There is more to fame than Big Brother
Big Brother’s latest series ends tonight, bringing to a close another marathon session of ogling at a group of people desperate for fame but with nothing to recommend them but dysfunctional personalities, loud mouths and deep wells of (often misguided) self-belief. It really doesn’t have to be that way, as this entry to the Fame […]
EA prove any publicity is good publicity
Hats off to Electronic Arts for having the balls to stage a marvellous publicity stunt. You know they are onto a winner when a stunt is branded “irresponsible” by MPs. The PR caper was to give away £20,000’s worth of fuel at a petrol station in north London as part of a promotion for a […]
The Palin Factor
“Most people have this image in their heads of tobacco executives jet-setting around the world on private planes, eating foie gras as they count their money. Not me. I like to ride with the people. Know your clients. My people cram themselves into a tiny seat, pop a Xanex, and dream of the moment when […]
High diving stunts and carnival stuntsters
The extraordinary pictures that adorn both the broadsheets and tabloids of Darren Taylor belly-flopping into a tiny paddling pool to break the high diving record may be astonishing, but they would depress any of the old stuntsters. They grab the attention but what is more arresting is the pathetic crowd gathered to marvel as Taylor […]
Long unseen Ken Campbell video
Ken Campbell, who died on Sunday, August 31st 2008, was a great man and a real friend to The Fame Formula. Not only did he help me launch the book at the beginning of August, but much of his inspired work echoed the work of some of the great publicists detailed in the book; most […]
Ken Campbell: a tribute
Genius is an attribute thrown around like confetti in this very modern media age. Few individuals adhere to that particular molecular wonder, but the late Ken Campbell had genius burnt into his DNA. If ever I daydream about who would make up my ultimate fantasy dinner party or who be a great companion for a […]
Ken Campbell RIP
I have just had a bad news phone call that has rocked my weekend. The comic genius Ken Campbell has died. Its seems unreal, the theatre and entertainment world has lost an extraordinary man. Ken was a dear friend and he had helped me launch of the Fame Formula at the Riverside three weeks ago. We had so […]
The Fame Formula
I’ve just been told by my publishers that The Fame Formula is currently the lead feature on the Yahoo home page. http://uk.yahoo.com/
Saving Britney
I noted a wire story this morning that suggested that Britney Spears is “highly unstable” – the singer is “sensitive” and “insecure” and is in the last chance salon (AGAIN!). Flip back to the wire reports that were circulating about Barbara La Marr back in the 1920’s, and a story I mention in The Fame […]
The Artless selling of the iPhone
News has come in that Apple are attempting to sell iPhones in Poland by paying actors to queue outside the stores to whoop up interest in the all-singing, all-dancing phone which is released there on Friday. According to Reuters, a spokesman has said: “We have these fake queues at front of 20 stores around the […]
Olympians v "Z list" reality show throwaways
I scribbled an opinion feature for the Sunday Times on the Olympic hoo-ha, which fell by the wayside. I think it addressed the issues that had been missed as euphoric rapture asphyxiated the nation and completely overshadowed the Olympic scale of the Chinese Olympics propaganda. In the rush to enjoy Team GB’s Olympic success, let’s […]
WiFi access and other frustrations at the Edinburgh Festival
John Pinette is one of the funniest stand ups I have seen in years. This oversized routine is dominated by frustrations about food cafeteria lines and the modern day morons. After 24 hours in Edinburgh, I’m beginning to turn into him! Pinette talks about someone in a restaurant queue saying “how big is your small?” […]
Ready, steady, go – the race to turn gold into millions
By Amol Rajan Tuesday, 19 August 2008 Britain’s Olympic heroes in Beijing are being circled by increasing numbers of sports agents, multi-nationals and image consultants desperate to cash in on their new-found fame. Behind the scenes in China’s capital, newly crowned champions, from the swimmer Rebecca Adlington to the cyclists Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy, […]
Golden girl just wants a burger with chips
By Nick Harris in Beijing She won by miles, and shattered the world record. She took her second gold of the Games, to become the most successful British swimmer in a century. Fellow swimmers were calling her Dame Becky yesterday, as Team GB headed for its best-ever Olympic weekend. So how would Rebecca Adlington celebrate? […]
Naked ambition Escala meets PT Barnum
What a weird weekend. There was no end to the promo cycle for the book. My heart was in my mouth as I was being interviewed by my old client Mark Lamarr who was standing in for Jonathon Ross with Jo Brand on Radio 2. Mark is not a fan of ephemeral hype nor the […]
Morgan Freeman: His darkest night
His darkest night: a divorce in Hollywood He is one of cinema’s most bankable and best-loved actors. Morgan Freeman also kept his private life away from public scrutiny – until a midnight car crash By Guy Adams Friday, 8 August 2008 There is, of course, one final thesis as to why major Hollywood stars might […]
Fame Formula week two
God must like the idea of the Fame Formula because he has blessed me with a gift – the birth of Brad and Angelina’s twins during the promotion of the book. I was recording Channel 5 News when the news broke that Hello! has rushed into print with its world exclusive pictures of Brad Pitt […]
The Fame Formula juggernaut
Despite showing signs of suffering from autophobia my Fame Formula publicity bandwagon trundles on… Turning up at Sky News at the crack of dawn to review the papers was fun and so were my chats with Fred Macauley, George Lamb, Steve Wright and my wife’s favorite Tim Smith. The bad news is that the Sunday […]
Fame Formula
Tucked up in a tiny radio studio, I spent the morning doing a set of radio interviews – BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio Humberside, Northsound Aberdeen, BBC Radio Cumbria, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Sheffield, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Coventry & Warwicks, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Nottingham, Radio Manx Isle of Man, Heat Radio, […]
Lenny Beige gives me a hard time..
Not all clients are happy clients… Lenny gives me a lesson in celebrity management