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Remember 2009 when “authenticity” and “transparency” were all the rage? I think much of this positioning was driven by political pundits who seemed to group fresh-faced candidates Barack Obama and Sarah Palin in the “authentic” category with better-known Hillary Clinton and John McCain in the other category; whether Obama and Palin were more or less authentic did not matter (that can be debated in the comment section of this blog) -- these labels quickly transcended politics into the traditional PR and marketing lexicon.
And this week, there were two stories that jumped out of the papers (yes, I still read paper) that serve as great examples of the two sides of “authenticity.”
In the authentic category is Domino’s. Earlier this week, they launched their advertising campaign and led with the fact that until this point, their pizza pretty much sucked. And from this point forward, it won’t suck as much and we should try their new recipe.
Ok. Interesting. I love it. Telling the truth. If their claims about being better are authentic (because I know their claim of it sucking is), it’s a brilliant strategy and marketing effort. Telling the truth. And it’s something that’s unique about every one of SocialSphere’s clients as well – they tell the truth (which of course is not always pretty), always stand up – and engage their customer base in strategies to improve. Nice move Domino’s.
In the less than authentic category is 43 spokesperson, Ari Fleisher's client (NB, not big fan of Ari, see this post) Mark McGwire. Fleisher is not authentic and despite a few ludicrous A-rod-like tears, neither was McGwire in his recent interview with MLB TV’s Bob Costas about his alleged use of steroids and preforming enhancing drugs. Instead of saying:
“I screwed up. I took milk shakes, horse pills, clear, cream, X, Y and Z. I shamed the Cardinals, baseball, my family and the Maris family -- and I will dedicate myself to talking to high school and college ballplayers about the dangers of steroids”
-- he chose the path of semi-partial-half-half-truths, crocodile tears and a few sniffles. Some of my favorite nuggets from McGwire are below:
- “I wanted to come clean since 2005.” (He meant to say, it’s been 5 years and the statute of limitations has ended).
- “The names (of the drugs) I don’t remember.” (He should have said, there were too many to remember, but one I remember is blah blah).
- “The only reason I took steroids was for my health purposes.” (Perhaps he was cut off here by Costas, he meant to say, “and so I could makes million$, surpass Maris’ 61 and become immortalized in Cooperstown”).
- “I’ve never been asked point blank, have you ever taken steroids?” (Uh huh…and OJ was never asked, “did you kill your wife?” Madoff was never asked, “how are you able to get such nice returns every year?” and Gilbert Arenas was never asked, “do you mind not bringing your guns to work?")
- “Absolutely (I could hit 70 HR without steroids). I was given this gift by the man upstairs.”
The last one is the most interesting and very Fleisher-like – the J-card, the constant referencing of TMU, or “the man upstairs.” I wish Costas followed that up, “Gifts from the man upstairs??? … are you referring to the gifts bestowed upon you by your savior, Jesus Christ -- or are you referring to the gifts bestowed upon you by your dealer, Jose Conseco? With this guy, who knows…
It’s only Wednesday, and it’s been an interesting week.
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