Publicity efforts for Ashanti's newest record The Declaration sparked controversy and anti-violence protests among parent advocate groups and religious leaders in Los Angeles this week. In the music video for her latest single, "The Way That I Love You," Ashanti plays the role of a woman who discovers her boyfriend cheated on her and takes revenge by murdering him.
While the creative expression of the video is under some scrutiny, community leaders are up in arms about Universal/Motown's publicity of the record's single with a web site that encouraged its visitors to use its "Gotchagram" feature to send an e-card to friends that features a customized news release about the friend's "crime" such as cheating or breaking someone's heart along with gruesome details about the subsequent murder of the "criminal" including such details as the murder weapon used to seek revenge on the receiver of the e-card.
According to MTV News, "More than two dozen concerned parents and religious leaders gathered outside the Universal/Motown offices Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles to mount a protest against the promotion...the group condemned the video and its message of using violence to settle disputes."
(Picture Source: Associated Press)
According to several news sources, the promotional web site has since been taken down. Making matters worse, Ashanti is on record from a February interview with SOHH.com about the controversial music video:
Ashanti endorsed the violent imagery in the video. "It matches incredibly with the record," she told the site. "It's very cinematic as opposed to a regular music video. I found out my man is cheating on me, and cut to the story, you find him in a bloody tub." The message is simple, Ashanti told the site: "Don't cheat."
So who is to blame for this public relations fiasco? The artist, the publicist, the company, or everyone? And, is taking the web site down enough to soften the blow to these frustrated groups or are extra steps needed? My hope is that the public relations team of the record label and Ashanti's publicist are working together to seriously address the concerns of these groups or else the image of Ashanti and her record label may become a larger issue. As of today, a New York protest is also being organized by the same groups.
So who is to blame for this public relations fiasco? The artist, the publicist, the company, or everyone? And, is taking the web site down enough to soften the blow to these frustrated groups or are extra steps needed? My hope is that the public relations team of the record label and Ashanti's publicist are working together to seriously address the concerns of these groups or else the image of Ashanti and her record label may become a larger issue. As of today, a New York protest is also being organized by the same groups.
0 comments:
Post a Comment