In 2003 a photographer snapped aerial pictures of Barbara Striesand’s house. That sucks, so being a big timey celebrity worried about people breaking into her home, she sued him.
The only issue was, he turned out not to be a paparazzi. Bro ran the California Coastal Records Project, which took photos for scientists and researchers to study costal erosion.
So no need for a lawsuit, right?
Wrong.
They were still worried people would see the photos, so they went through with it. When she filed the lawsuit, six people had seen the photos (two of them were Striesand’s lawyers).
Post lawsuit, a million people had seen the photos.
By trying to cover something up, they made it the biggest thing in the world.
They call that the Streisand Effect.
Why did a boring photo make the internet so feral?
If you’ve been adjacent to a phone this week, you know we’re feral over a new photo. Kate Middleton hasn’t been seen since December, so to quell suspicions the royals put out a photo of Kate and her kids.
Except, the photo in question is uh, really weird. Parts are clearly edited, her face looks eerily similar to a Vouge cover in 2016. The Associated Press placed a kill order on it, citing concerns the photo was manipulated. Now, the internet is aflame with conspiracy theories about Kate’s whereabouts.
The Royal family tried to cool suspicions— and instead they made us all don tinfoil hats.
Why did a boring photo make the internet so feral?
Here is a term all of us marketers should know: psychological reactance.
It's essentially when people react in response to a threat to their behavioral freedom.
In short, we hate being told what to do— or what not to do— or what not to look at.
When we sniff out a cover up, we know information is being controlled or withheld from us, so we’re motivated to get to the truth.
It’s why the Blair Witch’s creative guerilla marketing worked so well in 1999 and why we’re all obsessing over Kate right now.
So, as you return to your scrolling and theorizing (feel free to reply and dish, I’m fully in the rabbit hole), remember this:
If you’re facing a PR dust up, even a small one, the cover up is worse (and much more viral) than the crime.
Don’t be Barbara, be honest (or at the very least, be quiet).
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