The National Football League and its players have been in the headlines recently for all the wrong reasons. As a result of what many experts are calling the “worst week in NFL history,” a number of NFL teams and league executives have to deal with the consequences of the actions of some of their most prominent players. The big issue in the NFL right now is domestic abuse. The issue was first brought to the forefront after TMZ posted a video of a physical altercation at a hotel between Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and his then-fiancée. Rice was originally suspended for just the first two games of the season after the NFL reviewed the incident. Many fans and experts alike spoke out against the suspension, due to the fact that they thought it was too lenient on Rice. After an extended video of the incident showed the full extent to which Rice assaulted his fiancée, Rice was handed an indefinite suspension by the NFL and released by the Baltimore Ravens on September 8. It only got worse for the NFL from that point on. On September 12, the league’s star running back, Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, was indicted on charges of reckless or negligent injury to a child, and has since been suspended by the Vikings. And if you thought things couldn’t get worse for the NFL, on September 17, Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested on charges of domestic assault against a 27-year-old female and an 18-month-old child. Needless to say, it is not a good time to be a running back in the NFL. These suspensions, especially in such quick succession, reflect extremely poorly on the league, and force multiple parties to have to make crucial decisions in order to maintain a positive public image. For example, the Ravens were forced to terminate the contract of their star running back due to the backlash that was felt after the video of Rice punching his fiancée twice in an elevator emerged. The Vikings will probably do anything to avoid further discipline against Peterson. Peterson, who finished just nine yards shy of the record for most rushing yards in a season in 2012, is synonymous with the Vikings brand, and because of that, the organization will most likely wait until the end of the trial process before making a final decision on Adrian Peterson. The Vikings had originally announced their support of Peterson, and he was even scheduled to play this coming weekend. It wasn’t until the team and the league began to lose sponsors that the decision was made to suspend Peterson. These incidents have also had an effect on athletes and celebrities who are not directly affiliated with the NFL. For example, athletes such as Paul George, a basketball player for the National Basketball Association’s Indiana Pacers, have been reprimanded for showing support for Rice and Peterson over social media. Even Rihanna wasn’t safe from the backlash of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case. Jay-Z’s song “Run this Town,” which features Rihanna, was supposed to be played at the beginning of Thursday Night Football broadcasts this season, with the first broadcast being the Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game. Because of Rihanna’s past history with domestic abuse, CBS pulled the song from the September 11 broadcast due to Ray Rice’s affiliation with the Baltimore Ravens. Rihanna voiced her displeasure at the decision on her Twitter account, and as a result, CBS decided to sever ties with her, and will be eliminating the song from their broadcast completely. These past few weeks have not been easy for the NFL. Due to the poor judgment of a handful of individuals, teams are having to choose between disciplining some of their best players, or facing the backlash of the public. The Ravens are being criticized for supporting one of their best players until the evidence was completely stacked against him, while the Vikings are being accused of suspending Peterson only after Radisson Hotels decided to suspend its sponsorship of the team. When one player makes a poor decision, the league, their team, their sponsors, and even a celebrity such as Rihanna, has to pay the consequences for the player’s behavior. No organization wants to have their brand tarnished, especially by something as serious as domestic abuse. Decisions have to be made in order to rehabilitate the organization’s reputation – even if it means releasing their star running back. Edited by Katharina Elberti, Webmaster and Editor-in-Chief 2014-2015
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You know that song that finds its way in to your head and just won’t go away? You sing it for hours, days — maybe even weeks — and then finally you look it up and listen to it. What is it about that song that haunts you? It is good PR, my friend. Sure, the lyrics may be catchy and the tune may be easy to hum but what puts it in your head in the first place? You hear it on the radio, see a video advertised on YouTube or maybe the lyrics show up on one of your friends Facebook statuses. Then out of nowhere the song is everywhere and it lands itself right into your every waking thought. Maybe it’s controversial like this summer’s most popular song on the Billboards Hot 100, “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell. The upbeat dance song sparked much controversy among feminists and women’s rights activists everywhere because of its derogatory language and “slut shaming.” Not too long after, the number one song on Billboards Hot 100 was Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” featuring rapper Juicy J. What does this hit have in common with “Blurred Lines” and so many other viral songs? All the trouble it’s causing, of course. A Muslim man named Shazad Iqbal is petitioning to have the song’s music video taken down from YouTube. In the video Perry portrays an Egyptian princess who turns suitors she doesn’t like into sand. One of the suitors is wearing an Allah pendant and displeases Perry, so naturally she turns him to dust. Iqbal claims the destruction of the pendant is blasphemy. In the midst of this controversy, “Dark Horse” has risen to Number one on both iTunes and the Billboard Hot 100. Perry’s PR team has released no response to the controversy, which had over 36 million views in only six days. However, the song didn’t become such a sensation on its own. Katy Perry’s Twitter account, which has 51.9 million followers, had been filled with Tweets regarding the release of the song and video days before it came out. Perry even had a contest that allowed her fans to take pictures with her “DarkHorseCam” which they were to download and then upload their pictures to Twitter where she would select and repost her favorites. This kind of fan interaction is what drives success in the entertainment industry. As a song makes its journey from lyrics and music on a page to number one on iTunes, it has significant support from PR. Social media accounts, contests and controversy are just a few aids that make a catchy little tune into a viral sensation. Edited by Melanie Ford, Webmaster and Editor-in-Chief 2013-2014 |
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