What are my fellow bloggers talking about?

This week, our assignment was to read blogs of our fellow PRR332 classmates and discuss our thoughts about them. After going through some of the blogs I found the blogs about ethics the most interesting because of how many problems can ethics can cause in the public relations industry.

The first blog I looked at was Katerina Torres' blog titled Social Media for PR Use. Her blog focuses on all major issues and benefits associated with social media in today's society. Every week she comments on a different topic and how it applies to the social media world. This particular blog is about ethics and how it can be positively and negatively affected. She referred to two terms "respondent study risks" and "respondent recruitment" which I found very interesting. The respondent study risks applied to how negatively it can affect research. Someone who adds someone on a social media outlet will never know if the person answering is actually the age, sex, or race they write down. They may also add someone with the wrong intentions and could be harmful. On the other hand, respondent recruitment is positive because the social media outlets reach more people and can get more respondents for surveys or other possible research tactics. I never realized that ethics could be so important to social media outlets but once I read Katerina's blog, I realized how it plays such a large part in my life considering how many social media outlets I use.

The second blog I read was Blaine Dulkerian's blog titled E.PR which focuses on the entertainment industry. Every week she posts public relations related issues that are seen in the media industry. Her blog on ethics brought up some very interesting points. She mentioned the campaign launched by the IPRA in 2001 banning unethical and illegal practices between PR practitioners and the media. Blaine also discusses one of the most talked about fashion statements of 2010, Lady Gaga's dress made of meat. Blaine makes really good points about who allowed her to make that judgement and if she had any PR support. I agree because if I were Lady Gaga's publicist I would remind her that wearing that dress could have put her name in negative connotations. And it sure did. PETA had a major issue with how wearing meat represented slaughter and blood. Blaine's blog raises good ethical points and definitely made me realize how important ethics are in the entertainment industry.

After reading these blogs, I feel like I looked at these sides of public relations in a different way. It also made me aware of how many ethical problems are around me everyday. Although I have a love for fashion and have always set my mind to working in that industry, I could definitely see myself working in the social media or entertainment industry after reading these blogs and thinking about these issues!

Are you trying to sell clothes or not?

Fashion Ads have been used since the beginning of time to create buzz about a designer. In today's society, the more risqué the advertisement, the more attention it receives. There are ads relating to drugs, sex, and lifestyles. A specific ad that has been one of the most commented on in the past two years is the 2007 Sisley Fashion Junkie ad. Sisley is a French brand who has been known throughout the years for their shocking ad campaigns.

This ad shows two women who are snorting a dress to symbolize their addiction to fashion. The dress represents a cocaine which the models are snorting. The advertisement was designed to show society's (mainly women in this case) addiction to fashion. The ad received a lot of attention however not all of it was positive. According to various blog posts, women felt as though it was addressing the wrong issues such as women's health and drug problems. Personally, I found this idea to be horrible Public Relations research.

This shows that the company did not think about the negative image that would come to the brand. Younger teens who would see this in magazines would be exposed to drugs and sex (referring to the exposed nipple on the model on the left). It also gives the idea that this brand supports the use of drugs and that these skinny models are using them. Also the campaign gave the idea that a woman's love for fashion is as problematic as one's addiction to illegal substances. This is an offensive message because it is not unhealthy (at least in most cases) to be "addicted" to fashion.

After looking at the 2010 advertisements posted on the Sisley website, it doesn't seem as if much has changed. The photographs are still provocative and may not attract customers.

This photo which is not as intense as some that can be found in the slide shows on the website (photos include men kissing other men and women kissing other women), is not one that many parents would be pleased with their young daughters looking at. Although it is a subtle approach, it doesn't take long for a person to realize it is a reference to sex. The company also has a children's line which doesn't use as shocking of an approach to promote the clothing. The issue is however, that by using these ads for adults, prospective parents will not even consider the childrens' line.

Personally, I find that this company should research a different way to promote their clothing. I also think they lack an established demographic because a company that sells women's clothing and children's clothing should have a link in the brand and a children's brand definitely should not be linked to these photos. Like our textbook says, "Advertising and public relations is a perception-driven business" and this perception is definitely not a positive one. 

Without PR, what would we wear?

Not one person in the world does not follow fashion or take part in it somehow. Regardless of how many people say they are unique and do not follow trends, they have taken some part in the industry unless they are nudists. Every person who purchases clothing, makes a decision based on another decision that someone working in the industry made. Fashion trickles down to even those who don't purchase clothing because they got the clothing from someone who took the time to decide on the purchase.

Public Relations is an extremely important aspect of the fashion industry because it is what causes all the consumers to buy clothing. Practitioners who work in this industry can do a variety of tasks. Working at an agency  promoting several fashion labels and designers or work at a fashion house doing their in-house PR. In each area there are many jobs that need to be done in order to successfully promote a brand. Tasks range anywhere from recruiting famous models to wear the clothing to stalking magazines and social media websites to see what celebrity wore which designer. Either way, fashion is very closely linked to the communication world because it uses majority of the mediums practitioners in every field use to do their jobs.

Personally, I have experienced fashion PR firsthand and realized how much work it takes to make a brand big. It also requires a lot of research to be successful. Two summers ago I interned at the Cole Haan Design Studio in NYC. The public relations team often recruited me to help them with projects and organize the closets at the office. A typical day consisted of the team calling stylists to promote our accessories and shoes for celebrities to wear to events. After they agreed, we would contact publicists and photographers to attend these events and photograph the celebrities wearing our brand. Following, we would have to call magazines and different social media outlets to display these pictures to the public so that the consumers would follow trends and their favorite celebrities and purchase these items. We used research to find the appropriate media outlets, contact people, and the right celebrities to promote our brand to the correct demographics. This industry uses public relations in a very important way and makes sure to use all techniques to make the job successful.