The second annual
National Go Topless Protest Day will be held this Sunday, August 23, in various American cities. It happens to be run by
Raelians, members of
a UFO religion founded by Rael, a former French sports-car journalist and test driver born
Claude Vorilhon. (
Coverage of last year's protest in New York City, which is, as one might suspect, NSFW.) Though the current "Go Topless!" site talks more about women's rights than Raelism, in 2004, Raelian women were marching topless not for the legalization of bare breastedness, but
against "the repressive Myth of God." Don't remember the Raelians? This is just the most recent stunt by the publicity-hungry group that
capitalizes on media-friendly controversy: in 2002, during the slow news week between Christmas and New Year's Day,
they announced the creation of the first human clone, gaining what Rael estimated at over $500 million of free media coverage. In an interview, Rael
unabashedly discusses his passion for publicity.
[more inside]
posted by ocherdraco
on Aug 21, 2009 -
63 comments
Ever have a job working for a record label on a
street crew. And yer puttin up publicity posters on lightpoles for an artist like
Rocko and some asshole won't stop takin yer
picture.
Whadda you do then? Break his friggin
camera.
posted by Xurando
on Mar 24, 2008 -
79 comments
Ayten Ahmet is a 16 year old girl who wants to win the
Miss Teen Australia Beauty pageant [some links here possibly NSFW]. The problem is some of Australia's Muslim leaders, such as Melbourne cleric Sheik Mohammed Omran, have branded her entry into the competition as a "
slur on Islam". Ayten doesn't know what all the fuss is about,
saying "As long as you present yourself well, respect yourself and respect others, that's what's important. Religion's not an issue." [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000
on Aug 27, 2006 -
39 comments
Sherri Finkbine --as reported by BBC News, on this day in 1962 (video clip too)--her travails and travels, the law, publicity, and what happened afterwards. (more here from
American Prospect in 05:
...A Gallup Poll taken that year showed that the majority of Americans supported Finkbine, and her case was a turning point ...)
posted by amberglow
on Aug 26, 2006 -
16 comments
The Rendon Group --
covert perception managers using our taxpayer money to start wars.
... the product of a clandestine operation -- part espionage, part PR campaign -- that had been set up and funded by the CIA and the Pentagon for the express purpose of selling the world a war. ... it was hired by the CIA to help "create the conditions for the removal of Hussein from power." Working under this extraordinary transfer of secret authority, Rendon assembled a group of anti-Saddam militants, personally gave them their name -- the Iraqi National Congress -- and served as their media guru and "senior adviser" as they set out to engineer an uprising against Saddam. ... Rolling Stone thoroughly documents the way we pay to be lied into war and one of the people who do it. From Noriega and Panama through to Chalabi, Miller, al-Haideri, Bush, and you.
posted by amberglow
on Nov 19, 2005 -
38 comments
Jack Cafferty pulls a Jon Stewart --Cafferty, CNN's resident curmudgeon, goes off live on the coverage of the BTK killer.
(video here at Crooks and Liars) ... This is a ghoulish exercise on the part of the news media and if ratings are the reason, then I’ll say it again, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves. There was no reason to give this guy a platform to talk to everybody in the country ... With
cameras in courtrooms almost everywhere nowadays, what is the media's responsibility?
posted by amberglow
on Aug 19, 2005 -
82 comments
This turns into one of those cases where researching a story gets weirder. The documentary
Super Size Me centers on a documentary filmmaker's 30 day experience eating nothing but McDonalds. The film is doing
amazingly well as a limited release documentary grossing more per screen than high-budget Troy. Here is the weird part, Reuters has
picked up on a distributor press release claiming that MTV is refusing to air advertising for
Super Size Me because the film is "disparaging to fast-food restaurants". The Reuters short seems to have quite a bit of legs. However a Hollywood Reporter
article details MTVs side of the story placing the blame on the film's distributor. Is this really a case of a network getting cold feet? Or is it a case of distributor trying to pull the "too edgy for MTV" moneymaking ploy? And what is with the continually morphing Reuters clip that is just now being tossed onto doorsteps and stuffed into newsboxes across North America? (The film was previously discussed on metafilter
back in January.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on May 27, 2004 -
23 comments
Bush directing Homeland Security to Stage Photo-Ops? This article from next week's
Time is in itself a well-detailed examination of the campaign strategies for both sides in the 2004 race, but
some bloggers have caught a disturbing paragraph in the middle of the article:
"As the Bush team sorts out its internal mechanics, it will press the advantage of incumbency. Administration sources tell TIME that employees at the Department of Homeland Security have been asked to keep their eyes open for opportunities to pose the President in settings that might highlight the Administration's efforts to make the nation safer. The goal, they are being told, is to provide Bush with one homeland-security photo-op a month. "
posted by XQUZYPHYR
on Mar 15, 2004 -
46 comments
"The Media vs. Howard Dean." Salon (subscription or Flash ad viewing required) observes that the media have been doing everything in their power to attach negative labels to US presidential candidate Howard Dean. Will the adage that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" prevail? Meanwhile, the Internet is increasing in relevance as a
news source, according to a recent survey. Which websites do you peruse for political coverage, if any?
posted by Eloquence
on Jan 13, 2004 -
67 comments
I must admit, I've always had my doubts about some of you... Corporations hire viral marketing firms to spread misinformation and bogus votes of support for their products on internet message boards. With all the front page entries about new movies, new records and new colored cola drinks, are we all being manipulated and duped by the marketing weasels even here on Metafilter?
posted by crunchland
on Jun 5, 2002 -
82 comments
