Lena Dunham: Why I Chose To Speak Out, on Buzzfeed
Rape apologists, in an attempt to silence victims, hurt an innocent man, by Amanda Marcotte on Pandagon/Raw Story
How Police And Hospitals Shut Down Rape Victims, by Danielle Campoamor on Buzzfeed
I’m a victim of sexual assault and the law failed. How many of us must speak out for you to believe? by Megan Carpentier on The Guardian
This next story is almost unbelievable: There existed, until earlier this week, a PR firm in Austin called Strange Fruit PR. You know, like the Billie Holiday song. The Billie Holiday song ABOUT LYNCHING. Apparently the founders of the firm (who were, of course, white) thought they could use the phrase t0 mean “someone who stood out in a crowd.”
Strange Fruit PR Firm Vanishes After Getting a History Lesson From Twitter, by Yesha Callahan on The Root
http://www.thatcutesite.com/uploads/2010/12/japanese_dwarf_flying_squirrel_snow-600×450.jpg
How the hell do you get to the point of opening a business and not a) know what the phrase is referring to or b) do even the slightest bit of research into the names you’re considering?
http://img2.goodfon.su/wallpaper/big/b/d0/sobaki-ovcharka-alabay.jpg
wierwood: Red pandas are ridiculously adorable.
@ KathleenB – apparently, they haven’t hear of the interwebz, or this newfangled contraption called Google…
Actually, I just looked up the phrase ‘strange fruit’ and read a really powerful story about the guy who wrote the lyrics. Much sniffle.
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/05/158933012/the-strange-story-of-the-man-behind-strange-fruit
The story about the PR firm is even worse – in the second article that the first one links to, they basically said that they googled it, saw the video, and thought that no one would connect the two, and went ahead with the name anyway.
It’s almost like they’re an anti-PR firm…
The fact that they’re a PR firm is really the icing on the cake.
Maybe Judgey Asshole went to the same PR school those ladies did? Or did the career test count “lack of awareness” as the perfect criteria for “PR person”?
I can’t ever watch that video without tearing up. I just can’t imagine how they could have been this cavalier about it.
Yup! I’m looking for a PR firm. What I’m really looking for, even though I might not have explicitly thought it through, is for professionals who can discriminate between which messages will resonate positively with the public and do my business some good and which messages could possibly damage my brand (of whatever service or product or person I’m selling or representing).
These dimwits can’t even get the name of their own agency through the coarsest filter anyone in the US could apply. If you choose a name that’s going to alienate, maybe arouse to anger, all the African-American potential clients/customers/employees along with a goodly portion of other groups in your own area and everywhere else then you’re clearly not a very good choice for me or for any business that has any sense at all.
When I went to j-school, working for a PR firm was considered failure and/or selling out.
Nice to see a PR firm confirming that it is, indeed, so.
The fact that they’re a PR firm makes me assume that they’re lying about not having understood the implications of the name.
The Pandagon article reminded me; we need to add “What’s an MRA?” to the MRA bingo cards.
cassandrakitty
Beloved suggested that it was a hamfisted attempt at being “edgy” and “dark”.
FAIL.
That PR firm – there is no excuse at all for them. I do a lot of branding/marketing work for clients, and you google EVERYTHING before you use it, for chrissakes. They knew what the song was about – they just thought meh, it doesn’t apply to use and no-one will make the connection. Funny – my 15-yr-old niece had to find protest songs for her civics class, and I suggested ‘Strange Fruit’ to her. This was 2 days ago.
I’m also someone who reported (one of) my assault(s) – by default, actually, because it was in public and the cops happened by. They told me I could press charges, but it likely wouldn’t go anywhere as the guy was ‘slow’. I was 15, maybe? So I didn’t bother. The cops took him away, but they didn’t take him in.
Katz: What is that? It is frigging adorable!
Strange Fruit always makes me choke up and the story of the poet who wrote it was touching too, thanks for that WWTH. The fact that they could look at that and think that a song with the kind of emotional resonance to touch generations of people should be used in such a cheap way is infuriating. But yeah we live in a post racial society right? Gross.
kirbywarp:
XD
If that PR firm is looking for another song to name themselves after I have a suggestion:
Tracy: it sounds to me that they were trying to discourage you, which sucks . Someone being “slow” doesn’t usually excuse sexual assault in a court, to my knowledge. At least it shouldn’t. I’m sorry that happened to you.
I once heard a really inappropriate use of Strange Fruit on radio.
They actually played a few bars of it … as a musical note to go with a program on growing tropical fruit in temperate gardens. It sounded as though someone had flipped through the station catalogue of available songs and this one jumped out as Pick meeee!
It was on Radio Netherlands so I sort of forgave them. They wouldn’t be familiar with it and only people who did know it would have picked up the inappropriateness.
That Strange Fruit thing. Wow, I can’t believe it.
I didn’t know about the song (I am not American), but when I googled it and read the lyrics I was horrified. How could anyone think of using those words to name their company / product is beyond me.
And the fact that they lied about not knowing makes everything even more awful.
It was also pretty stupid because who would believe for a second that a PR firm would not do any research on the name they are planning to use?
Another link!
http://www.themarysue.com/pickup-artist-simulator/
Ninja’d by proxieme!