here I am, inventing and reinventing. The desert scenery — and the scene — is first-rate. And hey, I can be in L.A. for a meeting or show in 2.5 hours — except when it takes longer.

I want “Time brings on a change. And change is good.” embroidered on a throw pillow. That’s a good thing to remember. So is “inventing and reinventing.”

What struck me most about speaking with Cary wasn’t just the longevity of his career, it was the curiosity that fueled it. In an industry obsessed with what’s next, he built a reputation by genuinely loving music, loving stories, and respecting the people behind them. That combination feels increasingly rare.

There’s also something reassuring about hearing from someone who has reinvented himself multiple times without losing the thread of who he is. Journalist, label publicist, agency founder, author…. The titles changed, but the passion for storytelling never did. In a field where burnout and cynicism can creep in fast, Cary feels like proof that a long career doesn’t have to harden you. Sometimes it can deepen you instead.

Thank you, Cary, for taking the time!

And though most publicists, producers and marketers will twitch at “May I pick your brain?”, I asked a group of seasoned pros to share the things they wish every client just knew — the quiet, behind-the-scenes, simple tips and tricks that can make or break a moment.

TIPS FOR ON-CAMERA INTERVIEWS

“It’s basic but find your light and think about the time of day when you’re setting up. Lighting makes a huge difference in how you appear on camera. And you want people to actually see you!” - Mandy Rodgers, Founder, MKM

“If you are completing an interview in a hotel room or bedroom and the actual bed is in frame, please make sure the bed is made. The full background should be tidy and clean. Also, if there is a door behind you, please ask anyone else in the space not to come in and out.

When an interview ends on Zoom, please do not leave as the publicist wraps the interview. There may be feedback or questions we have or a quick check in that is needed before you sign off!” - Susan Engel, Founder, SUSAN ENGEL PR

“Turn off your devices and put your pets in another room. Shut the door and don’t be distracted. Don’t slurp on a drink. Be focused on your conversation and don’t tap on the keys. Make sure you’re in a well-lit room, free of distractions, and in neutral colors. Put the camera at eye level. Take 2-3 seconds to pause before answering a question.” - Shahob Mehr, Director of Digital Content Strategy, WILLIAM RAYMOND COMMUNICATIONS

“As we saw with the GameStop interview on CNBC, it’s very easy to forget the tips we learn about in-person interviews on Zoom. We all gravitate to looking at the person’s face during interviews, but on Zoom that means you’re looking down. Put a sticky note next to the camera (or draw eyes on a sticky note) to remember to look directly at the camera.” - Jeremy Pepper, Strategic Communications/Crisis Comms Executive (CHECK OUT HIS LOS ANGELES TECH NEWSLETTER)

POSING FOR PHOTOS & HEADSHOTS

“Always keep moving…subtly. Whether head tilts, slight movement in arms, legs, body angle, keep in motion. It will help you look more natural, feel natural and not stiffen up.” - Braden Jefferson, Sr. Account Executive, 42WEST

“I believe that the ‘old school’ approach of flat, sterile headshots is officially a relic of the past. Over the last decade, I’ve advocated for a ‘new school’ editorial style of headshots that feel more like a photo in a magazine feature than a corporate directory. While a half-body crop is still essential, experimenting with a three-fourth crop allows you to capture more movement and personality at times as well. This shift in stylistic approach ensures the photo feels less like a forced pose and more like a captured moment of authenticity which is what the PR business needs now more than ever.” - Mona Loring, Founder & President, CONSCIOUS LIVING PR (Her agency has a great Substack!)

“Dress for who you are authentically — wear something you know you feel good in. It will come through in the photos that you are confident and comfortable in who you are. Also, avoid clothing with trademarked logos and look how the clothing moves with you (do the zippers lay right or are the buttons pulling at the slightest movement)!” - Vanessa Colosio Diaz, Founder, PIPELINE PEPPER

“Think heavy contrast. Social media icons tend to blend into the background, unless you use high contrast colors, then people will recognize you from a mile away and they will remember you too!” - Tara Coomans, Principal, AVAANS MEDIA

“Stand up straight, shoulders back. I can’t believe I’m now the same age as my mom was when she used to physically pull my shoulders back as a kid. But it makes a difference in the photos you take and honestly, in the way you BREATHE. No one wants to see a slouchy CEO; readers interpret that as nervousness or a lack of confidence. If you were a brand looking for content creators to partner with, you’d choose with the one that looks confident and sure of themselves. Typically, that person stands with their shoulders back.” - Chris Lam, Marketing Strategist & Educator (Check out her website and follow her on Instagram)

WHAT TO DO AFTER THE INTERVIEW ENDS

“Two things many people do after an interview that make me cringe a bit: Thanking the reporter for doing the story and asking them to send a link when it publishes. Thanking the reporter for ‘doing’ the story sort of implies they did it for the publicist or the client, as opposed to doing it because they were reporting news or something that will interest their readers. As far as getting a link when it posts, that is on you, not them. The reporter is not your assistant. It’s fair to ask them when it will post but go to their site yourself and find it.” - Steve Honig, President, THE HONIG COMPANY, LLC (Check out Steve’s new Substack!)

“Once the interview ends, resist the urge to immediately ‘debrief the performance.’ Instead, debrief the message transfer. Too many PR pros walk away asking, ‘Did we sound good?’ instead of asking, ‘Did we land the story we intended to tell?’

I always tell clients: the interview is over, but the narrative is still live. What gets remembered is usually the clearest, most emotionally resonant line, not the longest or smartest answer. So immediately after, document the strongest quote, the strongest proof point, and any areas where the conversation drifted off strategy. That intel becomes invaluable for future interviews, message refinement, and pattern recognition over time.” - Dwayna A. Haley, Founder, HALEY COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

“Always thank the journalist and outlet -- and crew if you’re on a set” - Braden Jefferson, Sr. Account Executive, 42WEST

“Have a postmortem with your publicist. Ask them what worked and what didn’t. Take some mental notes to remind you what to do next time. Also follow up with a thank you note that should be sent after the story runs.” - Amy Prenner, Founder, THE PRENNER GROUP

“People feel the need to fill silent gaps with more talking, an old interview trick/trip-up. Post-interview, it’s easy to get into a conversational tone and chit-chat with small talk. But that also means going off message, over-sharing or losing the thread. Kill the urge post-interview to chat more, beyond thanking the person for the time (and don’t ask when the story is coming out, that’s tacky and why you have a PR team - to be tacky for you).” - - Jeremy Pepper, Strategic Communications/Crisis Comms Executive

WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA….

“Don’t overshare. Do post things that have merit and are meant to be shared. Don’t be too opinionated or slanted on controversial topics. Stay neutral, especially when you’re pushing out your own projects. Post tastefully.” - Amy Prenner, Founder, THE PRENNER GROUP

“It ain’t a panacea to fix all your issues. Social media is just another channel and while the current cycle of media/PR is ‘GO DIRECT,’ things always swing back and forth and tactics that work today might not work tomorrow (but also might work again a year or so from now). But it’s not that golden goose to deliver golden eggs when all you’re feeding it is garbage (yep, just mixing a bunch of metaphors).” - Jeremy Pepper, Strategic Communications/Crisis Comms Executive

“You can’t be everywhere all the time (unless you’re a giant corporation), so don’t be afraid to figure out which platforms and posting styles actually work for you. Then focus on doing those really well. Sometimes less is more!” - Mandy Rodgers, Founder, MKM MARKETING

“Strategy is for brands and organizations, but authenticity matters more on the personal pages of athletes, celebrities, or CEOs. Audiences can instinctively sense whether a high-profile individual is being genuine or following a script.” - Shahob Mehr, Director of Digital Content Strategy, WILLIAM RAYMOND COMMUNICATIONS

“Don’t rush to document everything on social during a project/production and post-production (i.e., behind the scenes content). You want new things to share when there’s channels to point people to see the result!” - Justin Cook, Founder, JUSTIN COOK PR

WHAT PUBLICISTS WISH YOU WOULD STOP DOING

“I’ve found that clients sometimes forget to think like the average consumer and their own life perspective. What they actually respond to when deciding where to go, what to do, or what to buy. Start there. Be human first, then layer in the nuance, trends and experience to shape your publicity and marketing strategy. Everyone is being marketed to so use it to your advantage.” - Mandy Rodgers, Founder, MKM MARKETING

“There is more than one way to start a press release quote! The phrases ‘I am thrilled,’ ‘We are honored,’ and any variation of these should be banned from all press releases from this day forward. With all due respect to the client, founder, CEO: NO ONE CARES HOW YOU FEEL! If you want to increase the chances your quote will be used, embed a piece of newsworthy information into your quote. (And for the love of it all, stop being thrilled. We are exhausted of being thrilled.)” - Lauren Renschler, Founder, WILLIAM RAYMOND COMMUNICATIONS

“Stop asking for questions ahead of time. Stop asking to review the article prior. I don’t care what industry I’ve been in; this seems to be a thread throughout. And I get that it’s often people not used to doing media and PR, but it’s a no-go. And funny enough, I’ve had to step-in during student journalist interviews as they’re all ready to hand it over and I backchannel that the answer should always be no (so teaching while countering a client’s wish).” - Jeremy Pepper, Strategic Communications/ Crisis Comms Executive

“Stop using Chat GPT to suggest a cadence for your communication plan! There are subtleties and nuances to every PR campaign that AI is not going to know about. This is why you hired a publicist -- to benefit from their knowledge and expertise.

Remember, the skillset is called public relations. Meaning your publicist is pitching real people, people that YOU want to do a story about you. Public relations is still a very high touch discipline in the world of AI taking over everything. Trust that the person you hired is capable of doing their job without the use of AI.” - Kelli McNeil-Yellen, Founder, KLA MEDIA GROUP (Check out her Substack: Marketing & PR For Indie Films)

“Stop talking. I know, counterintuitive. But the urge to fill silence is where most media interviews fall apart, and it’s one of the hardest habits to break.

When a reporter asks you a question, answer it. Be clear, be memorable, and then stop. That’s it. Many interviewers will sit with a pause that feels almost unbearably long. It’s intentional. They’re waiting to see if you’ll keep going and hand them something they didn’t expect.

Resist it. The discomfort is mercifully short compared to the effects of oversharing.

If the journalist wants more depth, they’ll ask. That’s literally their job. Your job is to say the one thing you want people to remember and let it sit.” - Tara Coomans, Principal, AVAANS MEDIA

"I wish people would personalize posts per social media platform. Sure, it is more work, but the engagement will be better and you will look less like an out of touch contributor on that platform. Making sure things like image size are specific, and that hashtags or tags look good (which they don’t always with the auto cross-post), and keeping in mind which platform uses still images vs text vs video best can be fruitful. Also, don’t get over-analysis paralysis on what you should post. If you feel differently about what you did later, or it didn’t perform as well as you hoped, you can always archive or delete later! Better to have consistency and put yourself out there rather than large gaps." - Andrew Cohen, Director of Publicity & Co-Founder, Impact24 Public Relations

More often than not, it’s the accumulation of tiny decisions, instincts, habits, and interactions that shape how people experience you over time. The people who consistently come across polished, authentic, and media-savvy usually aren’t just “naturally good at it” — they’ve learned how to navigate public-facing moments with intention. Hopefully, these tips help pull back the curtain a little.

What do you think? What did we miss?

Should I do a version of this with journalists?

A huge, ginormous, extra special THANK YOU to all of the contributors. I never take it for granted that your time is valuable.

Lisa Rinna made me curious. I love to read/listen to memoirs, and my friend Jessica assured me Rinna’s would not disappoint -- and she was correct. It was a juicy, fun, popcorn-movie-esque read, and I don’t even watch any of “Real Housewives” franchises (though a lot of their “stuff” permeates pop culture at large and I’m not immune to it)!!!

But yes, reading her book, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It, made me so curious about the universe. These are women who willingly pull back the curtain on their tumultuous lives and risk looking like total assholes in front of millions of viewers. Rinna talks about her fellow Housewives unfiltered – even cruelly at times, exposing a lot about the production process, the tyranny of the show and network execs, and shining a light on how the show has affected her own life long after leaving it.

For the record, at one point, I did watch. I was briefly hooked on “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” where I found the Mormon component with that cast uniquely interesting, but after so many contrived ladies-who-lunch vicious brawls, I couldn’t comprehend why they go back for more! But in truth, there’s a lot of reasons why women line up to join “The Real Housewives” universe and return to it again and again, despite knowing the edit could make them look like a monster.

It is, of course, about PR.

Doing it for the plot

Being on a “Real Housewives” franchise is like plugging into a fully built media engine. You’re not starting from zero, you’re dropped right in — and without a safety net. It’s a brand awareness shortcut that would normally take years (and millions of dollars) to build. Immediately and without effort, you’re plunging into a massive (and frankly, almost cult-like) built-in audience, weekly episodic appearances (keeping your story constant and fresh) and a fast rise in social media reach that extends far beyond the show.

It is important here to note that even negative portrayals get amplified. “At the core, all of them are wanting fame,” Steve Honig told me. You may remember Steve from the inaugural “5 Questions With…” He has worked with some of the Housewives for PR. “No one’s going to tune into a show to watch people behaving nicely.” And when you’re boring on that show, they have no problem kicking you off.” Yes, some of these women are fighting as strategy!

At the end of the day, being part of a “Housewives” cast is less about “likability” and more about increased visibility and monetization leverage.

Infamy is still a strategy

Being talked about is more valuable than being universally liked.

Reality TV operates on heightened archetypes: Hero, underdog, villain. And villains often win the attention economy. Think of figures like Bethenny Frankel (NY) or Teresa Giudice (NJ). Both had controversial moments, but even if you don’t watch the show, you probably know who they are. Ever threatened to “flip a table” on someone? That slang became mainstream after Teresa actually did so.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Jen Shah, from RHSLC, who went to prison, or her fellow SLC Wife, Mary Cosby, who married her step-grandfather and has been the subject of a TLC docuseries exposing her church as a money-grubbing cult.

As Housewives and thereafter, these women have driven headlines and meme culture and turned notoriety into long-term personal brands. Turning back to Rinna, if you only knew her from “Day of Our Lives” and/or “Melrose Place,” you may have expected her to fade into obscurity, but being a Housewives villain shot her back to centerstage and her subsequent endeavors have arguably kept her relevant ever since.

The PR narrative

At first, the show controls the edit. But over time:

• Cast members learn how to “produce themselves”

• They use confessionals, reunions, and social media to reframe narratives

• They can pivot from “villain” to “misunderstood” to “iconic”

It becomes a multi-platform storytelling ecosystem, not just a TV appearance. Every season creates:

• Premiere coverage

• Weekly recaps (free earned media)

• Reunion episodes (peak drama = peak coverage)

• Off-season gossip and casting rumors

You’re essentially in a perpetual PR loop without pitching a thing.

I’ve often wondered: After these women get into their hard-core brawls about really personal subjects and lurid rumors… Like Denise Richards and Brandi Glanville (BH) having a secret affair or Bronwyn Newport’s husband cheating on her (SLC). People have been accused of faking illnesses, embezzling money, coming for other wives’ children and so on, ad nauseam… Why do they behave this way knowing they’re on television and why do they keep coming back for more?

Money makes the Housewives’ world go ‘round

“A lot of them think it’s going to be a ticket to even more lucrative projects,” Honig tells me. And he’s right. Controversy can even increase value—brands often care more about engagement than sentiment. This is where it gets real:

• Product lines and brand partnerships. Some of them existed pre-show but exploded when the show hit such as Bethenny Frankel’s Skinny Girl line or Lisa Vanderpump’s restaurants (and then, lest we forget, all of her insane spinoff series). Some ventures were launched to leverage the fame-factor. For example Kandi Burruss’ brand, Bedroom Kandi, is quietly one of the most successful, long-running businesses from the franchise.

• Additional TV appearances, and not just talk shows. We’ve seen these women “Dancing with the Stars,” “Celebrity Big Brother,” “The Masked Singer,” “The Traitors” and more. NeNe Leakes has even appeared on “Glee” and the short-lived sitcom “The New Normal.”

• Podcasts-a-plenty. Here are the Housewives with podcasts (that I could find easily):

  • Tamra Judge (OC) + Teddi Mellencamp (BH)

  • Bethenny Frankel (NY)

  • Kandi Burruss (ATL)

  • Porsha Williams (ATL)

  • Lisa Rinna (BH)

  • Heather Dubrow (BH)

  • Melissa Gorga (NJ)

  • Brandi Glanville (BH)

  • Margaret Josephs (NJ)

  • Gizelle Bryant (Potomac) + Robyn Dixon (Potomac)

  • Caroline Stanbury (Dubai)

  • Larsa Pippen (Miami)

• Paid appearances/Influencer deals in insane quantities.

• Books deals are a deep well. When I got up to 60 titles, I stopped counting.

An aside -- what you may not know: Bravo gets a cut of their businesses’ revenue when it’s promoted on the show. There are exceptions (i.e., Lisa Vanederpump probably has a more tailored deal) but it’s one of the reasons why we’re still getting new iterations of the series, such as “Rhode Island,” which just premiered. This machine is driven by multiple drivers.

Why do they do it? And KEEP doing it?

Says Honig: “At their cores, all of them are wanting fame. Are you offended or do you wanna be rich?”

And this is a fair question in the Bravo-verse.

Yes, you risk reputation damage, a loss of control over initial perception, and social media hate, but the upside is accelerated fame, monetization, and long-term relevance.

From a purely strategic PR lens, the calculation is pretty simple: If you can withstand (or weaponize) the backlash, the platform is worth it. And the smartest Housewives don’t avoid the “horrible person” edit, they turn it into a storyline, then into a brand.

And if that sounds ridiculous, it is, but it’s also exactly how modern branding works.

Personally, as a hard-core pickle fan, I am DM’d pickle content on the daily, and I’m not mad about it. (I even have a “pickle porn” chat with my friends and fellow pickle-lovers, Claire and Traci. HI LADIES!)

HOW? WHY?

Think about it like this: the internet didn’t ask if pickles were good; it asked if they were watchable.

Once something becomes watchable, it becomes repeatable (or, if you want, algorithmic). And once it becomes repeatable, it becomes culture. So, before brands really touched this, the internet did what it does best: it made pickles weird.

Chamoy pickles. Pickle pizza. Pickle chips and pickle dips. Pickle drinks and pickle cocktails and pickle juice fountains. Pickles wrapped in things that probably shouldn’t be wrapped in anything. PICKLE CON! The more chaotic, the better. The point wasn’t taste—it was reaction. Would you try this? Would you gag? Would you send it to a friend?

And I would dare say that pickles are an aggressively polarizing food. Most people either love or hate pickles. And if they love them, they either love new (half-sour) or old (full sour). In short, pickles generate engagement pretty easily. The algorithm loves anything that makes you feel something immediately, and pickles deliver that in under a second! Plus, these days, a lot of the platforms are identifying your content based on comments and likes. Hence, the pickles keep on coming.

The Brand That Gave Pickles a Lifestyle

Enter Grillo’s Pickles, who looked at all of this and did something very smart:

They partnered with brands big and small. They leaned into the chaos. Their content began to permeate social media in a way that was noticeable. They – and I am making an assumption here – threw a ton of money at marketing, creators, and production. Grillo’s became the premiere pickle brand, but they didn’t position themselves like a traditional food brand.

They post like a fan account, not a brand account. They didn’t make pickles cooler; they made liking pickles feel like belonging to something, and that’s a very different job. (Just ask anyone who’s started a cult.)

Grillo’s doesn’t rely on traditional influencer marketing—the kind with polished creators, talking points, and #ad disclosures buried in the caption. Instead, they build content that feels like influencer content, even when it’s not. The result is content that feels native to your feed—less like a campaign and more like something you stumbled into.

The goal isn’t to have influencers talk about the product, it’s to create moments people want to participate in. That’s a subtle but important shift.

Instead of: Hiring influencers to promote a product

They are: Creating content that turns anyone into the influencer

It also explains why their audience feels different. They’re not just attracting followers—they’re attracting pickle people. The kind of consumers who don’t just buy the product but actively want to be part of whatever this is.

And once that happens, you don’t need as many influencers, your customers start doing the job for you.

This is What Modern Branding Actually Looks Like

Products don’t trend anymore.

Behaviors do.

By the time a brand shows up, the audience has already decided what something means. The smartest brands aren’t creating demand—they’re recognizing it early enough to look like they did.

They’re not shaping culture in real time. They’re reading it faster—and moving before it becomes obvious.

The cycle looks like this:

Why This Keeps Working

Pickles hit a very specific sweet spot:

• Nostalgia. We all grew up with them (especially true for my fellow Jews).

• Shock value – pickle soda should not exist, and yet…

• Identity. “I’m a pickle person” is now a real thing people say.

On social media, I would hypothesize that the best trends don’t feel entirely new; they feel familiar enough to recognize, and strange enough to share. The best trends live at the intersection of familiarity and absurdity.

And on that note, I’m gonna let the clever Jake Schroeder play us out today….

Here are some other fun pickle products and partnerships:

• KFC Pickle Mania Menu

• KFC Pickle Puffer Jacket (Yep, you read that right.)

• Oreo Dill Pickle Flavored Fudge (I have them but have not tried them yet)

• Laughing Cow Dill Pickle Flavor

• e.l.f. Cosmetics and Good Girl Snacks

• Trader Joe’s

Some of my favorite places to follow pickle content:

• Kaylin and Kaylin(and if you are in LA, definitely visit their booths at The Farmer’s Market at The Grove)

• Your Pickle Bestie

• Linus Mercer

• Bob's Pickle Pops (And by the way, Bob may have found my sour threshold. These things are CRAZY-sour.)

• Monty's Pickle Show

I first met Bilal Kaiser when we both served on the Social Media Club Board of Directors. You know those rare moments when you instantly click with someone? That was Bilal. I’ve been impressed by his career from day one, which makes it especially meaningful to feature him in this series. He’s also graciously spoken to my UCLA students, who loved him, and I was just as captivated by his work with beauty brands and creators in this space. When you read this interview, I have no doubt that you will also be impressed with his generosity of wisdom and how the way he delivers his answers is actually elegant.

Bilal is the Founder of Agency Guacamole, an award-winning influencer marketing and PR firm known for creating culturally relevant campaigns for leading beauty and lifestyle brands. A former marketing exec at L’Oréal and Sony Pictures, he has built a reputation for blending strategy, storytelling, and innovation. He is also the founder of B.L.N.D., an initiative championing diversity in the industry. Like me, his is also a teacher — he has taught marketing at UCLA, FIDM, and USC.

And, in fact, Agency Guacamole, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and in this business, that is a major triumph! 🎉🏆

Q: Bilal! Please introduce yourself and tell us how you first got your foot in the PR/Comms door?

A: My name is Billal Kaiser and I’m the Founder and Principal of Agency Guacamole, an award-winning influencer marketing, PR and events firm, dedicated to exceptional service and developing innovative, cross-platform experiences for leading beauty and lifestyle brands. And we’re turning 10 this year!

I first discovered my passion for PR and communications in college when I was interning in a sports marketing division. There, I was able to tap into my natural skill sets including connecting with people, engaging with audiences and giving out fun swag.

Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to build campaigns as well as creative events and experiences across the entertainment and beauty industries reaching a wide range of audiences and communities. Each role has allowed me to refine my ability to blend strategy with creativity in ways that resonate.

Today, at Agency Guacamole, I am able to take my experience even further where we bring each client’s vision to life in ways that are innovative, trend-focused and fun.

Q: Did you initially set out to practice in a particular space? Why did you pick it?

A: I have been very lucky to build my career across several areas of PR and communications. For example, I was in magazine publishing earlier in my career where the objective was to drive subscriptions and build a community, particularly as social media was emerging in business. This experience gave me the opportunity to help shape digital engagement strategies at a pivotal moment for the first time.

I then transitioned into entertainment where the goal was to drive tune-ins, downloads and engagement around new releases. From there, I brought the same skills to a consumer packaged goods brand, where the ultimate objective was to drive product sales through content and community. I was fortunate to have the chance to play within different areas throughout my career, however I now focus on the beauty and lifestyle industries in my role at Agency Guacamole.

What continues to excite me most is how dynamic the audiences you are working with from the actual influencers and talent to the end consumers. On the professional side, collaborating with hair pros and makeup artists is so fun and inspiring. They are incredibly passionate about what they do which can be contagious and you can’t help but to get excited when you are working with them.

Q: Why did you pick the name Agency Guacamole?

A: Just as a delicious guacamole recipe brings together various ingredients to produce a wonderful final product, so does Agency Guacamole’s approach to digital, social media and PR: connecting the dots, sharing meaningful stories and inspiring all stakeholders to deliver impactful, impressive and (in some cases) delicious results.

Also: Who doesn’t like guacamole? 😄

Q: With your agency approaching its 10-year anniversary, what lessons from the past decade have most shaped how you approach PR and communications today?

A: First, resilience is everything. The industry and the world can shift overnight. From economic uncertainty to the pandemic, we’ve learned success comes from being nimble and adapting to global situations. During COVID, we quickly pivoted on how we operated and supported our clients, finding ways to keep momentum even when traditional channels paused. That ability to adjust in real time is now core to how we think about communications. Even now, our team pivots on a daily basis and is proud to give our clients what they need when they need it.

Second, evolution has to be constant and intentional. We are committed to evolving, how we position ourselves to our clients, our areas of expertise and even the tools we use. Whether it’s embracing new platforms like TikTok, or rethinking execution, like pivoting from in-person events to creative mailers during the pandemic, we focus on meeting clients where they are and delivering solutions that align with their changing needs.

Finally, great communication starts from within. Scaling from a one-person operation to a 25-person, bi-coastal team today has reinforced how a strong internal culture drives external success. I’ve worked really hard to be intentional about building a workplace where people want to come to work and believe in my vision, feel supported and are motivated to do great work. It’s really being “real” about the company’s values that are important to us (like DE&I for example), outwardly sharing what those values are and reassuring the team that as long as they do good work and they want to be a part of this growth journey, there is always a space for them at Agency Guacamole.

That foundation directly impacts the quality of our PR making it more strategic, collaborative and responsive to clients needs. It not only helps us attract top talent, but also ensures we can show up for our clients in a thoughtful, agile and consistent way.

Q: As you look toward the next decade, what areas of PR are you most excited for your agency to explore or expand?

A: One of the areas I’m most excited and curious about exploring is the continued growth of AI and technology innovation, and the influence it will have on PR and communications. I’m curious to see how AI can and will have an impact in our space and how media, talent and brands will reimagine what PR and communications looks like using AI tools that are here or are yet to come.

At the same time, I’m excited to deepen relationships with pros and consumers, particularly within the beauty space. For example, there has always been a strong sense of expertise and authority associated with hair pros and how consumers are looking to them for guidance when making buying decisions or inspiration for their next hair color. As consumers deepen their understanding of brands and want to connect more strongly with what each brand offers as a product, I think the pro influence and pro impact will become more important, and consumers will build deeper relationships with them in the coming years.

I also see immense value in the resurgence of in-person experiences. Post-pandemic, events have returned with such a force and Agency Guacamole has executed many impactful activations in major markets like Los Angeles and New York, as well as smaller markets across the country. These experiences play a critical role in bringing brands to life and creating authentic connections with end consumers. Looking ahead, I think the way we look at events, what we expect of events and the value they deliver will become more important in the next 10 years – and I’m very excited to help lead this for our clients.

As you know by now, I believe that in any PR vertical, there are always takeaways you can apply to another space and that is certainly the case here. If nothing else, remember these three key messages:

• Resilience is everything.

• Evolution has to be constant and intentional.

• Great communication starts from within.

Happy anniversary to Bilal and the whole AG team and thank you for speaking with me today. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

There’s a version of Katherine Heigl’s career that could have ended very differently.

On paper, she had everything: an Emmy-winning turn on “Grey’s Anatomy,” a breakout role in Knocked Up, and a string of romantic comedies that made her one of the most bankable actresses of the late 2000s. She was funny, accessible, camera-ready in a way that studios love, and perhaps most importantly, felt like someone audiences wanted to root for.

And then, almost overnight, the narrative shifted.

Not because her talent disappeared.
Not because the audience rejected her.
But because the story about her changed.

The Moments When Everything Shifted

Two quotes. That’s really all it took.

First, her now-infamous 2008 comment in Vanity Fair calling Knocked Up “a little sexist.”

"It was a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I'm playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you're portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie."

Then, her decision to withdraw herself from Emmy consideration for “Grey’s Anatomy,” saying she didn’t feel she’d been given material worthy of a nomination. Ouch. Heigl was throwing shade at Shonda Rhimes’ when Shonda was at the height of her powers!

And I’m not disputing anything she said, for the record — she may have been right — but Hollywood doesn’t punish honesty, it punishes timing. (Paging Timothee Chalamet!) Truly, if you strip the PR layer away, neither statement is outrageous. Actors critique their work all the time (Now paging Viola Davis!). And artists push back on writing all the time. Privately, this happens in every writers’ room, on every set, in every edit bay.

But she didn’t say it privately.

She said it publicly.
Without insulation.
Without framing.
Without a strategy.

And that’s where everything broke.

The Part That Gets Lost in the Retelling

Katherine Heigl violated something very delicate: the unspoken agreement of Hollywood PR. You don’t disrupt the narrative while the machine is still running.

At the time of the aforementioned statements:

• Knocked Up was a current hit

• “Grey’s Anatomy” was a cultural juggernaut

• She was actively benefiting from both in that exact moment

From a PR perspective, her comments didn’t read as thoughtful critique. They read as biting the hand that was very publicly feeding her. (Fair or not, that’s how the industry processes it.) And once that perception clicks into place, it’s incredibly hard to undo.

“Difficult” is Difficult to Overcome

Here’s the thing about the word “difficult”: it’s not a mere description. It’s a shortcut. Once that label attaches, everything gets filtered through it:

• A negotiation becomes “a demand.”

• A boundary becomes “a problem.”

• A quote becomes “an attitude.”

And suddenly, anonymous sources start confirming what the narrative already decided. For Heigl, this was exactly the case. Rumors began to spread. Everything she ever did and would do was scrutinized. She was a smoker so she was obviously taking time away from the set for smoke breaks. How dare she. A few poorly performing flicks later (Killers, One for the Money, Life as We Know it) , she was an outcast.

This is, in my PR-influenced-opinon, where Heigl lost control — not when she made the comments, but when she didn’t immediately reframe them. There was no rapid-response/cleanup, no repositioning interviews, no apparent #TeamHeigl strategy.

A gaping chasm was opened wide, and the industry filled it with: She’s difficult.

The Gender Issue of it All

When a male actor calls a film sexist or criticizes writing? He’s often labeled “thoughtful,” “protective” or even “feminist.” When a woman does it? She’s “ungrateful,” “attention seeking,” or “difficult.”

This isn’t unique to Katherine Heigl. But her case is one of the clearest examples of how quickly that double standard can calcify into a career narrative. Unfortunately for her (and all women), that means the margin for error is smaller—and the strategy has to be tighter. The hard truth is:

You’re not just managing perception.
You’re managing bias.

A Tepid Comeback

In recent years, Heigl has reemerged—roles in “Suits” (cancelled after one season) and “Firefly Lane” (two seasons on Netflix), more self-aware interviews, a softer public presence… and Poise commercials where she could play up her reputation of blunt honesty.

And yet, in my opinion, something is still missing.

There hasn’t been a defining “reset” moment—the kind that reframes a career in one clean stroke. No major sit-down that fully recontextualizes what happened. No orchestrated reintroduction that says: here’s who I am now, and here’s how to understand who I was then. Maybe the quiet, slow build is somehow intentional. Maybe she doesn’t care. But the public does.

Honestly, she’s probably one big romcom hit away from a proper comeback, the opportunity to do a lot of talk shows and other press, but she’s far from getting there.

The Real Lesson (And it’s Brutal)

It’s a quote vs. narrative battle. Katherine Heigl didn’t lose control of her career because she spoke out. She lost control because she spoke without a strategy—and then didn’t course-correct when it mattered most.

If you work in PR or have a public-facing career, this is the case study:

• Truth needs framing. Raw honesty without context is a liability.

• Timing is everything. Critique lands differently when you’re still cashing the checks.

• Narratives form fast. And they rarely wait for your side of the story.

• Silence is not neutral. If you don’t shape the story, someone else will.

• Comebacks require orchestration. Time alone doesn’t fix perception—strategy does. (Paging Will Smith!)

The Bottom Line I Can’t Shake

If Katherine Heigl had said the exact same things, just differently, or at a different moment, there’s a very real chance we’d be telling her story as one of Hollywood’s most respected truth-tellers.

Instead, we tell it as a cautionary tale.

And from a PR perspective, that may be the most important lesson of all.

P.S. Also Katherine, please-for-the-love-of-god, STAY AWAY FROM MAR-A-LAGO. (Paging Joey Fatone!) Maybe at the end of the day, she really does not give a…..!

@johnmvilla2Anatomy of a bad dress🍋does she have 26 more? 🤨 Katherine Heigl red carpet appearance #fashionnews #roast #redcarpet #greysanatomy

Tiktok failed to load.

Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser

Pilaar Terry is an exceptional, experienced PR pro; the Managing Partner & COO of POV Agency here in Los Angeles with more than 20 years of experience in marketing, public relations, corporate communications and brand strategy. Founded in 2019 at a kitchen table, POV is an inclusion-driven, boutique and strategic marketing communications agency that colorfully reimagines how branding is done and who it's done by. ​​Pilaar has worked with a few brands you may have heard of like AT&T, Clorox, Victoria's Secret, Timberland, Sony, Nike and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. (And now I’m hungry. I love Fleming’s.)

We also have a shared passion for nachos.

Q: Pilaar, please introduce yourself briefly and tell us how you first got your foot in the door!

A: I’m Pilaar Terry, Managing Partner and COO of POV Agency. We’re a boutique PR/marketing agency based in LA that reimagines how PR is done and who it’s done by. We’ve been around since 2019 and I actually stumbled into PR because I literally didn’t know that this job or industry existed. I was a Broadcast Journalism major at USC, certain that I’d become an award-winning network news anchor and journalist. I’m naturally curious, nosy as hell and a strong writer, so I felt that that’s where my talents could really shine.

But just as my idealized version of being a broadcast journalist was being replaced by the reality of being a broadcast journalist, I took PR 101 at the USC Annenberg School for Journalism & Communication. The class was taught by the late Howard Bragman, a pioneer in entertainment PR who helped queer celebrities come out in the 90’s and beyond. He was so well-known industry wide and beyond that he was immortalized as a Jeopardy! clue last year! He was a partner at Bragman, Nyman Cafarelli, a massive entertainment PR shop that is now known as R&CPMK.

When Professor Bragman mentioned at the end of a lecture that his agency was looking for interns for the next semester, my hand shot up. His classes piqued my curiosity in PR and I wanted to see where it might go. I got the internship and that turned into a 25 year career with more twists and turns than Space Mountain.

Q: Did you initially set out to practice in a particular space? Why did you pick it?

A: When my internship turned into a full-time job, I was so excited to get my foot in the door that there was no plan in place. Looking back, I’m really thankful that I started at BNC as the receptionist because in between answering phones, rolling calls, receiving and filing faxes and scheduling the conference rooms, I got to see firsthand how a PR agency worked. There was corporate communications, talent, experiential — you name it. I thought that I wanted to work events so when an opening on that team arose, I interviewed for it and didn’t get the position. I was so gutted. When a role on the corp comms team opened up, I reluctantly interviewed for that one, determined not to like it. Who wants to be on a team with corporate in the title? Ew.

That’s the job I did get. And you know what? Turns out, I do want to be a team with ‘corporate’ in the title. And I still practice corp comms today, I freaking love it here.

I wouldn’t say that I picked corporate comms, I would say that the universe guided me toward it by process of elimination and opportunity. Even though it wasn’t part of a plan or blueprint, I’m really glad where I ended up.

Q: Do you practice in the same space now?

A: I do! I run the Corporate side of POV Agency, while my business partner runs the Culture side. I get to work with clients from agencies to non-profits to emerging brands and there’s always something new every single day.

I was just chatting with one of our agency clients that focuses on the B2B space. The team was breaking down some ad creative for a data company they’d worked on and - this is gonna sound so freaking lame - but I was getting so excited! The thought, the intention, the strategy and the creativity, I really love getting to champion great work done by awesomely smart people.

Q: What is the biggest challenge about being a publicist in 2026?

A: There are a few challenges that come to mind — there’s no doubt that our industry is getting tougher. In my opinion, one of the biggest challenges about being a publicist today is navigating a landscape so fractured that it’s tough to really cut through and make an impact at scale.

Another challenge is keeping the profession human. It’s called public relations because we’re literally building relationships on the daily - with our team, our clients, the media, other publicists. It’s easy to hide behind a computer and just strategize and pitch, but what really makes a great publicist is someone who pours into making relationships real IRL, too.

Q: What advice would you give to someone trying to jumpstart their PR career?

A: Try on different hats within the industry before truly committing to one practice or another. Figuring out what you don’t want to do is just as important as figuring out what you love, but you can’t know that until you try different paths. What’s wonderful about PR is that there are so many ways to do it. We’re everywhere!

Pilaar and I met because we had a client in common at one point and became fast friends. She is magnetic. She has “rizz” coming out of her pores and I loved doing this interview because we’re both just total geeks for this stuff and get excited over the most minute details. We also have our entrée into the business in common — I too had different plans until I took a PR class at USC, and when a guest speaker mentioned she was hiring, my hand shot up!

And on that note, I also want to congratulate her on her recent appointment to the USC Annenberg School of Communications’ Alumni Advisory Board!

FIND PILAAR TERRY on LinkedIn and check out POV Agency’s fabulous website.

During the telecast, you’ll find the publicists in a “holding room” of sorts. Waiting to find out if their client was called up to the stage. Ready to celebrate and meet them in the press room if necessary. It is the culmination of months of work. (The awards famously take place at the Dolby Theater which has a tunnel to the Lowes Hotel next door, where press and support teams wait.)

Awards season is often framed as a battle between films however anyone who has worked in entertainment publicity knows that’s not entirely true. Yes, great films matter. Performances matter, but Oscars are also won through strategy driven by a unique group of publicists with an important niche specialty.

The Campaign Starts Long Before Oscar Night

Awards season begins well in advance of the nominations’ announcement. Believe it or not, oftentimes when the Oscars end, the campaigns for the following year begin.

Films that eventually become contenders first appear at top tier film festivals (it’s required if you want to be eligible for “Best Picture”). A strong premiere can set the tone for an entire campaign. Early standing ovations, glowing reviews, and industry buzz give publicists valuable momentum before the broader public even knows the race has begun.

From there, the campaign becomes about building and maintaining conversation. Profiles are placed. Theatrical runs are booked. Screenings are organized. Interviews are carefully scheduled.

The Narrative Is Almost as Important as the Performance

Storytelling extends far beyond the screen.

Sometimes it’s the “overdue” narrative — an actor whose body of work has been admired for decades finally receiving recognition (this year one could argue it was Amy Madigan). Other times it’s the breakout story, introducing audiences to a newcomer whose career suddenly seems to explode overnight (Lupita Nyong’o, Edward Norton). There’s the comeback campaign (Ke Huy Quan). The “important film for this cultural moment” campaign (Get Out).

One of the clearest examples of narrative-driven awards campaigning came with Robert Downey Jr. and his performance in Oppenheimer. The performance itself was widely praised, but the campaign naturally tapped into something bigger: the arc of Downey’s career. Interviews and profiles often touched on his early success, his well-documented struggles, and his remarkable comeback — followed by years as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable franchise stars. By the time awards season peaked, the story around the performance wasn’t just about the role. It was about the long road back to prestige recognition.

Publicists don’t invent these narratives from thin air. But they do help shape the way the industry and the media talk about them. A campaign that resonates emotionally with voters often has a stronger impact than one that simply lists achievements.

When Social Media Becomes Part of the Campaign

Not every moment of awards momentum is planned. (Just ask Timothee Chalamet’s publicist.1)

A short clip from an interview or appearance circulating widely on social media can quickly turn into one of those rare cultural moments that spreads far beyond traditional industry press. For campaign teams, moments like this are invaluable. They do something that carefully planned publicity cannot always guarantee they make the nominee feel unavoidable.

Instead of chasing attention, the campaign suddenly has the cultural conversation working in its favor. Of course, it can also work in reverse.

A recent example of how fragile awards campaigns can be came when past tweets from Karla Sofía Gascón, a “Best Actress” nominee for Emilia Pérez, resurfaced during the 2025 Oscar race. The posts, which contained offensive and racially insensitive remarks, quickly sparked backlash online. After the controversy erupted, Netflix shifted its campaign focus away from Gascón and toward her co-star, Zoe Saldaña (who won). Gascón apologized but the damage was done. Would she have won if only…?

Controversial PR

Here are a few more examples that campaigns matter as much as performances. Academy Awards history is full of controversial PR moments:

Shakespeare in Love vs. Saving Private Ryan

In 1998, many industry insiders believed Saving Private Ryan was the inevitable “Best Picture” winner, but Miramax ran an unprecedented campaign that included massive trade-publication advertising, relentless screenings and Q&As, and strategic messaging positioning the film as a celebration of actors and writers. The film ultimately won “Best Picture” and the campaign became legendary — and controversial — for demonstrating how much awards strategy could influence the outcome.

Andrea Riseborough’s Grassroots Campaign

A lot of people were surprised when Andrea Riseborough was nominated for “Best Actress” for the 2022 indie film To Leslie. In the final weeks before nominations, a wave of high-profile actors suddenly began posting about the film on social media and hosting private screenings. The sudden celebrity endorsements likely helped propel Riseborough into the surprise nond. (The Academy even reviewed the campaign afterward to determine whether lobbying rules had been violated — an extremely rare move. She was not penalized.)

Melissa Leo’s “For Your Consideration” Ads

Melissa Leo broke ground when she was nominated for The Fighter. Leo personally paid for bold “For Your Consideration” ads in trade publications, featuring dramatic portraits and the tagline “Consider.” The move surprised many in the industry because actors rarely self-fund Oscar ads. She ultimately won “Best Supporting Actress” and the ads became a memorable awards-season talking point.

I’ve had the privilege to be involved with two Oscar campaigns as a consultant2, and it was an incredible learning experience. What impressed me was the amount of detail tended to by the leaders of our teams. All the handshaking and smiling. All the names and positions they remember with ease, just by sight – “Oh that’s John Doe and he’s an Academy Member. Over there is Jane Doe and she’s in the DGA….” I will be forever impressed with the work they do.

In Hollywood, the statue may go to the artist. But the campaign?

That’s a publicist’s masterpiece.

Actor and current Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet is facing substantial backlash after stating in a Variety & CNN town hall that he wouldn’t want to work in ballet or opera because “no one cares about this anymore.” The comment came during a conversation with interviewer Matthew McConaughey about the challenges of keeping audiences engaged in movies. While Chalamet said the remark jokingly and quickly added “all respect” to those art forms (also while chuckling), the clip has been circulated and continues to draw criticism from members of the ballet and opera communities.

In response, several major institutions in those genres have pushed back on social media, highlighting the strong audiences, loyal fans and cultural importance of those art forms. Some even invited Chalamet to attend performances, framing it as a chance to reconsider his comments.

Will this effect his Oscar chances? No. The town hall initially took place on February 21, and Oscar voting closed on March 5, but his comments didn’t go viral until the following weekend, sparing his personal publicist and the Marty Supreme team from a shitstorm. However, I still think there are some lasting ramifications worth discussing.

1. The Clipped Context Problem

Once Chalamet opened his mouth about ballet and opera, his fate was sealed. It was a long-form interview but all it takes is one clip, one moment, going viral. No one cares about anything else said, not even his immediate apology (which I would argue was not sincere -- he just knew right away he’d stepped in it). Anytime a viral clip like this circulates online, it’s stripped of any nuance. Short clips collapse tone, irony, and context.

2. Institutions Knew How to Win the Response Cycle

One reason the backlash gained traction is that arts institutions responded quickly, publicly and oftentimes, with humor.

This approach did three things simultaneously:

• Defended their art form

• Avoided looking defensive

• Turned the moment into cultural promotion

Here are a couple of my favorite response posts:

And even Chalamet’s high school principal weighed in (he went to the famous Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts).

3. Timing Makes Everything Louder

We’ve all heard “timing is everything” and it is. When an actor is highly visible—interviews, panels, press tours—every comment becomes part of a broader narrative about their persona.

For Chalamet, whose brand leans heavily on artistic credibility and cultural sophistication (he’s also been picking Oscar-bait roles these last few years), dismissing high art—even jokingly—creates friction with that image. It’s not scandal-level damage, but it introduces a small narrative… hiccup. And during awards campaigns, even hiccups can get amplified.

Again, won’t hurt his chances, but if he wins, I predict a soft apology in his speech. (Frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t said something already.) In the grand scheme, this is a minor offense, but it’s a great example of how modern reputation management happens at the speed of social media.

Celebrity scandals don’t always start with the actual scandal. Sometimes they start when the press and social media gets their hands on it. (Next thing you know, even Doja Cat is coming for you! 😂)

And one more thing I want you to consider. It’s been giving me major “grab them by the pussy” vibes. Yes, Chalamet said what he said, but there’s been no backlash against the person who sat there agreeing. In that way, McConaughey basically Billy Bush’d this entire interaction. (Except this is obviously far less offensive than THAT, I know.)

So I leave you with this: WHY IS EVERYONE LEAVING MCCONAUGHEY ALONE?

Share

Celebrity scandal is not rare. It’s not shocking. It’s not even particularly new. What continues to evolve is how quickly reputations calcify.

In the “old days,” you had days — sometimes weeks — before a narrative hardened. Today you have hours. Sometimes minutes. The first response window isn’t just important, it’s determinative. And if you work in PR long enough, you learn something uncomfortable:

The scandal isn’t what affects your career, the response strategy does.

And though there are exceptions to the rule (I’m looking at you, Chris Brown, you unapologetic anomaly), let’s break some of the more memorable celeb scandals down, shall we?

Will Smith and the Slap Felt Around the World

The Oscars slap wasn’t just a shocking moment — it was a masterclass in what happens when crisis containment fails in real time. The issue wasn’t only the act itself. It was the next ten minutes.

You may recall that Smith was immediately counseled by some of his fellow actors and then returned to his seat. The show continued. He won Best Actor. He gave an emotional speech that apologized to the Academy — but not directly to Chris Rock.

That gap mattered.

The first framing wins disproportionate power. When the immediate narrative becomes “unhinged” or “assault,” that language cements before nuance can enter. The memes were minted before nuance had a chance to breathe. His legacy will always include that frame.

Smith eventually issued a written apology and resigned from the Academy. He was not stripped of the Best Actor award he won that same night although he was sentenced to a 10-year ban from attending Academy events in person or virtually. Rock remained rather mum on the subject, only commenting on it in a stand-up special later on.

Was his career damaged? I’d say it was tarnished. He threw a considerable amount of time and energy at social media, becoming buddies with several prominent creators in the process, and his music. And he also secured a major deal with Paramount for new projects via his company, Westbrook. He’s been slow-but-steady. In my opinion, he needs a mega-box-office-hit to re-cement his icon-level status. And then he’ll have to craft a new plan because he will surely be asked about “the slap” in his press tour, unless his publicist is able to quash that. Time will tell.

The 90s Redemption Prototype: Hugh Grant

I spoke to a friend of mine, Danny Deraney, CEO & Founder of Deraney PR. He is one of my go-to-guys for crisis comms, and when I mentioned this particular scandal, he told me that “when people ask me about crisis comms and apologies, this is one of the examples I use.”

In 1995, Hugh Grant was arrested with Divine Brown in Los Angeles. By today’s standards, it was career-ending material and would likely trigger full-scale cancellation today. (And he was also dating model Elizabeth Hurley at the time.)

Grant did something radical – and brilliant. He went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and said, essentially: “Yeah. I did a bad thing.”

No deflection. No spin. No blaming. No victim narrative. Just sheepish British contrition.

It worked.

Why?

Because he collapsed the scandal quickly. He didn’t fight the facts. He didn’t escalate. He didn’t posture. In pre-social media culture, media cycles were slower. There was still a gatekeeping class. But the strategy still holds: own the mistake, humanize, move forward.

Contrast that with today’s endless apology video ecosystem, and it almost feels quaint!

Gendered Scandal & Reinvention: Kristen Stewart

When paparazzi photos surfaced in 2012 of Kristen Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson with Director Rupert Sanders, the backlash was swift and vicious. Public shaming. Tabloid saturation. Franchise risk.

She issued a public apology and included a specific apology to Pattinson. But what’s interesting isn’t the apology, it’s what happened next. Stewart did not launch an apology tour. She did not sit down for a tearful primetime interview.

Instead, she repositioned.

Over time, Stewart pivoted from teen franchise ingénue to indie film credibility, fashion house ambassador, and eventually, Oscar-nominated performer. As her career matured and her choices shifted, her brand evolved.

The infidelity scandal didn’t disappear; it became irrelevant to her new positioning.

“One of the best things you can do,” Danny told me, citing Stewart, “is own up to it.”

Here’s an infuriating truth, too: She absorbed a level of vilification that male counterparts historically haven’t. The gender-biased response was obvious. But her comeback didn’t rely on public forgiveness, it relied on brand reframing.

When Litigation Becomes Content: Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard

The Depp-Heard trial harkens back to the OJ Simpson-days with litigation as entertainment. The public perception didn’t form from legal briefs, it formed from clips and social media commentary.

Depp’s team appeared to understand this. He maintained a calm, sometimes charming demeanor. Supporters amplified sympathetic content. Cultural narrative momentum swung in his direction long before verdicts were rendered.

Heard faced a different reality. Emotional expression was reframed as instability. Online culture hardened against her quickly. The digital ecosystem was not neutral terrain.

The key lesson here? Women are scrutinized and vilified in ways men simply are not. The asymmetry is undeniable. And maddening.

In the social media era, legal strategy and reputation strategy are separate but intertwined disciplines. Winning in court does not automatically mean winning in culture, and vice versa.

(See also: Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively, the trial the seemingly will never end.)

The Influencer Rebuild: Logan Paul

In 2017, a video showed Logan Paul and his friends at the Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, known to be a frequent site of suicides. It was a global YouTube scandal.

The initial apology was widely criticized. YouTube imposed penalties. Advertisers fled. By traditional standards, this was career-ending, but here’s where modern crisis PR gets interesting.

Paul didn’t simply apologize. He migrated.

He built a new, adjacent commercial lane. He shifted into boxing. He built a podcast (and interviewed a highly polarizing presidential candidate in 2024). He cultivated a new audience that either forgave, forgot, or simply didn’t prioritize the scandal. He didn’t win back everyone, but did he need to?

There were so many juicy scandals to choose from for this piece — even as recent as Ashley Tisdale and the “mama drama.” And lest we forget that Robert Downey, Jr., now one of the highest-paid actors in the business, was once a social pariah.

Celebrity scandal has become its own genre of entertainment. We livestream trials. We remix apologies. We turn courtroom testimony into TikTok audio.

But beneath the spectacle is something far more strategic.

Reputation isn’t repaired by emotion alone. It’s repaired by alignment — with audience sentiment, with timing, with cultural mood.

Some celebrities survive because the public forgives them. Others survive because they adapt faster than the outrage cycle.

And in modern crisis PR, adaptability isn’t optional.

It’s power.

Special thanks to Danny Deraney for brainstorming with me on Crisis PR!