July 13, 2012
Scott and Tessa require translation to interpret most of what they say. For example, 'platonic and date other people' means 'together and married', "literally not seeing each other or speaking for two months" means 'living together and closer than ever', "first time our lips ever brushed' means "we've kissed on the lips and a whole lot more eighty bajillion times", "Xmas!' means "photo shoot" and "any suggestions?" means "I'm a dick."
Add "soon". It means "a year."
The website update is very nice - not just the photos, but the tone. The bio is their bio as a skating team - specific and concise. The basic layout and information make sense. The thank you's to fans and sponsors (in that order) are nicely and appropriately worded. It only took a year. I have my doubts that creating this page took a year; it's hard not to wonder what went on behind the scenes (besides not caring) to account for the delay.
www.virtuemoir.com
It's a nice update though pretty thin on content, dontcha think?
ReplyDeleteAnd what's with posting their weird Japanese car commercial on the homepage?
Yes, and also why the long delay from keeping the site updated given they're so high profile? I would think SkateCanada would want their top skaters promoting upcoming competitions so they buy tickets, watch the show etc.
The whole thing's a little weird....
I mean the new V/M website seems a little thin on content, not the blog post.
ReplyDeleteLOL. You can take your cynicism and negativity and shove it, as far as I'm concerned, OC. Maybe it did take a year for V/M to sort out the PR mess they were under. Who cares? I'm glad they finally got their website up, and I'm hoping they've got their PR straight. I love this team, and for me it's a happy day.
ReplyDeleteAnon 5:05 - you're not judging them? You're just glad it's up? Is it possible you'd react in a similar way to a reveal?
DeleteIf you would, I think most fans are like that and would do the same at this point. The fan/celeb relationship is so unequal that it's almost unprecedented for fans to have better perspective than the objects of their admiration, but here, sweeping a lot of completely inconsequential silliness aside, I think fans as a collective are a whole lot more mature than Tessa and Scott when you get down to reality.
The blog chronicles what they do, makes connections and tests truthiness so I'm going to point out the way fans have been led on, website wise, as part of this. But, I don't think fans care it took a year. It's done, thank God - that's the attitude.
I think a reveal will be the same. I don't think there'll be immediate blowback. If anything, I think it will go very well in the immediate sense, which would be a departure from most "shocking revelations" where there's lots of fuss for awhile, then it dies down, reverts to as things were and everybody moves on. Here, I think, depending on how it's done, the reaction might be more muted and positive than anticipated. But unlike more conventional cases where revelations are in the news, I think this will have a long, long half life as long as Tessa and Scott are in the public eye in any capacity. I think fans will respect their relationship, but will bring up their manipulations, profiteering and lies if ever Scott and Tessa align themselves with one or other side of an issue. Their role-model credentials will take a beating.
If there is a reveal, whether it will have a long half-life will depend on how the reveal is done. If S&T were to say that they did what their trusted advisors told them was best, I believe most people won't blame them. Scott and Tessa were very young when this whole scam started, and if its now ended, they're still young. Many people make big life mistakes in their late teens/early twenties, often because they put their trust in the wrong people. Many fans have either lived through something like that themselves, or know someone close to them who has, and so will be highly likely to forgive.
DeleteWhat is harder to swallow is how the parents allowed something like this to happen. If they were all small-town bumpkins, then perhaps they too could say that they didn't know the best way to handle the Olympics and any possible media/fan aftermath, and so also trusted people they shouldn't have. How Jim Virtue could say that though, I don't know.
IMO, there will never be a reveal. This whole thing is too messy to fix in a one-hour special. Fans will be happy so long as they see S&T happy. If a child shows up one day with a questionable birth date, whatever. They'll just say yes, he/she was born in 2010 and leave it that. No media will every ask them to explain how that happened, and any fan is close enough to ask S&T themselves already knows anyway.
"They'll just say yes, he/she was born in 2010 and leave it that."
Delete"They'll"= Scott and Tessa or the media, as in Scott and Tessa or the media will say the child was born in 2010 and leave it at that.
"We did what our advisors thought was best" covers the denial itself but not all the petty manipulations, come ons and chain jerking. Doesn't really cover the xmas spams, babies and buggy riding - an endless list of proactive obnoxious and disrespect. At the same time, no question most fans aren't keeping score and will move on.
DeleteHow it will linger: I look at Sale & Pelletier, who are in a bit of a sticky position with what went down in 2002. They've both been able to more or less flourish in the public eye, but I don't think either is in a position to comment on competition results if they don't like the way something turned out. Could you imagine them saying something like "that one stumble didn't matter - the quality of the entire skate was far and away the best - IMO he/she (they) were the clear winners." Or ever commenting on sportsmanship? They can be in the public eye, but there are no go areas.
Even now Scott and Tessa enjoy being described as role models. They both say they want to be role models. Essentially they're role models for these things - hard work and competitive heart. With that, they're safe and can make all the motivational appearances that come their way. I could also see them aligned with a charity, or fundraising for a sports clinic. But. Anything to do with fair dealing, fairness in general (thinking of how SC operated to enable this), honesty, character, integrity - they have to keep their lips zipped. Any critique of how something is managed, though, anything - they haven't a leg to stand on publicly and will have to shut up. They also can't critique how party "X" treats party "Y". They can't behave hard done by about anything, IMO.
"What is harder to swallow is how the parents allowed something like this to happen."
DeleteParents not only "allowed" but in the case of Alma and Carol Moir they have been active participants in the mocking and malicious facebook set-ups, posts and photo-spamming. They might have been able to get away with the "country bumpkin" argument if they had not participated to the degree they did. I've lost a lot of respect for them.
I'll personally never get over the buggy. It wasn't just that Jessica was riding in the buggy - okay. It's where she was seated - front seat, directly behind the drivers, in the spotlight position next to mom. Didn't help that it led the parade. Unbelieveable. Should have had her on a rail or a spit - same thing.
Delete1:08
DeleteFor that Ilderton celebration, there was also a local media announcement in the 24 hrs prior to the big event that "Olympian Jessica Dube" would be attending. Not "Scott Moir's girlfriend" but just that title of "Olympian." Careful as ever not to officially link the names together, but it was okay to sit Jessica in the "favoured daughter-in-law" seat.
The idiocy is stunning.
Geez they really wanted to avoid tagging them together for the archives, didn't they? How did they think things WORK?? Thanks for sharing that.
DeleteAnon 4:13 - I'm just impressed that it appears professional. The fan appreciation message is unusual for them. It acknowledges what the relationship between fan and skaters IS and treats both sides respectfully, instead of imitating the sort of thing they've done in the past and reeking of cloying insincerity and unnecessary overcompensation. I thought it was especially appropriate to acknowledge all the different actual ways fans have tried to express their love for and enjoyment of this team, as in the past the fans and their efforts were often ignored even as the fans themselves were manipulated and exploited. That acknowledgment was, IMO, long, long overdue. The thank you to the sponsors was also well done - no inane babble pretending the sponsor associations were a childhood fantasy come true. Instead it expresses appreciation for the actual sponsor/athlete relationship on its actual merits.
ReplyDeleteThe Toyota commercial is pretty funny but they did it so they may as well own it and be proud of it. Better than what they usually do which is pretend half the time they don't know they've done something they've done. I think featuring it was the right move.
I'm in agreement with your opinion OC, that this site looks very professional and it appropriately thanks fans and sponsors.
DeleteRe. previous comments that there might never be a reveal, do you think the new hand-holding pictures are supposed to be some kind of acknowledgement? In the past Tessa and Scott have been so ridiculously determined to deny any romantic relationship ("our lips accidentally only brushed once in 15 years - just once! And it freaked me out!!). Then here they have a new official website that shows very couple-like pictures. Is this on purpose or what?
If there's never on official reveal, does that mean Jessica is forever the former girlfriend, complete with photo albums that can be brought out at any time? Really? They want that following them the rest of their lives?
Have they even thought of how to manage that stuff yet? One of the things that always comes to mind is the child. It's their kid, the child's parents are elite figure skaters, but right out of the gate the child will need to understand the sham. That's awfully cold stuff for a kid, and we're not even addressing the bungle that was made of it. The cold part is - it was all fake, but we had to do it because [fill in rationale about the public versus celebs). Possibly they'll pass the sham off as a huge joke - yes, we had to do it, but it's funny, isn't it - or something like that. Only stupid fans take it seriously.
DeleteCost of doing business. Lots of show business kids take their parents' jobs and all that's entailed for granted, or so it's said. I actually think kids are often unsettled by a lot that goes on. I know they are, actually. It takes work to put these things in their compartments, and I don't think it's fair. In this instance, although, again, it's THEIR kid, it was also unnecessary.
I'm not sure what to make of the photos on the web site. They've always been provocative, only to slam the drawer on people's fingers via facebook. It was the most obnoxious attribute of their public relations.
Also, I've come to believe that at this point, maintaining the sham - it's still maintained as long as Jessica is supposed to have been authentic - is expedient. There's always an excuse. Somebody in one of the comment sections pointed that out. If someone is looking for an appropriate, low risk time to come clean, many opportunities have arisen. If the team is reluctant, then any excuse will serve. Right now the excuse is all the people involved, and the need to focus on Sochi. And the photo policy is still in place. Scott, on his fan page, shares nothing except links to what's already out there. We can already see that this is basically about the desire to be paid for whatever is shared - in money or in promotion. It's not privacy.
Interesting to note is that they have their own "logo" with intertwining V & M. It makes them appear (gasp) connected.
ReplyDeleteThe August 2009 photos look like an engagement photo shoot.
Under the "Contact" tab, it says they're now managed by IMG. Did I miss that somehow, or is that new?
ReplyDeleteIf so IMG hasn't updated their client list. Like most global management companies, there are different departments and categories (for example, a performer can be signed with a mega-agency but only for personal appearances, red carpet stuff, or endorsements, but not be signed for legit career opportunities - and vice versa. The different areas are handled by different sectors). IMG has an Olympic-athlete specific talent list in figure skating that includes all the names we already know are with them. It's not clear - and I suspect not - if Tessa and Scott are signed with the group made famous by Jay Ogden, or if they're working with IMG only regionally.
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