Irina (Project Runway) Caught Plagarising – Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

In: Marketing | On: 18 Nov, 2009

Publicity noun:

Information that concerns a person, group, event, or product and that is disseminated through various media to attract public notice.

Think about that question for a minute. The answer used to be “yes,” and the very question a mantra of those involved in marketing & PR. Today, in a world where we are so incredibly educated about what we buy, and who we buy from, bad publicity can be crippling & the obvious answer seems to be NO. However, what happens when we define who is benefiting from this publicity?

Someone’s bad publicity can very well be useful for someone else…

Project Runway contestant Irina has caught plagiarizing a piece of written work from NY Magazine’s “The Cut,” after being explicitly told that she was to produce her own work (earlier she had been caught trying to incorporate trademarked images into her design). Irina’s re-worked design, however, incorporated a copy of The Cut’s “Reasons to Love New York” article from 2008.

The text on the shirt is a direct copy of The Cut’s article…

image via Project Rungay

Bad publicity for Irina. Blatantly using copied material would taint the credibility and authenticity of any designer, and the fact that she had been told earlier to use her own work in her designs prevents her from claiming any sort of ignorance…or it being a one-off mistake.

It does make you wonder what was going on in her head, considering The Cut isn’t exactly an obscure magazine (and it covers Project Runway episode-by-episode).

The hype over the Irina-Plagiarism scandal alludes to the fact that the work was copied with no permission obtained at any point in time. & when I say hype, I do mean hype. This episode is being talked about. It’s good publicity for Project Runway.

The publicity is certainly working in The Cut’s favor, too, and the magazine is taking it in stride with the humoured response:

We’re not sure of the legal implications, but we do know one thing: We’ve just found our new company softball T-shirts! Look for our full Project Runway–finale recap on Friday.

- via The Cut

What do you guys think? I feel for Irina (she messed up!), but these scandal’s do do well for the shows, and The Cut is likely to gain a number of readers following the incident.

Joanne Faith

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(9) Comments | In: Marketing | Tagged With: media, pr, project runway, publicity

Bakers delight holla, on November 18th, 2009 at 2:40 am Said:

It was probably a scripted event by the producers o the show. As you say. The magazine a the show have a working relationship and both are benifiting from this event. Duhh jojo you should know this

Couture Carrie, on November 18th, 2009 at 7:07 am Said:

Interesting…
Love the hat regardless!

xoxox,
CC

Joanne Faith, on November 18th, 2009 at 3:24 pm Said:

@ Braid: Haha, they are both benefiting, of course I know this.

@ Carrie: I must also admit, the hat is pretty wicked. I did like a lot of her collection!

Luana, on November 18th, 2009 at 5:01 pm Said:

Ahh I haven’t caught up with project runway!! I need to watch this!!

Clare, on November 18th, 2009 at 6:57 pm Said:

As a PR person, I do have to say that when it comes to talent, no press is bad press. WHich is why celebrities (and wannabe celebrities) act like gosh darn fools! If you ask me, it is about time for then to be truly held accountable for their actions

Miss Sofia, on November 18th, 2009 at 8:27 pm Said:

I think that publicity can always be good publicity if it’s well played. A good PR can make anything work in favour of celebrities/magazines/shows/whatever.

Joanne Faith, on November 18th, 2009 at 9:22 pm Said:

@Luana: I love Project Runway!

@Clare: I love that “no press is bad press” is a double entundra (sp?) haha! You have a point there.

@Miss Sofia: If it’s well played! I think there can be a lot of variables…

bananas., on November 19th, 2009 at 6:26 pm Said:

i’m so not surprised. that irina chick seems to only think about herself. she’s obviously very talented but her bitchiness makes me wish that she would lose. so hear! hear! to her getting caught up again!

sarah hannah, on November 20th, 2009 at 1:17 am Said:

im surprised the team behind The Cut weren’t more pissed off and didnt involve any legal action. As a writer, i would be EXTREAMLY annoyed if someone used my written words without giving me credit for it, no matter what the publicity. do we know if it isn’t a planned thing, or that they weren’t given a heads up? considering they have a good relationship working together? hmmmm