If you don't know, Beyonce shot a video while on tour for her song 7/11. It's a video of her and her dancers, dancing around a sky-rise hotel in their underwear. Observe...
So, I watched the video and immediately saw why it's become so popular. You've got the perfect recipe for MEDIA MADNESS.
First, you start off with a celebrity.
Then, you take away a portion of that celebrities clothing.
After that, you add a little music.
Last but not least, you throw in goofy, "I'm normal just like you" dancing and laughing.
You stir it up in social media for 5 to 10 minutes and vuala, you've got a hit trend.
One thing about Beyonce that I've noticed as a "neutral party" is that she has the tendency to, every once in awhile, throw a song or a video out there that expresses her humanity. By that I mean, she presents herself as a regular person with pain and pleasures just like every Tom, Dick, Harry and Joann... Don't know why but I felt that that phrase needed a little estrogen in it. Anyways... For me personally, that's what sets her apart for me. Not a lot of celebs take that time or opportunity to reach out to their fans in that way. Because of that we are left with this image of them being glamorous and care free all the time, which honestly couldn't be further from the truth.
As far as the video is concerned, I thought it was cute but nothing a group of 12 year old girls couldn't do with a webcam. But I think that's kind of the point. I'd like to think that being the savvy business woman she has proved to be time and time again, she thought out this video. It's presentation is fun and spontaneous but it is a well thought out marketing ploy, just like everything we see in the media. Very few things now a days, especially trends, are what we like to think of them as, genuine coincidences that just so happened to catch on and entertain the masses their introduced to. Unfortunately, things just aren't that way anymore because trending has become popular. And as we well know when there's popularity, there's always someone only to happy to exploit it. Which surprisingly, isn't always a bad thing. When used properly, it can actually be a fantastic thing.
For example, the ALS ice bucket challenge made over 100 million dollars towards ALS research. Like it or not though, it was a trend and only gained such popularity because celebrities got involved. The good part was that, I'm sure many of them knew that, thus they participated.
Back to Beyonce. I think the video is fun and a very smart marketing move on her part. But overall, I always love seeing people enjoy the simple things and having fun just being themselves without worrying about judgement or critique. God knows my friends and I have shot music videos on my mom's camcorder to "Baby it's You" by JoJo during sleep overs, but that in itself is an entirely different story lol. In conclusion, Bravo Beyonce... Bravo.
