It's Joost a publicity stunt
2009-11-09 08:44
Jake White taught Joost really well. Yes sure, how to be a good scrumhalf but most of all how to sell a book.
Come on, hands up anyone who genuinely believes Joost's sniffy confession had anything to do with morality or that Amor's tears were anything but of the crocodile variety with knobs on?
Frankly I reckon Joost could well be in line for Marketer of the Year the way he manipulated the media into giving him so much publicity that the first edition sold out on the first day. It was brilliant.
Remorse ? Confessions? Morality? Making things Right? Yeah right.
The whole thing smacks of exactly what Jake White did after coaching the boks to their World Cup win.
Within hours of the final he got into an almighty verbal battle with South Africa's rugby authorities and weeks of controversy ended with Jake publishing his book and guess what? It sold like hotcakes. It had to. The publicity was just too much for anyone to resist.
Now it seems like Joost has been taught by the master.
If you're still cynical about what I am saying just look how things unravelled.
Joost denied everything until a day or so before his book was due to launch and then came out with his big confession. The media grabbed it and ran with it. Made an absolute meal out of it.
Supersport even joined in and fired him. Just what Joost wanted because that brought even more publicity for the book.
And then out came the book.
And then out came Amor.
Just to make sure that every bit of potential publicity could be squeezed out of the situation, Amor went on radio and started giving media interviews.
It was brilliant PR in my opinion. Absolutely masterful.
And the media lapped it up. And why not? South Africans just love this sort of thing. They love reality shows and voyeurism - prying into the private lives of the rich and famous.
And the more they pry, the richer and more famous the rich and famous get.
Still don't believe what I am getting at?
Well, do you think for a minute that if Joost wanted to preserve his God fearing, holier than thou integrity he would, after months of denials, suddenly expose himself in more ways than one in his own book? Come on. And if Amor was so distraught and betrayed would she start giving media interviews at precisely the moment that Joost's book came out? After all, she didn't say she was divorcing him, suing him or doing anything else to him, which is usually the reason cheated spouses go public.
No, she said that she still loved him.
Now, this might sound as though I am being critical of Joost and Amor. I am not.
Quite the contrary, I am full of admiration for them. They have proved themselves to be outstanding business people and marketers and have been very clever indeed in terms of being able to identify and hone in on what makes the South African public sit up and take notice.
Well done Joost, well played Amor and good on you Jake, you really are a great coach.
Oh, and please don't let me hear anything about Joost setting a bad example with his snorting and carousing. South Africa is so morally sick right now that whatever Joost did was pretty much the rule and certainly not an exception.
Send your comments to Chris
Disclaimer: News24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on News24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of News24.
- News24