Mark Seymour blogs about celebrity branding.

Author: Mark Seymour.

Date: 2 April 2010.

Original URL: http://www.markseymour.com.au/blog/index.php

Article Text

Is there something wrong with the fact that Lara Bingle makes a living by having her near-naked body photographed and sold to magazines? You’d think not. After all, Lara’s not that special in this department. There are a lot of women who do it. They’re everywhere you look. They’re an integral part of the economy you might say. So how come, after Lara Bingle announced she would sue Brendan Fevola for passing round a mobile phone shot he took of her nude, in the privacy of her shower, without her permission, she somehow drew heat from Jon Faine, famous ABC talk-back host, (March 02, 2010) for daring to stir up sympathy when, as he said, all she was doing was trying to control her ‘brand-image’?

Hang on a minute. Since when is trying to control your ‘brand-image’ a
reprehensible activity? Lara’s image is her brand. Corporations tie up
the courts all the time suing each other for all sorts of breaches
associated with trade practice, brand theft being one of them.

So what makes Lara Bingle’s efforts so dubious in the mind’s eye of
John Faine? Or was he, in that oh so reasonable tone, passing some
kind of moral judgement on the way she makes a living?

It’s a simple question. Why shouldn’t Lara Bingle sue, whether for
reasons of trade practice or a simple invasion of privacy? What
difference does it make? She’s protecting her rights as a free citizen
and a WOMAN. On the other hand, why did Faine feel the need to split
hairs?

Maybe he’s just a prude.

Comments

N/A.