Newcastle Herald story April 2009

Hey there. This is the story that was published in the Newcastle Herald on their opinion page on Tuesday 21st April. Enjoyed writing it.

Cross promotion in the media is nothing new these days. Oprah can sometimes resemble an hour-long advertisement and commercial radio stations are loaded with giveaways to whatever is the latest ‘bling’ thing.
Growing up as a Gen Xer in the late 80’s where mass media was the latest buzzword means that I’m fairly immune to product promotion and brand saturation.
And I’m not ashamed to admit that on those rare occasions when I’m at home during the day I’ll flick on Oprah to catch up with the latest trend, generational malady, book, movie or popstar.
Recently I plopped down on the couch with my toasted cheese and tomato sandwich and channel surfed until Oprah came up on the screen. Appearing on the programme was Robin McGraw, the wife of television’s self-help guru - Dr Phil.
Spruiking her latest book, ‘What’s Age got to do with it?’ McGraw spoke eloquently and convincingly about fashion, makeup, hair, menopause, fitness, nutrition and skincare.
McGraw is in her mid 50’s but looks years younger. Mesmerised by her glossy hair, sparkling teeth and line-free skin, I remember thinking ‘there’s no way that I’ll look that good when I’m her age.’ But I digress.
Not only will I admit to watching Oprah but I’m also partial to the odd episode of The Bold and the Beautiful. Unrealistic plots, botoxed bodies, lingering looks – I don’t mind escaping into that fantasy land after a tough day in the classroom, teaching reluctant adolescents.
And being up-to-date with the latest twitter-talk, soap story-lines and pop gossip is an advantage when you’re hanging out with teenagers all day. They’ll actually interact with you like you’re a normal human being when they find out that you know what the most recent Britney rumour is.
But what’s the link between Oprah and B&B? Did one of the cast make an appearance on her show? Wrong. McGraw, playing herself, turned up in an episode of the daytime soap. I only knew who she was because I’d recently seen her on Oprah.
McGraw breezed into a scene to interact with ‘Jackie’ – a character played by the actress Lesley-Anne Down. ‘Jackie’ is in her mid-life and her fashion design business is facing oblivion due to the global financial crisis. While McGraw gushed about her new book to ‘Jackie’ I kept thinking to myself: ‘what the hell are you doing on the set?’
Searching the soapie websites to find out more I learnt that Down appeared on the Dr Phil show to help hype his wife’s appearance on B&B.
Similarly, my eye was caught by the recent drop-in of Andreu Rieu onto the set of Neighbours. Like McGraw, Rieu appeared as himself, after meeting ‘Paul’ on a flight to Australia from Europe.
While cross promotion is something that is accepted nowadays as standard business practice I thought that soapies were sacrosanct; existing in a fantasy land, cushioned from the world of ‘real’ people. Let’s hope that McGraw’s and Rieu’s appearances are a trend that doesn’t catch on.