Celebrity Publicity

Celebrities play a large role in the mass media.  The curiosity of such celebrities leads to the glorification and large publicity of them by the general public.  The publicity of the celebrity personality plays a major role in the public relations field.  It is very important that people working in this field understand the publicity techniques.

According to the textbook Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics by Dennis Wilcox and Glen Cameron, the first technique of celebrity publicity is fame, which is defined, in this context, as when an individual draws public attention due to their accomplishments or positions.  Celebrities that fit this bill are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, for example.  They have become celebrities because they are both running for president, which makes them automatic celebrities in the eye of the public.  Along with Barack and Clinton being celebrities, their spouses have also become celebrities in the public eye, with the exception of Bill Clinton, who was already a celebrity due to his presidency.

 To help gain publicity for their president hopeful spouses, they were featured in the April 21, 2008 edition of Us Weekly.  The article was entitled “Spouse Debate 2008,” which discussed why they believe their spouse is the best choice for presidency.  Because so many people read Us Weekly, I think the article was a great publicity technique on behalf of both candidates.  It gave readers, who may not watch the news regularly, an opportunity to learn more about the candidates in more of an informal, fun setting.