It’s been hard not to miss the social media hatred towards Welsh rock band Stereophonics over the weekend, after they performed gigs in recent days to crowds of thousands in Manchester and Cardiff. Amidst the growing concerns surrounding the spread of coronavirus, the keyboard warriors are out in force with scathing comments about the band being irresponsible for going ahead with their shows.
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The COVID-19 crisis presents brands, and bands, with a difficult situation, and one they need to attempt to get a hold of sooner rather than later. While public concern is on the rise amidst all the uncertainty, one thing bands can do is show their followers, supporters and fans that they are taking the situation seriously and are putting their safety first. Seeing thousands of fans pack into heaving venues, has certainly made Stereophonics look slightly tone deaf to public opinion and the Twitterati have been quick to voice their opinion.
One thing is for certain, damage
to the band’s reputation could be irreparable, given the likelihood that
they’ll undoubtedly be targeted with further messages of anger as the confirmed
number of cases across the UK and in Wales particularly, where the bandmates
hail from, continue to rise.
News reports are highlighting
that the band’s management have declined to comment, but doing so is a real
opportunity for them to garner back some respect rather than attempting to slam
the door shut.
On that note, those in the
public eye should be treading very carefully at the moment with regards to
their promotional commitments and how their efforts could be regarded as
inappropriate and quickly whip up a frenzy of negative media attention. We’re
seeing some celebrities highlighting how they’re coping or planning for
self-isolation with light-hearted fun videos, which is proving well in being
the short forms of content we’re needing right now, whilst undoubtedly
gathering healthy clusters of new followers for them in the process.
In recent days we’ve seen some
public figures declaring to their millions of fans that they’ve been diagnosed
and how they’re coping, but we need to remain mindful that some of what they
might say could be contradictory to official health guidance, which could lead
us to question their role as influencers.
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