Right.. we’re all loving the Olympics and especially loving our girl Rebecca Adlington; one of our truly stupendous athletes (a swimmer, for those not in the UK) who has done us proud. We could not have asked for more.
A quick scan through the newspapers and her pictures have been everywhere – it’s not even the ‘certain type’ of newspapers that have focussed on her nails – they all have. There’s no debate from me that the nails on the Olympic competitors look wonderful – I love that female athletes aren’t afraid to show their feminine side and I guess if you are a swimmer, mascara is a no-no.. so what better than glamming up your nails?
But, in amongst all this achievement and beauty mix, there’s a rather miserable story of corporate sponsorship out of hand and turning a minor detail into a major issue. And I don’t mind admitting I am cross about it.
So, I’m telling this in the briefest possible form, because it’s insulting to Rebecca for a start to focus too much on anything other than her achievements. BUT, the truth is the truth.
“Random tweet about Rebecca’s nails looking like a certain brand of nail wraps… Response to tweet saying that they were hand-painted…A post is written on BBB saying they look like wraps…a PR email arrives swiftly next day informing me that Rebecca’s nails are hand-painted…I argue the point because I have a packet of nail wraps exactly the same sitting on my lap because I am pretty damn sure..they argue back…I point out that there is no technology that produces a shiny foil silver in nail polish and certainly not in the sponsor’s line-up of shades…they then believe they might have been misleading in their previous emails. Our swimmer picks up her bronze medals with masses of pictures of her nails…Pictures distributed everywhere suggesting they’re hand painted. More tweets (not from me) about no foils on any swimmers…No stories are corrected anywhere even though by now there are millions of viewers thinking they might be able to paint their nails to that quality with a little practice…Our swimmer appears on the medal podium only a couple of days later to pick up a second medal with nails now hand-painted in the Union Jack..need to correct, confirm, deny now negated…only not really…where I come from it’s called pulling a fast one.”
And, if you think I am mistaken (I am still prepared to concede that I might be) take a look at these pictures below.
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| Medal 1 |
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| Medal 2 |
It’s quite honestly the stupidest, stupidest thing I’ve ever come across in PR history (or maybe not, now I mull it over, but close) and while you might well want to protect your sponsorship, there is now a wealth of misinformation all over the internet, from The Daily Mail to Elle.co.uk, and no matter what, even if it’s only nails, in journalism the truth does matter.
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20 comments
Fabulous that so many Olympians are joining in the fun and wearing their flags on their nails. It is just a bit of fun though and shouldn’t overshadow the dedication, commitment and skill of these wonderful individuals. Such a shame the situation arose that prompted this blog. Own up! It’s just nails and the answer is pretty obvious!
Why did the PR want her nails to be hand painted? Is there a problem with using nail foils if the sponsor companies doesn’t sell them? So then they made her take them off and paint her own nails? Surely she had other things on her mind! Do they not get to choose their nails? It really shouldn’t matter anyway
One of the gold medal winning US women’s eights rowers had red toenails with USA painted on – she said shed done it at home before crossing the pond – very patriotic
Perhaps that’s why she didn’t win? Did she spend too long being distracted about her nails rather than concentrating on the race.
Brilliant! Your post just made me laugh out loud – the difference between the medal one picture and the medal two picture are hilarious! Funnily enough I had the same(ish) conversation with my Dad a couple of days ago. He commented on how good her nails were, to which I replied ‘they’re nail apps!!!’. That’s as far as it went though, as he obviously respects my superior knowledge! Maybe the people who were emailing you should respect your superior knowledge??? xxxxxx
well, this is such a STUPID discussion. i mean it’s just nail polish and in greater context makeup. most irrelevant facette of these olympics. why scratch up even more on it? it just sounds like a hoard of PMSing women having to point out the “woman” things even in sports because they don’t know anything else to discuss about (not to sound rude -.-) when it comes to this matter. a pointless discussion like this just sheds bad light on the beauty industry and decreases its reputation in the “real” world. why not keeping it discrete instead of going public? sometimes embarassing things should be kept within the “family”. and this discussion is just embarassing and anti-emancipative.
Actually Hummingbird.. you do sound rude. And I think being derogatory about other womens’ menstrual cycles and behaviour is probably equally anti-emancipative; at best it is condescending. But, whatevs.
How come you have posted the worst painted union jack you could possibly find?
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Why have you posted the worst hand painted union jack you could possibly find? Must of taken you ages as all the painted nails I’ve seen have been outstanding!
Those are Rebecca Adlington’s nails!! In the press… on the internet… everywhere. It’s not the worst picture..they’re amazing.. Rebecca has really short nails so a great job done I think.
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Secondblonde did you read the article? The first pic is when RA won her first medal, the second pic is when she won her 2nd medal. The nails had been changed. That’s kind of the whole point of the post.
Those are also Rebecca nails.. try this link http://bbc-worldnews.net/2012/08/sharron-davies-rebecca-adlingtons-achievement-not-to-be-overlooked/#.UB6Ab7Se7wY
How amazing to adversely comment on what are ‘women’s things’ (Hummingbird)!. These female Olympians, from every country, are astonishing! How lovely that they can take the time for a little pampering, whether its nails, or hair or tanning or make up.
These girls are what we want to see on the cover of every newspaper! These are truly aspirational. What a change from seeing someone famous for doing nothing having a ‘bad day’!!
The fact that they can be ‘girly’ and ‘goddesses’ at the same time is brilliant for all the young girls who spend too much time aspiring to be a Z list celeb, famous for 15 mins!
However, its a shame that ‘commercials’ and sponsors have to warp even this. Well said BBB
I love the nail art!
Lauren,
Fashionswirls.blogspot.com
Who cares whether it’s foil or not ! I just feel this story is all a bit bitchy and condescending !
I think the point is well made, The Sponsors have told the public that the first pictures are hand painted nail art, when infact it is a well known Vinyl Nail covering applied by nail technicians, so why tell fibs to to women & young girls the world over who are influenced by Olympian sports personalities? Bad PR, and I say shame on that cosmetics company when the Pro’s doing the nails behind the scenes are working hard and should be recognised for doing so.
What a pointless article. We should be congratulating Rebecca on her success, not bitching about what is or isn’t on her nails.
I think that the fact whether the nails in the first photo have foils/wraps or apps is quite important. They are gorgeous and the creator/supplier needs to be credited for their product. If it was indeed handpainted then the extremely talented artist should have her work praised. Lying and taking credit for someone else’s work can do utmost damage to somebody’s professional reputation when it is as obvious as this seems to be. I think maybe the people commenting on how this discussion is ‘pointless’ are not in the nail industry and do not understand there is an actual seriousness to whether foils were used or the nails were handpainted. Would they feel the same if it was their intellectual property or their work passed off as someone else’s? Probably not.
Great blog by the way. Great points made. Keep up the good work.