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cujoyMy next series of posts are going to be about the aftermath of One Direction's Weed Scandal, which broke on May 28.
The first PR move One Direction's management team made was obvious and immediate. Distraction. They needed people to look away from Zouis and the weed, at something else. Anything else.
What they really needed was to get some kind of happy story into the media to take some of the attention away from the weed. Luckily, they had the perfect such story available and easily at hand. It was, of course, Young Love. There was nothing subtle about what happened next.
Specifically, it was Sophiam. Liam, one of the untainted members of the group, had broken up with his girlfriend Sophia Smith earlier in the spring. This happened shortly before the beginning of the band's current tour in early April. There were claims he was concerned about the difficulties of a long distance relationship while on tour. But according to many sad, lonely tweets Liam made during the opening leg in South America, he was heart broken about the breakup.
Liam's heartbroken tweets: A sampler
Low and behold, the very day after the scandal hit, Liam and Sophia (i.e "Sophiam") were very conspicuously seen together, holding hands and looking adorable, even as the scandal swirled about them. And they have been seen together constantly since. Twitter, Instagram, shout outs at concerts, suddenly Sophiam was everywhere.
Young love. It's a great story. Always has been. Always will be.
(I think they are adorable, but that's just me. You know fandom when it comes to women dating fav hot guys...)
Anyway, no, I don't think the timing of the reunion was a coincidence, though I think based on several things that the reunion was genuine, if conveniently timed. Many in the 1D fandom think that all relationships that any of the boys has with a girl is "PR". But I think that this is often, obviously wishful thinking. A celebrity relationship being shown off for media attention doesn't mean it's a "fake relationship". PR can be made over real couples too, ya know... I think the sudden, lovely heavey dose of Sophiam was a convenient way to put a nice story out in the wake of a PR crisis. Plus, they are adorable.
As an aside, there were actually some indications during the break-up that maybe they weren't that broken up. Sophia was seen with Payne family members in England, while he was moping sadly about in South America. I think it is entirely possible that the break-up was just as much for publicity as the make-up. (He was getting a shit ton of attention over his sadness over it all...) I don't know where they were going to go with Single Liam, but the whole thing in the end has made Sophiam a much hotter couple then they were, and has inserted drama into a relationship that previously didn't really have any. Bonus.
It also has a side benefit of returning Liam to the role of Responsible One and/or The Daddy. A role he needed in order to execute part 2 of the rehabilitation strategy - The Non-apology Apology. But that's for the next post.
The Sophiam PR move was a no-brainer, and was executed well. It got happy stories into the press during the heart of the weed video backlash. Mission Accomplished.
Next up - That non-apology apology...
The first PR move One Direction's management team made was obvious and immediate. Distraction. They needed people to look away from Zouis and the weed, at something else. Anything else.
What they really needed was to get some kind of happy story into the media to take some of the attention away from the weed. Luckily, they had the perfect such story available and easily at hand. It was, of course, Young Love. There was nothing subtle about what happened next.
Specifically, it was Sophiam. Liam, one of the untainted members of the group, had broken up with his girlfriend Sophia Smith earlier in the spring. This happened shortly before the beginning of the band's current tour in early April. There were claims he was concerned about the difficulties of a long distance relationship while on tour. But according to many sad, lonely tweets Liam made during the opening leg in South America, he was heart broken about the breakup.
Liam's heartbroken tweets: A sampler
Low and behold, the very day after the scandal hit, Liam and Sophia (i.e "Sophiam") were very conspicuously seen together, holding hands and looking adorable, even as the scandal swirled about them. And they have been seen together constantly since. Twitter, Instagram, shout outs at concerts, suddenly Sophiam was everywhere.
Young love. It's a great story. Always has been. Always will be.
(I think they are adorable, but that's just me. You know fandom when it comes to women dating fav hot guys...)
Anyway, no, I don't think the timing of the reunion was a coincidence, though I think based on several things that the reunion was genuine, if conveniently timed. Many in the 1D fandom think that all relationships that any of the boys has with a girl is "PR". But I think that this is often, obviously wishful thinking. A celebrity relationship being shown off for media attention doesn't mean it's a "fake relationship". PR can be made over real couples too, ya know... I think the sudden, lovely heavey dose of Sophiam was a convenient way to put a nice story out in the wake of a PR crisis. Plus, they are adorable.
As an aside, there were actually some indications during the break-up that maybe they weren't that broken up. Sophia was seen with Payne family members in England, while he was moping sadly about in South America. I think it is entirely possible that the break-up was just as much for publicity as the make-up. (He was getting a shit ton of attention over his sadness over it all...) I don't know where they were going to go with Single Liam, but the whole thing in the end has made Sophiam a much hotter couple then they were, and has inserted drama into a relationship that previously didn't really have any. Bonus.
It also has a side benefit of returning Liam to the role of Responsible One and/or The Daddy. A role he needed in order to execute part 2 of the rehabilitation strategy - The Non-apology Apology. But that's for the next post.
The Sophiam PR move was a no-brainer, and was executed well. It got happy stories into the press during the heart of the weed video backlash. Mission Accomplished.
Next up - That non-apology apology...
