IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK: A PR Round Up!
Bachelorette.
You may know her from the infamous Honey Badgers’ season of the Bachelor back in 2018, and this year Brooke Blurton is back with a bang making history as the first openly bisexual lead of Australia’s Bachelorette.
Blurton will also be the first indigenous Australian to lead the franchise and if this wasn’t already exciting enough, the 2021 season of the Bachelorette will have both men and women competing for her love – a very first for the franchise across the globe!
The 26-year-old told The Daily Telegraph in an interview earlier this week that she is “not too sure if Australia is ready for it” but assured them she definitely is.
This is an incredible feat for the franchise and a hugely ground-breaking PR move that may be exactly what they need after a drop in ratings over the last few years. Having a bisexual lead find love between both men and women will without a doubt create more drama and intrigue and is certainly the way to gain the media’s attention once again.
LEGO
In honour of pride month and inclusivity across all spectrums, Lego have debuted a new rainbow themed collection titled “Everyone is Awesome” to show representation for everyone who identifies within the LGBTQIA+ community.
In a thoughtful expression of individuality and unity. The different Lego figures will incorporate various colours to honour the original pride rainbow flag, a variety of skin tones as well as the trans community.
Lego designer, Matthew Ashton, said growing up he was always told how to act or how to dress and that trying to be someone he wasn’t was exhausting. Creating something so full of joy and giving communities a feeling of being seen is extremely important to him.
Founded in the 1930’s, Lego has become a household name. Incorporating a new design that demonstrates inclusivity is a huge step in the right direction to eliminating discrimination and we can only hope that more companies will follow suit. This new collection of Lego figures is certainly one of the most favourable ways to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.
Chrissy Teigan
This week none other than the ‘queen of Twitter’, Chrissy Teigen, has found herself all over the media once again, although this time it is her past that has come back to haunt her.
Teigen is no stranger to a viral social media scandal as she has been involved with many heated back-and-forth’s with certain public figures, her most notable being her quarrel with Donald Trump over Twitter that infamously resulted in her being blocked by the former President.
The American model has now found herself in the middle of a bullying scandal from emerging past messages and tweets. Over 10 years ago, Teigen sent disturbing messages and tweets to fellow model, Courtney Stodden. Stodden claimed in a recent interview that Teigen would cyberbully her both through public tweets and private DMs on Twitter.
Teigen has taken to twitter to publicly apologise for her action and the impacts it has had on Stodden. She issued a thread of tweets explaining that she was “ashamed and completely embarrassed” with her behaviour. Her apology has received a mix of different reactions. Some believe her apology, accepting that she is a different person now. Others feel as though her constant scandalous presence on social media has finally caught up with her.
As an experienced public relations agency, we have a keen eye on situations like this as there are a few levels to this PR conundrum. From the perspective of Chrissy, while it is crucial to avoid situations like such, it is just as important to be able manage them efficiently when they do to minimise the negative impact to her own image as well as her brands image.
By the team at InsideOut Public Relations
