Authenticity Matters: What Founders and CEOs Can Learn from the Blake Lively Controversy
What can we learn from Blake Lively? Founders and CEOs beware. This generation of demanding authenticity has started with entertainment and celebrities, but it’s coming for businesses soon!
Taking a step back, it’s been a PR nightmare for Blake Lively as she set out to promote her new film, It Ends With Us.
If you’re living in a dark hole and not on TikTok where it’s exploded, a quick summary:
Blake Lively is promoting her new film. The subject matter is heavily around domestic violence – something important and not to be taken lightly. Reports emerged of her feud with the director and co-star Justin Baldoni – with two different cuts of the film. And this article is not about taking sides of who is to blame and who did what. It’s about reputations being damaged and an emerging PR crisis in particular.
On TikTok, videos have emerged of Lively being rude to reporters and fans. And long story short, she seems to be getting canceled, and fast. Baldoni dealing with his own potential blowback hired a top notch crisis PR veteran.
TikTok content creators are claiming they are getting DMs telling them how to address/speak about the situation. And it seems to be getting out of control.
Fans are now craving authenticity. Many of the celebs have operated with a PR approach that worked decades ago – but that PR approach has never changed. Set up press junkets and interviews, and tell the reporters what they may or may not ask. In other words, manipulating and spinning media coverage and exposure to be in their favor and on their terms by exerting power over reporters, and now trying to do that with content creators.
No thanks says this new generation! They are asking their own questions and giving their own opinions on how the interview went.
And for those celebs that fall short, are rude, get caught on video doing one thing while claiming to be something else… Social media platforms like TikTok are providing a platform for creators to reach the masses and tell their story, while drawing a line in the sand. And ruining images and careers in the process. Rightfully so, or not. It’s happening.
Lively made some pretty big mishaps that have come to light. She approached the promotion much like the Barbie movie telling fans to get to theaters with friends and wear floral. While at the same time she is promoting two of her other brands – a hair line sold at Target and sparkling beverage product Betty Buzz. Fans are saying she is tone deaf – promoting alcohol mixers while promoting a movie about domestic violence. The two don’t mix well.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly 55% of domestic abuse perpetrators were drinking alcohol prior to assault. Women who are abused are 15 times more likely to abuse alcohol.
So, is Lively tone deaf? The fans have spoken and they think so. The damage is done and her reputation may never bounce back.
Back to business – corporate America has a lot to learn from this. Social media platforms are giving people the ability to spread information very quickly.
Over the next decade, we will see more and more platforms emerge that hold businesses accountable for their actions. And it will heavily influence 1) people working within your company and 2) potential partners/vendors/investors doing business with your company. While social media platforms will allow people to disseminate information to lots and lots of people that have a huge impact on a company and their Founder/CEOs reputation, we’ll see additional B2B platforms emerge that help evaluate leaders, how they are perceived and if you should be doing business with them. It will have a profound impact on leaders that are frankly, not nice and/or not authentic.
What we saw happen with Blake Lively, and several other celebrities recently, is coming to corporate America. If your CEO isn’t authentic, people are going to know. For a long time, companies have been evaluated on product and revenue. But newer generations are demanding more. They want to ensure a company they are buying from, working for, partnering with or acquiring, aligns with their values. Leaders that are bullies, or unpleasant and even unethical, will lead no more in a new age of social media.
We’re already seeing this trend emerge. Not too long ago a furniture company CEO was recorded in an all-hands telling employees to “leave pity city” in response to a question about how they are supposed to stay motivated if they don’t get a bonus. According to reports, the same CEO took home $5 million in compensation. Her message did not go over well and blew up on social media, causing a major PR crisis.
The major takeaway? This is only the beginning for founders/CEOs now operating in a world where all stakeholders want authenticity, transparency and at the end of the day, to know they are working with someone that shares their same values. You can be an amazing leader and boss while still being kind and empathetic. You can be a visionary while still treating people the way you want to be treated.
About the author:
Scott Samson
Founder & CEO of SamsonPR, a technology-focused PR agency
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottsamson
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