Go ahead, jump on the royal bandwagon

Amidst all of the joy surrounding the royal wedding, there is the darker side that rears its head.

This ugly side takes many forms. Tacky products, royal wedding apps, contests, special beverages, and songs called 'William and Kate' written by people we've never heard of. Then there are the celebrities who want to wish the couple well, offering their unsolicited services and opinions.

After the announcement, the royal wedding product emails started as a trickle and have now turned into a flood as PR companies try their best take advantage of the royal wedding while they still can. Connecting anything and everything to it, regardless of whether it makes sense.

When you have a tasteless product, why not add the words 'Royal Wedding' to it? It's always worth a shot, right? As if doing so magically puts it in the same league as the official, tasteful items. Adding the word 'charity' plus 'Royal Wedding' to your car scrapping initiative - and you have an original and bizarre combination. Why, if you're lucky Kate might become patron of it!

Then there are the celebrities. Musicians who claim to be involved - like James Blunt. Dolly Parton offering to sing her hit song 'I will always love you' at the wedding. George Michael desperately trying to rehabilitate his image by recording a song for William and Kate. B-list celebrities like Jerry Seinfeld who complain about the royal wedding, or starlets like Emma Watson who 'sympathize' with Kate.  Designers who deny they're making the wedding dress - as if they had a shot in the first place. Unsolicited confirmations from hair salons claiming Kate as a client. Yes, business is good.

Enjoy the ride while it lasts. Come midnight on April 29th, your product, service or career will go back to exactly what it was before. Junk waiting for the next royal bandwagon to salvage it.

© Marilyn Braun 2011

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