Borkowski Weekly Media Trends 04-02-2022
Scottish football club in crisis | Music NFT controversy | Rihanna's pregnant and Drake's fuming
If you missed it, make sure you read our latest blog on the decline of BrewDog's reputation in light of scathing BBC exposé: https://borkowski.substack.com/p/brewdogs-performative-anarchy-did
And onto The Trends!
WRATH AT RAITH
[TW: Sexual Assault]
Second tier Scottish football club Raith Rovers is a local institution, having existed for nearly 140 years and boasting famous fans such as Gordon Brown, Scottish laureate Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, and the bassist of Coldplay.
The club's wholesome image came under threat this week when they announced the signing of David Goodwillie, who was adjudged in a civil court to have raped a woman 10 years ago.
https://www.raithrovers.net/52477/chairman-update-david-goodwillie.htm
Having been acquitted in the criminal case, Goodwillie's continued career has been subject to consistent controversy due to his lack of remorse, attempts to rehabilitate himself, or even acknowledgement of wrongdoing. In addition, his signing in the same week that Manchester Utd footballer Mason Greenwood was arrested on comparable charges to those he faced drew widespread fan outrage.
Raith's fanbase unified in fury, Val McDermid cancelling her sponsorship of the club, and several of Rovers' women's team quitting, along with high-profile members of the club's staff and community.
The situation was already dire, but Rovers compounded things by releasing one of the worst statements (now deleted from their website) in recent crisis comms memory; clumsily phrased, hastily-written, trite, skirting the issue and remorselessly defending the signing as a 'football decision' it turned fury into hysteria and headlines into front pages.
The climbdown was painful and grovelling and accepted only with tentative relief by supporters.
In 2022 any move that can be interpreted as condoning, forgiving, or even overlooking such a problematic past is unlikely to fly under the radar and can erupt into a social media cause celebre-and then national news - at the speed of nuclear power fission.
The best move would have been not to sign Goodwillie in the first place. If it was a hill on which Rovers were willing to die, they should have done so based on a strong statement of contrition and commitment to rehabilitation on Goodwillie's part. If – as would have been likely in any case - that had still provoked such outrage, then the club should not have doubled down before realising that the cause was lost.
The club reintegrating into a wholesome community cornerstone will be more challenging than their search for a new striker.
MUSIC NFTS CONTROVERSY
For the first time since the 2000s, Kanye West created universally praised content - capturing how most feel about NFTs...
And whilst no sane person would bet against a complete NFT U-turn (we give it until the end of Feb), Ye managed to read a room, capturing a sentiment shared by most in the industry. Especially after the emergence of HitPiece, which might become a symbol for those already uneasy about the NFT phenomenon, with sceptics fearing NFTs cause more problems than they solve.
If you missed it, a website called HitPiece created freshly minted music NFTs, listed as single and album artwork, without artists' or music labels permission. They were stealing valuable IPs and selling counterfeit goods for profit. It's a scam, plain and simple. And whilst artists have sold their art as NFTs before (it can be a successful model), HitPiece is setting themselves up for hefty lawsuits without the necessary permissions.
To add to the absurdity, HitPiece issued an insincere passive-aggressive statement that leaves the impression it's run by a pack of NFT-bros who actually thought this was an idea that artists would get behind. A half-arsed declaration that artists will receive a share of the digital goods sold would never be acceptable.
This viral story followed the news that Lil Yachty sued a "music industry-focused" NFT company called Opulous, who used his name and likeness to raise $6.5m of NFTs without his consent. Unfortunately, instead of looking for ways NFTs can solve issues plaguing the music industry, entities like HitPiece and Opulous are more willing to raise quick cash fraudulently and shamelessly.
A VIRAL PREGNANCY THAT DRAKE IS FURIOUS ABOUT
The pregnancy announcement has become a modern phenomenon of celebrity culture. Beyonce's 2017 announcement that she was pregnant, complete with a flower-laden photoshoot, springs to mind, as do the numerous other magazine covers and social media posts from other A-listers and Z listers.
This week it was superstar Rihanna's turn, with a series of staged pap shots that show her walking hand in hand with boyfriend A$AP Rocky, with her bare pregnant stomach poking out of her puffer coat (cue social media furore and a slew of sad-Drake memes). True, like Beyonce's, Rihanna's pregnancy was always going to cause excitement. But the way she announced it – a self-aware take on the paparazzi shoot - deserves some credit.
https://www.xxlmag.com/drake-upset-phone-meme-video/
The pap shot has been subverted by celebs in recent times (think Kanye West's fake paparazzi photos of then-wife Kim Kardashian, which expertly promoted Ye's latest Yeezy collection). Rihanna's pregnancy shots this week feel like another expert use of the medium. The paparazzi camera is a vehicle of fame, a whole world's eyes looking through one camera lens. Rihanna knows how much currency this moment has – by using a medium so intertwined with fame, she's giving fans exactly what they want and giving us all a knowing wink at the same time.