Now I've got one word to say to you, Kimmy: who are you? - Brisbane Times
David Dale
Kim Kardashian launches her fragrance "Kim Kardashian" at the American department chain Macy's. Photo: Toby Canham
TWENTY years ago it was Diana Spencer. Ten years ago it was Nicole Kidman. Now, apparently, it is Kim Kardashian.
A press release reached this column's inbox last week, seeming to offer an insight into Australian attitudes to fame: ''WHO, Australia's number one celebrity magazine, is set to break sales records with its Kim Kardashian [pictured] wedding exclusive, and is on track to become the highest-selling issue of WHO in the past decade. The Kardashian wedding edition sparked an unprecedented surge in sales and is likely to sell 30 per cent more copies than WHO's top-selling royal wedding issue, as well as surpass WHO's Michael Jackson tribute."
At this point you may be shouting ''wtf is Kim Kardashian and how did she get to be more interesting than Kate Middleton?" For the moment, let's just say she is a symptom. The release was short of the kind of detail a journalist needs to write a credible story. I sent this email to the publicist: "Could you kindly tell me what is the usual print run of WHO, how many extra copies were printed this week, and what has been the actual sale of the issue so far?"
The publicist replied: "Unfortunately, we're unable to provide numbers, however, I can supply the below comment from Fiona Legdin, WHO Publisher. 'We were so confident of the strong interest in this issue that we increased our print run by 50 per cent above the average, and we're delighted to have achieved such an outstanding sales result,' said Fiona Legdin, Publisher, WHO."
Assuming the release is not entirely fictional, we confront the possibility that Kardashian is the holy grail of magazine publishing - the face that can launch a thousand sales (TFTCLATS). This seems to be confirmed by the latest issue of WHO's competitor, Famous, which features Kardashian on its cover with the line: ''I was pregnant when I got married!''
Let's grab a bit of context. Since every other columnist in the land is writing this weekend about September 11, 2001, The Tribal Mind will examine how the national appetite for celebrity has changed in a decade
Primary sources of gossip: 1. Woman's Day (385,000 copies a week, down from 536,000 in 2001);
2. New Idea (308,000, down from 395,000); 3. WHO Weekly (132,000, down from 199,000); 4. NW (107,000, down from 143,500); 5. OK! 98,500 (launched in 2006)
6. Famous (90,500, launched in 2006);
7. Grazia (54,000, launched in 2008).
In 2001, I did a count to establish who had appeared on the most magazine covers. It was Kidman. Now it's Kardashian. Why?
She came to attention as someone who shopped with Paris Hilton, the It Girl of 2006. Now, with her less attractive sisters, she features in a reality show broadcast on Channel Seven.
But Kardashian, pictured, is not TFTCLATS purely through reflected glory. Her unique selling point is that she is totally ordinary. Kardashian is a role model for every young woman who dreams of becoming famous without intelligence, talent or money. They can expect that one day their wedding will be on the cover of WHO, with their pregnancy on Famous the following week. And they're probably right.
Discuss at smh.com.au/opinion/blog/the-tribal-mind.
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