So, did the Blue Horizon space trip break the glass ceiling — or just inflate another PR bubble?
So, did the Blue Horizon space trip break the glass ceiling — or just inflate another PR bubble? That’s the question I asked myself this morning, wading through the media tickertape fallout from the all-female space jaunt, fronted by Katy Perry, aboard a rocket carrying a payload of celebrities, selfies, and soft-focus sentimentality into the stratosphere.
The company channelled the stunt via a livestream hosted by broadcaster Charissa Thompson. Celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner, and Orlando Bloom gazed skyward from the ground, while the main man himself, Jeff Bezos, escorted the crew to the capsule. It was soundtracked by breathless headlines and served with a side of empowerment-lite theatre. Of course, it’s positioned as progress. And sure, visibility matters. But let’s ask the uncomfortable question: Are we celebrating women in space – or just celebrity in orbit?
As someone who knows a thing or two about stunts, this one was choreographed to perfection. One giant stunt for womankind. A bold demonstration that women, too, can now enjoy capitalism’s most extravagant spoils at 3,500 mph, next to a billionaire’s girlfriend, under the guise of empowerment.
It’s not that I’m against the party it’s that we should at least acknowledge the velvet rope. This wasn’t science. It wasn’t even storytelling. It was spectacle a floating metaphor for our culture’s addiction to attention.
What fascinates me isn’t the mission, it’s the reaction. How quickly a choreographed media moment hijacks the global narrative. We don’t analyse it. We feast on it. And then we forget. Just like a Chinese meal: warm, delicious, and gone before it lands.
So what’s the PR lesson? That fame still trumps function. That emotion remains the ultimate fuel. And that visibility without velocity, especially in the age of influencers, billionaires, and brand-sanitised “missions” is the new normal.
What do we learn? That story still rules. That visuals are crack. That this fame equation. can hijack the narrative in a heartbeat. And most worryingly, that we still confuse relevance with reach.