Last weekend I accompanied my daughter to a birthday party of a six year old, where it was wall-to-wall Hanna Montana. I have seen worse, with the now (hopefully) waning Princess craze, so I kept my comments to myself.
But I nearly lost it when I heard the must-have Hannah Montana doll (that sang a few seconds of her songs) say “this is fricking awesome!” over and over again. The five- and six-year olds in the room then began trying to decipher the sentence.
It’s no accident when you lend your name, (image, voice, hairstyle..) to a marketing machine aimed at very young kids, and agree to say “fricking awesome” at the push of a button. I began to wonder when she would crash and burn; when there would be a parental backlash.
So now that the news has broken about poor Miley had been duped into a soft porn photo shoot by evil Anne Leibowitz , I have grounds for being cynical. Miley Cyrus “embarrassed?” Ann Leibowitz apologized? This was all part of PTE marketing, wasn’t it? Push The Envelope –and hope people get slightly offended — because that’s the shortcut to media attention. “Miley Cyrus photo shocker. Details at 10!” This formula that’s worked over and over again.
Said a reader on ValleyPRBlog, it’s a “Big coup for the PR Team. They aren’t going to get fired, they’re going to get huge bonuses.”
Hoipolloireport 
I have no problem with the PTE concept — she’s gotta the transition out of Disney in the next couple years. What I have a problem with the fact that Cyrus is 15 and the parents and PR people around her didn’t properly protect or serve their client. A photog like Leibowitz is a pro’s pro — one of the best there is. The better route would have been to challenge her to be edgy without getting the kid naked. Would have yielded the same “Wow! did you see that photo of Miley Cyrus?!” result without the sleaze factor.
-Dan
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Sure. We all like to PTE one way or another. But you’re talking ‘edgy’ here –Bob Parson’s territory — and with models edgy is often an euphemism for ‘shocking.’ Look at this quote: “The photo suggests that she is [naked], but she is not. She is covered by a sheet, and beneath the sheet she is clothed. Originally, she was in a flesh-colored tank top but was asked to remove it.” from an unnamed source-close-to-Cyrus. Perhaps someone in the photo shoot went “this is fricking awesome – lose the flesh colored tank top.”
I guess I am annoyed for reasons other than marketing and PR. As the father of a very young girl, I find these fake role models exploitative.
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Everyone I have this so called miniacal doll, when in fact this entire article of 4 paragraphs was written for something that is clearly untrue, why am I saying this? Because this doll doe not say, quote “This is FRICKING awsome!” unquote, but in fact says with quite certenty, quote “This is WICKED awsome!” unquote. This is a simple misunderstanding, which makes intitiled to not get angry, me being a fan of Miley Cyrus but which does not matter. Also about the Vanity Fair photots they were supposed to be “Artistic” says Miley, “But turned out the opposite” and made her feel “Embarassed” she says, also she apologized to her fans for the photos! =) Thank you for reading this! =)
– Very Important Opinion!
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