I remember when the 7/7 bombs went off in London in 2005 there was an incredulous reaction to a press release which went out assuring fans of R&B douchewad Omarion that, despite being in the city at the time, he was OK. That’s right - music star and probable millionaire Omarion wasn’t riding public transport in London at the point the explosions happened. “Phew,” the whole world failed to reply.
This little PR boo-boo came to mind as I read this article at Gigwise. The facts are these: there was a modest earthquake in Los Angeles. Black Kids were in the city recording a song at the time. Only one of the band felt the earth move a bit, even though the quake went on for 45 seconds.
This, somehow, has been spun into the headline: “Black Kids Have Lucky Escape In Los Angeles Earthquake”.

You know who else had a lucky escape? Every other musician who happened to be in that part of California at the time. Weirdly, they don’t get a headline but the buzz band of the moment does. Huh.
Here’s a little note to artist PRs, and indeed the media outlets who run such stories: it looks really, really bad if you use a natural disaster, terrorist attack, act of God, or any other event of great magnitude to promote an act, unless they are directly involved in some way.
And that’s not the green light to go orchestrating a lightening strike on Black Kids’ next gig, either. Tsk.

Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday July 31st, 2008 at 11:31 am