Borkowski Media Trends: Mark on Schofield, Bridgerton Experience, Starmer's Sausage Fest & MORE
PLUS: Premier League vs Man City | Bake Off's Bonkers Barbie Bonanza
Mark Borkowski on Philip Schofield’s audacious comeback
Mark has been sharing his thoughts on Philip Schofield’s remarkable television comeback in media outlets including ITV News, BBC Radio 4 World at One, The Independent and The Daily Mirror.
In this morning’s Guardian he summarised the challenges facing Schofield and his chances of success in an op-ed, here’s a snippet:
“The first trick is the apparently confessional format of the show. The solitude allows Schofield to tell his side of the story that dethroned him without dissenting voices interrupting. Then there is the setting that unsubtly symbolises both humility and victimhood – all clearly designed to propel Schofield into a redemption arc.
He went quiet for a time after the scandal hit. That, too, was strategic. These days, the public’s attention span is about as long as a TikTok clip, and the news cycle is just as fleeting. A full 80% of online news stories hit their peak within 20 hours, meaning that we collectively forget them faster than we scroll past useless ads. Borkowski research confirms that even a major scandal only holds our fragile interest for two weeks, tops.”
YOU CAN READ THE FULL PIECE BY CLICKING THIS LINK
A Bidgerton too far?
Dearest gentle readers, it is with great joy that we bring you news of the best entertainment based scam since the Glasgow Willy Wonka experience. The scene of the crime? The Detroit Bridgerton Themed Ball. Hundreds of ballgown clad wannabe members of the Ton paid up to $1000 to attend the event hosted by Uncle & Me LLC. Expecting string quartets, opulent floral arrangements and waltzing, guests instead faced a single violin player, poundland level décor and, most bafflingly, a lone stripper on a portable pole. The usual Fyre Festival-esque revelations continued: the food was raw, the seating was non existent and the promised cash prizes never materialised. Furious Bridgerton fans took to Tik Tok, and the gleeful news stories spread. The Cut even tracked down the Regency Era stripper, who appeared equally baffled.
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Condolences of course go out to all who spent their hard earned cash on this travesty, but it must be acknowledged that there is something delicious in the absurdity of a good old fashioned scam. The longevity of the Willy Wonka Experience memes goes someway to proving that the public fascination with such silly crimes has only been magnified by the chronically online generation. It is doubly fascinating that this particular debacle has unravelled in the US, who’s threshold for absurdity is traditionally much lower. The Willy Wonka furore was so inherently British, that it will be interesting to see if the Budget Bridgerton Ball can match its cultural staying power. In the meantime, we await the next great flop with much anticipation.
Starmer’s Party turns into a Sausage Fest
The first Labour Party conference in over a decade as the party of government should have been a triumphant celebration and a shiny PR moment for new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Instead, the weight of the crown was all too evidence in a conference that appeared to be operating under a veil of gloom, with tensions over winter fuel allowance and anger about donations accepted by Labour MPs.
Our analysis which shows a huge spike in negative sentiment surrounding Starmer this week (87% of non-neutral coverage according to Meltwater) suggests the horse may have already bolted on that front.
Echoes of 2009 aside, these political scandals may have been overshadowed by a rather wurst gaffe made by Starmer in his speech calling for peace in the Middle East and the “return of the sausages…hostages’. A nearly instantaneous viral hit, Starmer made sausages start trending on Twitter. Whilst this was an unexpected boom for butchers, this untimely blunder was quickly seized on by the Conservative party who churned out a Star Wars inspired meme replicating the opening credits of the films ‘Episode X: Return of the Sausages’. Since then, a slew of social media memes have emerged expressing a combination of ridicule and outrage.
Choosing not to stop and apologise, Starmer continued with his speech, rapidly correcting himself. Perhaps fearing that acknowledging the slip-up would only create more material for media sharks. In terms of crisis response, refusing to let the gaffe derail the whole speech has allowed Starmer to try and ride the wave of ridicule, relying on short media attention spans to let it fizzle. In some contexts, an apology is definitely required (and social media is full of people calling his slip-up insensitive and disrespectful), however in ignoring the incident, Starmer has effectively tried to brush it off as accidental and hence meaningless.
3 days later speaking in New York, he finally acknowledged the event, admitting to having ‘mangled’ the address – note the lack of apology to individuals he may have offended – and proceeded to move on. Luckily for him (or not) a Google of Starmer now seems focused once again on donations and fuel, his strategy seems to have succeeded. The insatiable news cycle has consumer the sausages.
The Premier League's Comms Problem
The ongoing drawn-out battle between the Premier League and Manchester City has snowballed into a monstrous beast, with the media and fans speculating over anything they can get their hands on.
Yesterday, The Times reported that City may be on the verge of a seismic victory, which relates to Associated Party Transaction (APT) rules that were introduced to stop wealthy owners from inflating sponsorship deals with companies linked to the team’s owners.
Premier League clubs were expecting to vote on the matter, but with reports that a 'last-minute' withdrawal of the vote is expected, this is unlikely, which will infuriate the majority of other clubs.
As a reminder, the Premier League began a formal investigation into City in 2018 following nine years of not accurately reporting its accounts. Six years later, there are still huge questions surrounding 115 charges for alleged breaches of the league's financial rules.
To put that figure into context, Everton were docked 10 points for a single breach (later reduced to a six-point deduction on appeal) putting their very status as a top flight club at risk.
The Premier League's treatment of Everton has caused self-inflicted headaches. Unless they severely punish City, a civil war will erupt about unequal treatment, and ultimately, it will be harder for them to manage their reputation.
City is armed with high-powered lawyers looking to delay proceedings as long as possible, and the Premier League's attempt at secrecy over this process has only enraged fans and other clubs, especially considering Man City's glittering success. Since 2018, they have won 14 trophies while evading punishment.
The League has failed to control the narrative over this issue while only upping interest in this story. The only way to salvage this issue is to devise a creative punishment that genuinely hurts Man City. Once City challenges the punishment, the Premier League has to regain control of the narrative and try to paint a David v Goliath picture, capturing the might of City's legal challenge. The stakes are high on this one, and we will undoubtedly read many more leaks until we get the ultimate news.
Bake Off’s Bonkers Barbie Bonanza
The Great British Bake Off kicked off its 15th season with a bold—and somewhat bewildering—attempt to stay on top of the media zeitgeist by transforming the infamous set into Barbieland. Yes, you heard that right: there was an explosion of bright pink all over the pristine green lawn, and host Alison Hammond rocked a blonde wig with an outfit that looked straight out of Margot Robbie’s wardrobe.
Trying to ride the Barbie wave (albeit 14 months after the movie’s release), the episode opened with a full-on Barbie parody, complete with Paul Hollywood dressed as Ken. Cue the Twitter meltdown.
Does this delayed *Barbie* reference suggest the show is chasing trends rather than riding the wave? And is *Bake Off* slowly losing its place on our screens? Viewers were quick to point out, “I know it’s filmed quite a time in advance, but *Barbie* was surely a dated reference even when they filmed it??”
With each new season, it seems *Bake Off* is grappling with how to remain relevant in an increasingly crowded television landscape, raising questions about whether the show can continue to capture the charm that made it a beloved staple in the first place.
If the Barbie intro wasn’t enough to get people talking, the show wasted no time cranking up the chaos with the first technical challenge. This time, however, it wasn’t soggy bottoms or under-baked sponges that had viewers screaming at their TVs—it was a shocking twist. Noel and Alison announced that the bakers would have to recreate a Battenberg cake *from memory*. No recipe, just a taste test.
Fans quickly took to social media, dubbing the challenge “brutal” and “absolute madness.” And if that wasn’t enough drama for one episode, Paul Hollywood decided to throw out one of his coveted handshakes a mere 30 minutes into the show.
Illiyin Morrison, representing Norwich, received the infamous handshake for her cinnamon bun cake, sparking outrage online. Fans were quick to question whether Paul’s golden handshake had lost its prestige. “Too soon!” cried the masses. Even The Guardian couldn’t resist having a crack the next morning, with the headline reading “A truly exceptional bake used to earn a silent, manly handshake from Hollywood, but he doles these rewards out like cheap mini-muffins now:”
It seems the show is navigating uncharted waters. From Barbie-themed intros to Battenberg challenges without a recipe, the beloved tent feels like it’s having a midlife crisis. The shift in tone—veering from the heartwarming, wholesome competition we know to something that feels a bit more chaotic—has left fans divided. While some are embracing the wackier elements, others are wondering if the show is losing its magic.