Why I Believe The Jay Leno/Jimmy Fallon "Spat" Was Faked (at Least in Part)

I don't believe in the old saying "any publicity is good publicity."

As a Public Relations consultant, I'm naturally averse to it.


Is being arrested good publicity (unless you're a rapper)? No. Is being recorded spewing racist epithets during your stand-up routine good publicity? Not at all. Is dying good publicity for a superstar? Only for the heirs.

But there's always an exception to the rule, and the recent Late Night "spat" between Tonight Show host Jay Leno and future host Jimmy Fallon WAS, I believe, that exception.

For about a month, both stars traded barbs about yet another messy Tonight Show host transition. Well, it was mostly Leno, a living legend and comic genius, appearing to vivaciously attack his own network's executives in his monologues.

Each snipe - like the St. Patty's Day snipe about NBC execs being the very same "snakes" that Patrick drove out of Ireland - was repeated eagerly on the news the next evening, and even before that, was breathlessly tweeted out by millions who love to follow the foibles of late night TV, as well as by the Tonight Show itself.

Finally, on April 1, Leno and Fallon got together and, with the help of some talented tenors, who contributed their voices for the voice-over, taped a long-distance duet about the "feud" via telephone in an extremely popular segment, which aired on Fallon's show the next night. The video has had over 790,000 views on YouTube, to date.

The next day, it was announced that Fallon was indeed going to take over for Leno in Spring, 2014, ending Leno's 22-year tenure on the show - excepting, of course, the abortive stint of Conan O'Brien hosting it for seven months in 2010, which ended in Leno's triumphant return to his position.

Ratings soared during this little "spat" between Leno and Fallon, as the entire nation tuned into hear Leno's feathers get ruffled by ruffling the NBC Peacock's feathers. And ratings are the bread and butter of television.


Which got me thinking: Something's not quite right, here, this time. And while I have NO inside information, I believe my hunch is right.

While the tension between Leno and the network during the 2010 abortive retirement fiasco was demonstrably real, and tangible, this latest event didn't have the same feel.

Sure there was animus, and some of that has clearly built up over the years between the likes of NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt and others who reportedly were angry with Leno.

Clearly, some TV execs don't understand that late night comedians have to regularly "snark" at their employers to retain credibility, and because it is enormously funny when Leno attacks his own network's often horrific programming! (He said of NBC: "The Biggest Loser isn’t just a TV show anymore; it’s our new motto. It’s so bad, NBC called Manti Te'o and asked him to bring in some imaginary viewers.”)

But the key for me in comprehending the brilliant publicity tactics used during Leno's latest, and likely last, retirement was the timing of that Leno-Fallon duet.

The fact that it was done at all means that, at least by April 1, both knew that a peaceful, friendly transition was going to happen. But the fact that attacks on NBC were being spewed by Leno right up until that last day (he said on April 1: "NBC and I have reached a peaceful, amicable agreement that is both beneficial to both sides.... April Fools! I got nothing to do with that! Silly! Silly! Ridiculous! [Will] never happen!") tells me that, unless a (literal) last-minute rapprochement was reached between NBC and Leno that night, he knew, likely a week or two earlier, that this was going to happen.

So my question is: What did Leno know, and when did he know it? Did he and Greenblatt, or others at the network, plan this all out together, months ago, to milk the ensuing "controversy" and ratings that could be garnered from it?

And another question: Is Leno the most Machiavellian, clever, comedic and timing genius on the face of the earth for pulling off a ratings coup as his last, great act on the American Television stage?

Now, THAT wouldn't surprise me one bit. And if so, well played, Jay Leno! Well played!

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Stephen Abbott is a public relations consultant from New England. He can be found online at abbottpr.com. He founded and edits world politics news, a blog covering politics throughout the world.

NEWS RELEASE: A Challenge to Pope Francis to Release Hidden Gospel Records (LDCJC)

BRITISH MORMON PROPHET 

CHALLENGES POPE FRANCIS

TO RELEASE HIDDEN GOSPEL RECORDS

Says Vatican Must Reveal the Truth About Early Christian Writings

Thursday, 27 March, 2013
Contact: Elder Phil Gill 01283 585972 (UK); 1-44-1283-585972(from US)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASHBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM – The Prophet of a British Mormon sect is challenging Pope Francis to come clean about possible “secret Gospels” hidden in the Vatican’s vaults and release them to the world.

Matthew P. Gill, the Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Latter Day Church of Jesus Christ, says the new pope should be honest with the world about the Vatican’s contents.

“The new pope has made statements to the effect that he wants to govern a more open church,” he said. “I applaud that effort, but I challenge him to fully live up to his word, and release a list of all materials lying in the dark recesses of the Vatican about early Gospels of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There were many books not included in the New Testament Christian scriptures by the Roman Catholic Church, and many were unknown until the 20th Century. In 1945, a large cache of Gnostic Gospels were found in Egypt, and last year, a scrap of papyrus was acquired and translated by a Harvard Divinity School professor showing evidence that Jesus was married. Gill says the world should be told about all such writings.

“There are likely to be many such unknown fragments that could shed light on the earliest years of the Christian Church, and we all deserve to know about them,” he said.

Gill’s church, which is not affiliated with the Utah-based Latter-Day Saints, traces its origin to the revelations Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830 and Gill's revelation of the Book of Jeraneck in 2006. Latter Day Mormons believe in ongoing revelation by Gill, the Living Prophet, but do not believe in polygamy, and reject the authority of all Latter-Day Saint prophets after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844. They are online at www.latterdaychurch.co.uk.

The full statement is below: 

In his first weeks in office, Pope Francis has made statements to the effect that he wants to govern a more open church. I applaud that effort, but I challenge him to fully live up to his word, and release a list of all materials lying in the dark recesses of the Vatican about early Gospels of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Gospel fragments have surfaced throughout the last century that have given us new insights into the Lord’s message and teachings. This includes the Gnostic Gospels and the Gospel of Judas, which Catholics have known to have existed since the time of Ireneaus, a Catholic Bishop living around AD 180, but has only been published within the past decade. 

What other Secret Gospels and writings has the Vatican withheld from Catholics and the rest of the world? There are likely to be many such unknown fragments that could shed light on the earliest years of the Christian church, and we all deserve to know about them.

With the greatest of respect, I challenge the pope to immediately release a full list of Gospels and fragments of Gospel writings hidden in the Vatican, whether or not his church will be embarrassed by their contents. Only then will we know Pope Francis is serious about living up to Christ’s words, "The Truth shall set you free."

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English-Language Signs in Cyprus Shows PR Savvy

I have to commend those protesting the Cyprus bank account levy for creating protest signs in ENGLISH. From a PR point of view, this is just smart.

Protest signs written in English allows UK and American news cameras to capture the anger in a way that appeals to news consumers in the UK and US, and even Europeans, most of whom read English.

It instantly transforms what could have seemed a far-off problem - with signs written in Greek, which is literally "Greek" to most Americans and Britons - to something close, easily understandable and "real."

Signs legible to hundreds of millions of people around the world allows the protest to be "branded" as something of international, not just local, interest. And that makes it far more valuable as a news story.

I'll also note that most of the signs look like they are from a single protest. The lettering on on "Hands off Cyprus" sign looks the same in several (meaning: dozens) of wire service photos that have been used for four days in a row now (this coming from an informal Google image search.)

This is even more amazing, since a small number of signs have been effectively transformed into the LOOK of this story for days now. This shows the power of the idea of non-English-speaking protesters appealing to English-language readers.

I often wonder why protesters in Middle Eastern nations like Egypt and even in the Palestinian West Bank don't use more signage in English, and adopt protest techniques proven to be successful in Western nations. My advice to them is to watch the Cyprus experience and learn from it.