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| October 2, 2011 |
It takes no time to switch out a profile pic - we know from following everybody in question that neither rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night nor births, holidays, Olympics, training, vacations, travel, surgeries, birthdays, weddings - can deter a swift and timely change of one's profile picture.
I'm actually quite excited to see what it's going to be.
I was amused at the suggestion of pics Scott might use until Finlandia photos are available. This supposes two pieces of (presumably, fingers crossed) disinterested* attention to his fan facebook inside a month, and I think that's asking a lot.
Voila: Few hours after the above - a new profile pic:
They're asses.
This would be cute were there a track record of being genuine with the fans, if he hadn't asked for input and tricked fans into thinking he'd given them a chance to get a real Tessa/Scott photo.
It also traps fans. Who can bitch about a Funny Face still?
Funny how Scott/Jessica pseudo candid stuff is slapped in our face, free. Nobody's asking.
One of the nastiest facets of the sham is its history baiting fans, setting them up- then the gotcha - while maintaining technical cover. Yet fans know they've been had.
They brag about Canadian values, but malice seems to come naturally to them. To me, this reinforces how uninterested they are in genuine fan outreach.
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*by disinterested I mean = no agenda.
I do agree with some of the things you've said in the past, but the fact that you would take such offense/make such a big deal out of a profile picture "trick" is just... maybe you need to find something better to do with your time, you know?
ReplyDeleteNope. The fan page is one of the few places where VM even attempt the appearance of fan outreach. There was no reason Scott had to ask fans for suggestions if he wasn't going to listen to them. His asking was not a casual move.
ReplyDeleteIOW, they go out of their way to be assholes. It's not collateral to the larger scheme. They go out of their way. It's really wrong, and it's more than on topic here. If you don't see it, carry on.
Here, he shows up and asks. Not only does he get 22 replies, most of them asking for candids of him and Tessa, as he knew would occur, but fans actually show examples of the types of photos they'd love to see as his profile pic.
IOW, they made the mistake of taking his "any suggestions"? query as genuine. On the level. Fans thought he really wanted their suggestions. They gave a little of themselves in their replies - their sincere feelings and opinions.
And please, he knew they'd be asking for him and Tessa.
Sunday evening, he produces Audrey and Fred. Fans feel silly but who can complain about Audrey and Fred instead of getting the Scott and Tessa for which they'd hoped, which he'd sort of set them up for?
They're checkmated. They'll look OTT if they say anything.
But still, the disappointment is present and the main point is it's UNNECESSARY.
He could have simply popped in Audrey and Fred on a Sunday night and it would have been charming and a huge hit. No cost to him, no cost to fans.
If you don't see it, look again. It's not small at all. It's got a meanspiritedness bitchiness to it - a gotcha that's ugly. And quite typical.
"If you don't see it, carry on."
ReplyDeleteI don't see it. Carrying on.
P.S. - if this were Charlie, Meryl, Maia, Alex, Mirai or any number of other skaters - it would be fun. It would be a playful gotcha, a tongue in cheek. Why?
ReplyDeleteThey engage. They participate. They fan outreach in a genuine way. With them, there's a consistent pattern of engagement, follow through, sharing of non-personal, skating-related or off ice or down time activity.
So if it were any of them saying - hey, any profile pic ideas? Taking in the responses, then popping up with the movie characters instead of yourselves - very cute.
Or very cool, if you're Canadian.
But again - CONTEXT.
This is not those skaters. This is Scott Moir. He does not show photos of him and Tessa. He poses for sham photos of him and Jessica. When he uploads photos of him and Tessa, everyone's seen them. They're on the web already. They've been public domain since God wore knickers. And still, despite his fan page having public domain photos of him and Tessa, his profile pic on his fan page has only once been of him and Tessa, and not only was it a podium shot and public domain, it was sort of a Team Canton solidarity effort since D/W and the Shibs had Worlds podium shots too.
He could have shut up, and put up the Audrey/Fred photo on Sunday as a surprise, and fans would be thrilled. Lord knows they've been taught to have low expectations.
Instead, he goes through the charade of asking them for their opinion. He gets a good response where the fans actually put time and thought into it and tried to be respectful. They provide links, and explain why they like certain photos. He's all - love all the ideas.
Then he puts up the "new" profile pic, and oh how hilarious. It's not him and Tessa. It's Audrey and Fred.
Know what? He hasn't earned that little game. He can DO it, sure, but he hasn't earned it. D/W and the Shibs et al (fill in the blanks) have. They've made themselves professional-accessible to fans. They've been there. What Scott did is dickish.
"He could have simply popped in Audrey and Fred on a Sunday night and it would have been charming and a huge hit. No cost to him, no cost to fans."
ReplyDeleteExactly!! Plus he's interacted more with fans this last week (or rather two days of the last week) than the last few months combined, hmmm another response to this blog???
^ I doubt it's a response to the blog. Why would they respond with an obvious and intentional display of unnecessarily dickish behavior towards fans? Why go out of your way to set fans up AGAIN? It hasn't been done for awhile.
ReplyDeleteOr is this when sting season starts?
It's a teaching moment though. The fan page is, like his 'personal, private' facebook was, basically a mirror sight. The fan page is just going to point to things in the public domain, already on the web.
IMO more than some bigger things, this supposed small thing shows the ass of those running this - which certainly includes more people than Scott Moir. It also once again shows the contempt in which they hold fans and how they go out of their way to put this contempt on display when it's uncalled for. Maybe it's another thing they get off on.
He asked. That wasn't needed because he ended up ignoring the answers and knew he would WHEN he asked. So, a set up.
It's making a purposeful show of your insincerity. Oh, just checking if I can still jerk your chain. Thanks for the 22 responses and here's my new profile pic making an end run around everything I knew you'd want to see - in a way I think is clever.
Great Canadian Ambassadors my ass.
Since he did ask, he could have posted a candid from this week's TSN Fred/Audrey photo shoot. It would have thrilled fans to death and been Funny Face related and Funny Face promotional. And a demonstration of good faith.
I love how the support of his core most sincere and consistently loyal fans on his fan facebook is rewarded. It's so respectful. Right now they're so excited he's reposted photos already posted today on SC's web page. They don't ask much but they get treated like shit but hey, they don't act like they know it, so who cares?
VM are doing more competitions this season. How long is that movie still staying up?
Is he ever going to share a thing on his "fan" facebook, or is he going to continue to pop in, feign as if he's engaging, but then weasel out of the delivery?
It's obvious that it's policy not to share a candid of Tessa and Scott under any circumstances. What we're meant to believe is his "personal' life gets published plenty, in facebook rotation profile pic rotation alone it's candids galore. But candids of him and his professional partner on a page they pretend is for fans are privileged and this evening his facebook went out of its way to rub that in fans' faces after setting them up to hope for something else.
I'm not sure what to make of your blog.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, I think that you have some valid points about the state of Skate Canada's PR/marketing, especially when compared to USFSA's. You've also made me realized that Tessa and Scott have not really managed to capitalize on their gold medal win, even though they're extremely talented and attractive Olympic champions.
On the other hand, I sometimes feel like you're taking certain things far too seriously. Pointing out V/M's seemingly hot/cold policy towards their fans is all well and good (and they do sort of suck compared to their American training mates when it comes to fan relations and handling of social media). But the tone of your posts gives me the impression that it's as if the shortcomings of V/M are a personal affront/insult to you. As my sibling would say in Internet slang, you seem "butt hurt" over this pair...
Wow, you sure have a lot of feelings about a profile picture.
ReplyDeleteIt's disingenuous to pretend this is minor, pr-wise. Because of how the Scott/Jessica profile pics have been purposed for years, there's buzz around Scott's profile pics and nobody knows that as well as Skate Canada.
ReplyDeleteWere a fast one like this directed at a sponsor, you bet the sponsor would take it seriously.
Scott's fan page is part of his professional persona. It's integrated. Scott/Tessa are SC's primary sponsorship credential and audience draw. Yet SC is extremely tight-fisted with even minor points of access like a profile picture. They'll use trickery to end-run around paying off an implied promise.
What's going on? A sponsor would wonder that too.
What do sponsors call fans? Customers and clients. That's why they're sponsors. As this is an example of how Skate Canada treats potential customers, it's no surprise SC's former sponsors fell over themselves making for the exits and SC appears to lack new sponsors banging down their door.
Jessica/Scott candids - Scott's supposed "personal life" - are all over the web and frequently rotated on "Jess"'s public facebook profile page. We also have to know when they take vacations and attend weddings. That's petty, but is it ever important we hear about it.
Now, on his "fan page" Scott says to fans - what do YOU suggest as my fan page profile pic?
Finally! A little corner for fans and not Scott/Jessica spam! The response is eager. Of course they'll ask for him and Tessa.
It was bad faith. They do everything fake at SC. That's what they think marketing is.
Effective relationships - whether with fans or sponsors - are built from the accumulation of different kinds of interaction - small and large - most often an aggregate of small consistencies - that create trust.
One wonders, with their mentality in public relations, if SC can switch gears and demonstrate professionalism and respect in sponsor outreach.
I think Skate Canada took a wrong turn a long way back.
LOL, agree with the poster above - butt hurt over nothing for sure.
ReplyDelete^ But isn't that redundant? Butthurt "means" it's over nothing. You can't be butthurt over something.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in light of the circumstances, it's not very nice of Scott to put up this profile picture. As a fan, I was very pleased he had asked for opinions and I was extremely surprised this was his decision. I would prefer the previous Worlds' podium shot if he really can't bring himself to put up anything either current or candid of him and Tessa.
ReplyDeleteI'm not having a problem with his wish for privacy, but I agree that for all intents and purposes this is a V/M facebook page and I would like all the photos to reflect that. I'm positive every one of the die-hard fans, the kind that will look at his facebook page, checked out the Funny Face movie and soundtrack as soon as it was announced this was the FD. By now we've already seen a lot of Hepburn and Astair. We want to see Tessa and Scott.
Agreed. ^ And most importantly, if he can't bring himself (or it's policy not to) show him and Tessa - don't ask.
ReplyDeleteThat kind of ploy just makes Scott and SC look like jerks, and not only to fans. It's amazing how compartmentalized they remain.
"That kind of ploy just makes Scott and SC look like jerks, and not only to fans. It's amazing how compartmentalized they remain."
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that way. And how can they not realize that by now, like previous Anon said, all the fans have been seeing a lot of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astair in this particular movie?
It's like they live under a rock or something.
Well, if all of these things bother you so much, then have you tried writing/e-mailing V/M? I haven't the time in RL (yet) to read through your archives, so I don't know if you'd done so already. You know, call them out directly on the parts of their behavior that are disrespectful to the fans? Call me naive, but that seems a better way to channel your energy. That is, delivering some constructive criticism to Tessa and Scott.
ReplyDeleteI have the sinking suspicion that you're replying to your own blog posts...
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about Scott's latest offering? It's not a picture we've seen before, it's of him and Tessa and doesn't appear to be an official photograph.
ReplyDeleteAnon above last: Thank you. But what I find constructive for me, is this blog, which I set up for myself. And discussing what I see as the issues of interest - Skate Canada and VM and how it's all managed/presented.
ReplyDeleteAbout Scott's TSN candid: I think it's a really nice thing he posted a candid from the TSN shoot and very appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why doing this sort of thing isn't second nature. It didn't seem to take him much time to put his hands on the photo.
It's not his profile pic though. A profile pic doesn't have to be forever. Moore-Towers Moscovitch and Dylan frequently - not always, but this is their "personal" facebooks - have team profile pics that stay up only a day or two and then go to something else. WHY Scott Moir's fanpage can't do these types of candids is beyond, especially when fans get the Jessica/Scott candids on regular rotation.
Why they think tricks, games and one upmanship with fans is how you do pr is another mystery.
It looks like you will be correct that Scott won't be changing the Audrey -Fred profile picture for a long time, perhaps for the whole season. How weird that this is considered "fan outreach." Or maybe he could care less about fan outreach and just feels obligated to put up something. The less personal the better.
ReplyDeleteI personally think this Blogger has nothing better to do than trash V/M. This is what is called cyber bullying....except her/his targets don't know she/he are doing this, because this Oycanada is cowardly. Sounds like this person needs to get a life because 'he'sshe's racked up too many conspiracy theories. Actually this person kind of reminds of me someone who post a whole lot of nonsense on the Addicted to Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir fb fanpage. This person was a lunatic. I wonder if this blogger is one and the same as that person.
ReplyDelete^Fits like yours, last anon, are not about defending Scott and Tessa at all. It's ego. Fan ego.
ReplyDeleteIt's not cyber bullying unless you also believe barging into someone's home makes the homeowner a bully. This is my blog, one among hundreds of thousands of blogs on one of the most popular blogging sites on the internet.
You know what I find interesting? Other stories about Scott, Tessa, Jessica & Co. - no proof demanded. Where's the call for proof when Tessa Virtue is falsely accused of breaking up David Pelletier's marriage and family by a poster using several pseudonyms? Where's the demand for evidence when one of the main people accusing Tessa takes to twitter as well as to every skating board on the planet, and copycat liars back her up just for sport and to stir the pot?
Who is mad at Aunt Joyce calling Scott a tool, saying Scott's bad hip action means he's awful in bed?
What about Scott and Bryce painted as total tools, Scott portrayed as an idiot putting his "gf's" safety at risk for ego reasons by fighting with Bryce, taunting Bryce on facebook with photos, when Bryce was responsible for Jessica's well-being on the ice? Those two guys were claimed to be behaving like a couple of catfighting bitch slapping bitches playing mean girl games in front of fans. Who demanded proof?
Who got mad at those lies and demanded proof? Nobody.
What I also find interesting is people do not get mad at this blog's discussion over Skate Canada's awful pr and marketing. They don't even get mad at the discussion over Scott and Tessa personally having awful marketing and being tone deaf in pr.
They have a meltdown over this one blog saying Scott and Tessa are together Scott is shamming with Jessica. It's personally interesting that THAT, among all the skater stories, is what gives fans crazy eyes and makes them rant as much they claim the blog is ranting.
Say Tessa's a homewrecker or Scott's a pissy, meathead, catfighting douche, say the female ice dancers at one rink have all fucked their coach's son, say they throw skates and have fistfights at skating rinks, bars or hockey arenas - it doesn't faze fans one bit. They gobble it up.
Say Scott and Tessa are together and lying about Jessica, you'd think I said they eat babies.
It's all about fan egos, fan politics, fan status, and some fans' frustrated control issues. That's why some fans have meltdowns over this instead of ignoring it. The other stories don't threaten their egos. Scott and Tessa lying to them about THIS, does. People who come to this blog with these fits aren't defending Scott and Tessa at all or they'd defend them on other stuff. They're mad because of their own egos.