Imma Letchu Finish

There have been only two experiences in my life when I literally couldn’t believe my eyes. The first incident happened when I was 3 years old and my parents took me to a 3-D nature show in Disney World. The second occurred last week when I saw the video of Kanye West stealing Taylor Swift’s spotlight moment on MTV’s website. I thought, “This can’t be real.”

The more I hear about this incident, the more I doubt it’s sincerity. Even now, I am a disbeliever, and my partially-trained PR mind is drawing the line between reality and publicity stunt.

First, understand that award shows are what one of my professors calls “pseudo-events.” They aren’t actual events. They only exist for the PR bonanza surrounding them. The Academy Awards only exist because in the 1930s, the Academy wanted to drive people to the movie theaters. Add in the hours of press coverage that go into these shows: the wardrobe designers, the red carpet parties, the advertising revenue, thousands of entertainers packed into a theater to honor each other. You have a pseudo-event.

The very fact that Kanye’s little stunt happen at a pseudo-event makes me doubt its validity.

Second, Viacom instantly shifted into profit mode as soon as Kanye gave that mic back to Miss Swift. Consumers started uploading the clips of the exchange to YouTube as quickly as Viacom ripped them off the videosharing site. Maybe Viacom is a fast-acting organization, but maybe they knew what was coming and were ready for it. The only place you can see the video is on mtv.com, surrounded by two fat advertising spaces.

Finally, look at the attention both artists have gained from their interaction. I’m sure iTunes sales for both artists shot up after the VMAs, perhaps for more reasons than this one. Attention. Attention. Attention. During the show, Kanye and Swift were both trending topics on Twitter.

Could it be that multiple parties take advantage of a highly publicized and controversial incident? Sure. But I believe it is also possible that one or more parties planned Kanye’s interruption and banked on reaping the benefits.