The Cute Factor

We continue to see the heroic efforts made by the McCann’s to keep up Maddie’s public profile, so their daughter’s disappearance doesn’t fade into obscurity.  Undoubtedly, the “cute” factor helps to perpetuate her media presence and without it, I fear she wouldn’t have so much attention. Maddie is cute and very photogenic which always helps in media situations, and particularly in that of Victoria Hart, the 18 year old who was plucked from obscurity last week and on the verge of signing a 1.5 million recording contract.  Victoria was on a £7 an hour wage as a waitress in a cocktail bar when she was spotted singing one evening and was then invited to sing at a party at the Cannes Film Festival amongst stars including George Clooney.  The pictures in the papers show a 1940’s inspired, bleach blonde cute young girl, Hart who, quite frankly, would not be splashed across the significant media had she not looked the part.  Many managers see an opportunity with a pretty girl because today, if you have a great picture, it really is worth three thousand words and success in generating column inches is often due to the photogenic quality of the subject. Brands often don’t put enough money into the “image” of their product, which is misguided these days.  Certainly I think this is something Gordon Brown should address, not in the sense of a photo opportunity, but more on the lines of “image couture”.